A 2

Interesting Marc. They are definitely here to stay.

Maybe the KIA version of that engine will be run in Pirelli World Challenge.

A 2

Start watching around the 2:55 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=210&v=T9AjrnoskKg

A 2

Nice save...of course he had the presence of mind to stay on the gas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeYAKc80xaI

A 2

Nothing is confirmed, but report is that Clarkson may be sacked

http://jalopnik.com/clarkson-reporte...bbc-1693449110

Even before the current avatar of the show, there used to be a Top Gear and I vividly recall watching him as a child talking about cars. He was as much a reason I started watching the show as a teen as were the cars. In the modern iteration, he formed a great rapport with Hammond and May and I think the show really scaled new heights.

No doubt he is the driving force behind the show and made it what it is today. But he is human like us, and like us he is bound to err on occasion. This time though he seems to have gone a step too far. Obviously I could not expect to keep my job if I slapped one of the people that reports to me. But who knows what pain and anguish he was in that caused him to behave so poorly.

I think that even if the other hosts left in solidarity with him and they put together another show for another network, it would not come close to what they achieved working with the BBC. What do you guys think about this whole fracas? Will you feel the loss if there were no more Top Gear as we know it?

Mark355

BBC can't win. If they fire JC, the show is done. If they give him a pass, JC owns them and will continue to push boundaries giving them heat.

If JC is handed the slip, BBC loses as do all of us. It's the only television I look forward to. There is no TG without him. Biggest loss for the automotive community since Paul Walker.

Riche

So true.
He is what ties all the elements of the show together.

How are the pot holes in Troy this year? That is one of the things I remember about the place when I was there a lot. Pot holes and crime. Used to shop at the Price Chopper when there was one in the plaza on Rt 7 just over the bridge. They closed the place probably because people were getting robbed in the parking lot. Was in the department store in the plaza once for about 15 minutes and when I came out there were police cars all over. Someone was robbing the Key bank branch that used to be in the middle of the parking lot.

Pot holes are on the news over here because of the unusual winter with all the freeze thaw like upstate gets. My Mazda seems to take them in stride or maybe it is just me because they don't see like much at all compared to what I have seen in the Albany area. I even beat the Mazda over the cobblestone roads in the city center last night. Now that is a jarring ride to say the least. Gone about 800km with it so far, dirt roads included. It seems to be an ok car in the city. Lots of torque and easy to park. Small trunk though. Just looking forward to top down weather. Snowing heavily this morning, the grass is covered already but I doubt it will stick to the roads because the temps have been so warm.

Mark355

Riche, the potholes far outweigh the crime.

BBC fires Clarkson: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32054004

God dammit.

A 2

In fairness to the Beeb, they had warned him before too and said it was final.

I hear talk of Netflix reaching out to Clarkson and Co. about possibly doing the show with them. Lets see where it all leads. Netflix is producing quality content. The only thing I'd worry about is if suits got involved in the creative aspect of the show. It will be fun and games as long as Clarkson, May & Hammond have full creative control.

A 2

Chris Harris' column on the Clarkson fracas

http://jalopnik.com/how-top-gear-mad...ars-1688464737

EXCERPT:
What comes next? I have no idea. I’ve always struggled to understand how Jeremy could do his thing on a commercially-funded channel. I suppose therein lies the crazy paradox at the center of this whole episode. Jeremy and his pal Andy Wilman turned a car program into a mouthpiece for an entire tranche of middle England fed-up with the nanny state and in search of simple entertainment, but the only place it could flourish was within a quasi-state-funded broadcaster that didn’t have to answer to advertisers, but which is fundamentally left-leaning and against the type of personality Jeremy represents. It would be easy to conclude that they couldn’t live with each other, and that they won’t be able to live without each other.

I don’t think it’ll end like that. I suspect TG will continue on the BBC, and it might well succeed. But much more interesting is where the three chaps who’ve redefined the space will end up. We probably won’t have to wait too long to find out.

I suppose this epoch had to end at some point. The manner in which it might well have ended is regrettable, and I want to remind everyone that there are many talented people who work on all the TG brands – the telly crew, the magazine, the events and much besides – who must be shitting themselves right now, and I think we should spare a thought for them.

Mark355

Genuinely bummed out.