TELEVISION
TopGear will be back on BBC2
at 8pm on 25 January This job is spectacularly good at creating moments that remain with you for the rest of your life. As I drive into a nondescript lay-by at the bottom of the perfect Italian road in a McLaren P1, and my mirrors are flled with the technical bulk of a Porsche 918, it’s clear that this is one of them. When we pull up next to a blood-red LaFerrari, it’s obvious this will be a signifcant couple of days. And a very fast couple of days.
TopGear has been delighted to bring you individual exclusive access to these three cutting-edge hypercars over the last 18 months. We were also the frst to pit the P1 and 918 against each other on track earlier this year. But as I stare at the £2.5ish million, 2,728bhp contents of this car park, it’s clear that the signifcance of the gathering isn’t lost on anyone.
These are the best of the best and rarest of the rare, each redefning the top tier of performance for their respective manufacturers, each delivering that experience with the particular nuance of the brand that makes it. They are here, together. And we have the keys.
This gathering has been months in the planning. The result of endless negotiation and countless phone calls. It’s been on, then of, then “never going to happen” more times that I can count. But then I open the door of the P1 and see Tom wearing a grin that almost reaches around the back of his head: barring a small tactical nuclear strike, we’re fnally in the privileged position to spend 48 hours comparing the ultimate in automotive performance.
But we have a responsibility here. We may be pleased with ourselves, but the necessity of a verdict weighs heavy, as does the jeopardy of piloting several thousand horsepower of hypercar around leafy, damp Italian roads. Get this wrong, and it would be the highest-profle of in motoring journalism history. The world is watching and waiting, and expectation is high.
That expectation turned out to be justifed. After 48 hours in the company of these creations, it was clear each one truly delivers to the brief, and I’m delighted to be able to bring those incredible days to life in this issue starting on page 86.
As beginnings to a year go, our hypercar showdown sets the bar for the rest of the year impossibly high. Some would argue that it might be impossible to better. But I have no doubt that this industry will continue to surprise us in 2015. Thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to having you along for what promises to be another truly extraordinary year.
Enjoy the issue,