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| The end of the first 720 at a Top Gear Life Show in Durban, South Africa on June 15, 2012. (Photo: iyamila.com) |
PUMPING music, smoking rubber, screeching tyres and women in skimpy
outfits had Top Gear fans revved up, and the presenters — Jeremy
Clarkson, James May and Richard “Hamster” Hammond — didn’t disappoint at
Durban’s Moses Mabhida stadium at the weekend.
Entering in a Porsche GST RS, a McLaren MP4-12C and an Aston Martin
DBS, they performed a non-stop series of daring moves and paint-scratching
stunts in their “car Olympics”.
Their first event, a kind of synchronised swimming using Peugeot
RCZ coupés, had the capacity crowd “oohing” and “aahing” at the stunt-driving
team’s ability to power-slide and parallel at high speeds.
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| The Top Gear Troika: Jeremy Clarkson (left and James May (right) give the Loser salute to The Hamster. (Photo: iyamila.com) |
The Top Gear trio had the crowd laughing with their
version of curling, with Hammond being shunted in a shopping trolley towards a
Fiat target. Only, instead of the tame golf cart he expected, the Hamster got
pushed by a roaring DBS instead.
Chariot racing with four 28-horsepower scooters hitched to a wagon
saw the Stig beat Clarkson, May and Hammond.
A soccer match between SA and England, each team playing in three
Chevrolet Spark hatchbacks, created a lot of work for panelbeaters.
In the Top Gear’s version of hurdles, a stuntman
jumped over three moving go-carts before somersaulting over a Dodge Viper
— billed as the world’s longest supercar — as it accelerated towards him.
In a world first, the Rage-bug did the show’s first “720”, twice
racing upside down through two 360-degree loops.
The stunt-racing team also provided great entertainment, burning
rubber while being chased by a member of the Durban Metro cops in his VW Jetta.
Between the four shows over the two days, more than 70 000 fans
streamed to the stadium, most sporting their colours in Ferrari jackets, BMW
racing caps or Mercedes T-shirts.
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| Mark Silverwood's polo was a write-off in a practice shunt. (Photo Sudhir Matai) |
In another, first, the top Gear Live organisers had Motor Sport South Africa stage several races around the stadium. The racing on a narrow street circuit demarcated by featureless concrete barriers proved hazardous in the extreme, with several major shunts.
Placed on its side for good effect is VW Polo Cup front racer Mark Silverwood's car after a bad shunt during practice session on Friday, June 14, 2012.
One of them, Marianne Bodenstein of Durban, was one of several
people who had hopped several kilometres between her car and the stadium on
crutches.
“It would have been nice if the organisers thought of a golf cart
for us hop-alongs,” sighed an exhausted Bodenstein.
After the show, there were no complaints.
“The Top Gear live show was simply
fan-freaking-tastic,” said Frans Kruger of Port Elizabeth.
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| Car fanatic sisters Raeesa and Aneesa Badat, said it was worth it. (Photo: iyamila.com) |
Car fanatic sisters Raeesa and Aneesa Badat, who had travelled from
Pietermaritzburg and stayed overnight in Durban to attend the show, said it was
worth every penny.
“It was a full day’s event, which catered for all petrolheads.
“The best parts of the
show were definitely the street circuits and to see the F1 McLaren and hear the
sound of the Lamborghini Aventador,” said Aneesa.
Tammy
John, also from Pietermaritzburg, surprised her husband Edwin with VIP tickets
for yesterday’s show, and she insisited the couple of thousand rand she
invested in his Father’s Day treat was worth every penny.
Between races on the narrow street circuit around the stadium, the
fans were treated to a taxi being driven on two wheels, “Stig rounds” and, of
course, donuts — served up in great dollops of burning rubber. (Thank you to the contributions of Yashen Moodley, Dries Liebenberg and Rajesh Jantilal .)
