The BBC has revealed the full cast of presenters for the returning Top Gear, and it's one of the biggest rosters the motoring show has ever seen.
Chris Evans has long been established as the main host for the show's return this May, news followed by the surprising announcement that he would be joined by former Friends actor Matt Le Blanc. They will now be accompanied by racing driver Sabine Schmitz, YouTuber Chris Harris, F1 pundit Eddie Jordan and motoring journalist Rory Reid (and The Stig, obviously).
In addition to being one of the largest teams of presenters in the BBC show's history -- a far cry from early plans for Evans to host it solo -- it's also one of the most diverse. Schmitz is the first female host since Vicki Butler-Henderson left the show in 2001 (the final season before it was revamped with Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond as hosts), while Rory Reid is the first black host in the series' history.
Sabine Schmitz in particular is no stranger to Top Gear. In a 2004 episode, she slaughtered former host Jeremy Clarkson's lap time on the Nürburgring in a Jaguar S-Type, with a time of 9m 12s beating his by over 47 seconds. She later set a 10m 08s lap time on the same course -- which sounds less impressive until you take into account the fact she did it in a Ford Transit van. Schmitz also presented the series D Motor on the German television channel DMAX TV, where she took on different racing challenges each episode.
As both a woman and a German -- two frequent targets of the previous regime's "old boys' club" style of humour -- Schmitz's standing as a new Top Gear host borders on gleeful schadenfreude. "I grew up next to the Nürburgring and have been racing for most of my life," she said, "so the chance to combine both driving and filming was too good an opportunity to pass up."
Chris Harris may be familiar to petrol heads, thanks to his successful YouTube channel where he engages in Top Gear-style demos and test drives, while Eddie Jordan once ran his own F1 team, featuring the likes of Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill.
Rory Reid, meanwhile, is the founder of motoring and lifestyle site Recombu and a YouTube regular in his own right. Reid got the Top Gear job thanks to an open call for auditions, saying "When I submitted my 30-second audition tape, I knew the odds were very firmly against me. To be the only person to make it through the open audition process makes me immensely proud. I've been a Top Gear fan for decades, but more than that, I live and breathe cars in a way that is perfectly compatible with the show."
The Stig, however, only had this to say on returning for the new series: "-.-. .... . .-- .. . --..-- / .-- . .----. .-. . / .... --- -- . .-.-.-". (Psst.)
Top Gear returns to BBC Two in May, though a premiere date has not yet been set.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
