Jeremy Clarkson Races The Sun! | Top Gear Classic

That time when Jeremy Clarkson raced the Jaguar XJ against something even bigger and more powerful: the rotation of the earth itself.

From Series 16, Episode 6
Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00z57tz/top-gear-series-16-episode-6?seriesId=b006mj59-struct…

00:00 The challenge
01:21 The race begins
05:31 A choice
09:32 The final push

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[Jeremy] Space is a neverending race track. The thermal shock region on the prow
of our solar system, for example, is screaming through the heavens
at 490,000mph. Earth is hurtling
round the sun at 67,000mph. God, it seems, is a complete speed freak. And this is what I’m pitting against him. The new Jaguar XJ. And already, there’s a problem. Because which one do I take? The supercharged V8 is fast and exciting,
but thirsty. The diesel could do the journey easily
on less than half a tank, and not having to fill up will save time. In the end, though, it was a simple decision. I went for the fast one. The stopwatch. Satnav. This is it, then. For your Sunday night delectation, a big Jag versus God. It’s like Songs of Praise… with a supercharger. At 9:36, the sun sank below the horizon… ..and the race was on. Here we go! Now that is what the mysterious
sunset green flash is all about, obviously. It’s God’s starting light.
He wants to race us. He likes racing. OK, here are my issues. The sun will rise over East Anglia
at 4:30 in the morning. That gives me six hours and 54 minutes to do 432 miles. That means averaging – averaging – 62mph. At this stage, dawn still had 4,200 miles
to go before it reached Lowestoft, but it was doing a massive 610mph. One hold-up, one red light, God wins. And already, he was playing dirty. Get out of the way! They’ve all been to watch
the sunset at Land’s End and now going back to the hotel. Oh, this is bad. 30mph. Half what I need to be doing. But then, the road straightened out
and the Jag pounced. Ready, overtaking… Holy cow! This thing is fast. But then, it kind of would be. Because the supercharged V8
that’s hauling me along produces more power and more torque than the 6.0-litre V12
in an Aston Martin Rapide. I am going to thrash God. But then, he enlisted the services
of an unusual ally. Nyah! The devil’s work! Beelzebub’s cones went on for miles
and my average speed collapsed. I’m in Cornwall doing 50 because of average speed cameras
to protect the workforce who aren’t here. And the sun has already risen in Sydney. God was winning. This is a quick car, but there’s a bit more to it than raw speed. Sitting in an old Jag, even the last one,
was like sitting in a country pub. You were cramped, there were beams, you half expected to be
steering with a wagon wheel. This, though,
with the blue lighting round the vents and the blue glow in the door pockets. They’ve even lined this cubby-hole
and the glovebox, as you can see, with purple velvet. That’s like lifting up the Queen’s skirt and finding she’s wearing a thong. Love these. Stroke the lights to
make them come on or off. There are other thoughtful touches too. Oh, yeah. It’s hard. Oh, yeah. Lower, lower. There, there, there! Yes, as I’m sure you realised,
that’s the seat massager at work. It’s like kneading me and… ..it’s all that in the seat! Then there’s the stereo system. In the last Jag, you got a gramophone
with a dog sitting on it. But in this, I’ve got 1,200 watts. And it will play… anything. Anything. You just… You push… You push… ..that. Erm… By the time I realised I didn’t
understand iPod connectivity, the sun was over Thailand. And I was facing the decision made by
thousands of holidaymakers every summer. M5 and M4
or A303 past Stonehenge? The motorway is 20 miles further, but probably better for fuel consumption. But the A303 is more fun in a car like this. Yeah, A303 it is! This was a good call. There’s a whiff of NASCAR about this car. And now I’m going to give it a bit more
because I’m going to engage Dynamic mode. Look, the dials glow red. What this does is firms everything up,
gives you more punch. Also, because the XJ is made
entirely from aluminium, it’s much lighter than any other big car. It feels like a sports car. On good roads like these,
it’s not far short of a masterpiece. The Jag set about chewing up the miles. Druids! By 1:45, I figured I was in the lead. But I’d reached the M3, which was boring, so I decided to let the car drive itself. Right. Cruise control on. Very good system, this. Set the speed at 70
and the road ahead is scanned by microwaves. I’m going to hook on now
to the back of our camera car. There we go. So now if he speeds up, I speed up. If he slows down, I slow down.
I don’t have to do anything. And I can even choose what sort
of distance I want to follow it at. There’s the safe distance there. Right down to the full Audi. Yes! There we are. That’s the Audi following distance. It was now late, the motorway was monotonous and my thoughts turned to
the business of staying sharp. Production team, as usual,
has provided me with a CD to keep me awake on this long
and difficult and perilous voyage. [Richard on CD] But it was while working at
Radio Lancashire that I experienced a revelation. I took over as producer and presenter
of the weekend mid-morning shows. I reported on roadblocks, farm animal
breakouts, carol concerts, jumble sales… [Jeremy] Hammond’s adventures
in local radio weren’t helping. [Richard] ..record-breaking attempts
and sponsored swims. [Jeremy] But soon, something else did. (GASPS)
Fuel warning light is on! Argh! And I’m only on the M25! No! A splash-and-dash pit stop
cost precious moments. Here we go. And then Beelzebub
decided to cost me even more. No, no, no. This is exactly the sort of
hold-up I can do without. Is anyone going to be working on them? I mean, really? So you have to drive along at 50mph,
glaring at your speedometer, not looking at the road ahead,
and that’s very dangerous. I mean, it raises money for the government,
obviously, but it’s very dangerous. By the time the roadworks finished,
God was back in the lead. He was now just over an hour from Lowestoft. OK, 65 miles to go. And I would say that
the inky blackness of night… ..has become sort of royal blue. Don’t suppose the sun will be early, will it? Can it do that? There is a smudge in the sky. A big one. The mother of fire,
it seems, is coming back. That is daylight. I have… ..39 minutes. There were still 34 miles to go. But win or lose, I was glad
I’d done this race in the Jag. An S-Class may be a comparable limo to this, but an S-Class doesn’t go and stop and steer
anything like as well as this. If you’re a keen driver, this is the only big car you can have. The sun was now over Amsterdam and would appear in Suffolk in just 12 minutes. 4.9 miles. Right, where am I going?
Where is England’s most easterly spot? Come on. I’m lost! No! Red light now! Come on! This is it. (JEREMY LAUGHS) Loser!