Some say it is the world’s most famous car show, with millions of viewers worldwide and that, despite having three presenters, plus the man in white known as The Stig, 51-year old Jeremy Clarkson is the undisputed star of the show. All we know is that it’s called Top Gear and it has run on BBC for 17 seasons so far.

And as one of the most popular and long-running TV shows in the world, Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson often make headlines, but not for the reasons one would expect.

Now, British tabloid Daily Mail has put up a story claiming that Clarkson’s stunts are not always performed by him, but by professional racing drivers. The newspaper cites two unnamed sources, one of which is said to have worked for Top Gear for more than five years.

For example, once source claims that an April 2008 clip showing Clarkson driving a Lamborghini Murcielago to over 200 mph (322 km/h) and eventually reaching 207 mph (333 km/h) was not actually performed by him but by Formula 3 racer Aaron Scott. The latter declined to comment.

“It’s been going on for years,” said one of the unnamed sources. “The fact is the presenters on Top Gear are presenters, not professional drivers. So why would you get them to do a job than an expert can do better, faster and in one take?”

The Mail’s “Deep Throat” accusations didn’t stop there: “Top Gear rely on professional racing driver a lot more than the show would suggest. I would say 80% of the driving on the show is done by pros but is made to look as if it’s done by Jeremy”.

Said sources claim that BBC2 hires pros because of the tight filming schedule of the show and also because TG’s presenters can’t do this kind of driving themselves.

Last Friday, BBC’s spokeswoman Tara Davies replied to the Mail: “Yes, professional drivers are used on the show. On the Power Laps, production have the car for a day, and Jeremy has to go off to do the scripting. So rather than him driving for a bit and then everyone sitting there while he goes off and writes, and because it is a very expensive show to make, other people may do the driving”.

So, are the claims valid? Are the show’s viewers being misled? Davies vehemently denies it: “If you see Jeremy, Richard or James driving a car around a track it is them driving. But the crew may need to go back and get “pick-up” shots, which may use another driver”.

BBC later issued the following statement:

“To be clear, Jeremy performs all of the challenges you see him perform on Top Gear. On power tests, the speed at which Jeremy is seen driving is the speed at which he drove the car, so to suggest otherwise is untrue”.

Davies added: “Jeremy would have driven the car and got it to 207mph. Then, when they wanted a camera shot of the speedometer going up to 207mph they would have got a different driver to do that. For just the shot of the speedometer, it may have been another driver but Jeremy absolutely would have driven the car at 207mph.”

Story Sources: Daily Mail, Top Gear, Youtube

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