If you caught the first new episode of Top Gear last night, you couldn’t have missed the new test track setup.
It’s still at the same Dunsfold Aerodrome, but instead of letting the guest Star in a Reasonably Priced Car drive around only on the runway, the new format includes a variety of different surfaces.
Inspired by a rallycross setup, the new layout includes some tarmac, some mud, some bumpy compacted lime, even a puddle of water and a little jump. The producers have also retired the old Vauxhall Astra (just as they did the Kia Cee’d, Chevy Lacetti and Suzuki Liana before it) and replaced it with a new Mini Cooper.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey and actor Jesse Eisenberg were the first Stars in a Rally-Cross Car to try out the new wheels and track layout, and you can be sure there will be many more to follow. But nobody expects the visiting celebrities to intuit their way around the track. So to show them (and us) how it’s done, Chris Harris filmed this two-minute video clip – in 360 degrees, no less, so you can really get a feel for the surroundings.