Top Gear Races - Car Versus... Challenges

Car Versus... Challenges

• Car vs. aerobatics plane: Hammond presented a race between the Stig, in a Radical SR3, against British Aerobatic Champion Tom Cassells, in a CAP 232 Aerobatic Plane, around the Top Gear test track. Winner: Plane Series One, Episode Nine
• Car vs. racing pigeons: May used a Ford SportKa equipped with satellite navigation to compete against racing pigeons in a point-to-point race. Winner: Pigeons Series Four, Episode Four
• Car vs. snooker player: Ronnie O'Sullivan had to pot 14 snooker balls while his Mercedes-Benz SL500 was raced around the Top Gear test track by The Stig. Winner: Snooker Player Series Four, Episode Four
• Car vs. all-terrain skateboarder: Hammond presented a pair of races on the "Green Mile", a half-mile downhill course in Wales, between double world champion all-terrain skateboarder Tom Kirkman and a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII Group N rally car, and then a Bowler Wildcat, both driven by Ben Collins. Winner Race 1: Skateboarder; Race 2: Car Series Five, Episode Two
• Car vs. bobsleigh: May co-piloted a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution rally car driven by Henning Solberg, racing Hammond and the Norwegian Olympic bobsleigh team down a mountain in Lillehammer, Norway. Winner: Bobsleigh Series Five, Episode Eight (repeated in the Winter Olympics Special)
• Car vs. tank: Clarkson raced a Range Rover Sport across a Dorset field before a Challenger 2 tank could get gun lock on him. Winner: Tank Series Six, Episode One
• Car vs. marathon runner: Clarkson raced a Fiat Nuova Panda against marathon runner A.C. Muir around the London Marathon circuit during the morning rush-hour. Winner: Runner Series Six, Episode Seven
• Car vs. snowmobile - over water: Hammond visited Iceland and raced a modified off-road vehicle against a snowmobile over Lake Kleifarvatn. Winner: Snowmobile Series Six, Episode Ten
• Car vs. rock climbers: Clarkson, in an Audi RS4, competed against two rock climbers, Leo Houlding and Tim Emmett, in a race from the bottom of a French gorge to the top. Winner: Rock Climbers Series Seven, Episode Two
• Car vs. urban downhill cyclist: May raced a Renault Clio III down the narrow streets of Castle of São Jorge's district in Lisbon against downhill bike racer Gee Atherton. Winner: Cyclist Series Seven, Episode Four
• Car vs. greyhound: Hammond drove a Mazda MX-5 against Ireland's most expensive greyhound, Mama Tina, around Shelbourne Park's greyhound track in a one-lap pursuit style race. Winner: Greyhound Series Seven, Episode Six
• Car vs. speed skater: Clarkson, in a Jaguar XK8, raced against speed skater Eskil Ervik, around a speed skating track. Winner: Speed Skater Winter Olympics Special
• Car vs. trail of fuel: Clarkson raced a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 against a trail of fuel. The race began when the quarter-mile-long trail of petrol was lit. Winner: Car Series Eight, Episode Two
• Car vs. motor powered kayak: Hammond visited Iceland and raced a TVR-powered Bowler Tomcat 4x4 against a motorised kayak, piloted by its inventor Shaun Baker, over Jökulsárlón. Winner: Kayak Series Eight, Episode Two
• Car vs. parachutist: Hammond raced two miles (3 km) against a British army parachutist in Cyprus with a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. Winner: Parachutist Series Eight, Episode Four
• Car vs. traceurs: May raced two traceurs, Daniel Ilabaca and Kerbie, over six miles (10 km) across Liverpool in a Peugeot 207 1.6L Diesel, from the edge of the city to the Liver Building. Winner: Traceurs Series Eight, Episode Seven
• Car vs. fighter jet: Hammond raced a Bugatti Veyron against a Eurofighter Typhoon, piloted by RAF Squadron Leader Jim Walls, to see which one could most quickly travel a distance of two miles (the Bugatti along a runway and back, the Eurofighter climbing a mile straight up and back down). Winner: Jet Series Ten, Episode Three
• Car vs. rollerblades: Hammond drove an Aston Martin V8 Vantage against Dirk Auer, a man on roller skates with a turbo-powered rocket backpack, in a straight half-mile drag race. Winner: Car Series Ten, Episode Five
• Car vs. tall man: May used an Alfa Romeo 159 in a race against Graham Boanas, to discover who could cross the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) wide Humber River faster without using the Humber Bridge. Winner: Man Series Ten, Episode Six
• Car vs. BMX bikes: May travelled to Hungary and raced a Fiat 500 against some BMX cyclists (the traceurs from the previous Liverpool challenge) through the streets of Budapest. Winner: Bikes Series Ten, Episode Nine
• Car vs. skiers: Hammond travelled to Les Arcs in the French Alps to race an Audi RS6 estate against two skiers, Antoine Montant (the Columbia world speed flyer champion 2007) and François Bon, down a mountain from Arc 1950 to Villaroger. (Note: Hammond had to find his way around the village to find the pub, giving the skiers extra time.) Winner: Skiers Series Eleven, Episode Two
• Car vs. hunters: Clarkson and Hammond travelled to Gloucestershire to combine Green Laning and Fox hunting into a new sport where the prey is a 'green laner' in an off-road vehicle. Clarkson raced a Daihatsu Terios nine miles (14.5 km) cross-country to the designated finishing point at Tewkesbury Park, while Hammond and a group of hunters chased him. (Note:After that Hammond said that Clarkson was finally eaten by dogs.) Winner: Hunters Series Eleven, Episode Five
• Car vs. Royal Mail: Hammond and May drove a Porsche Panamera in a race against a letter delivered by Royal Mail from the Isles of Scilly to Orkney. Winner: Royal Mail Series Thirteen, Episode Four
• Car vs. British Army: Clarkson, in a Mitusbishi Lancer Evolution VII, raced five miles (8 km) around a plainfield in Dorset against a team from the British Army. Army vehicles used during the race included the Jackal, Mastiff, Panther, and Trojan. At one stage, Clarkson hid beside the Trojan, ending up with the Trojan ripping off part of the car's roof. Winner: British Army Series Thirteen, Episode Four
• Car vs. snowmobiles: Hammond took a modified Volkswagen Touareg to a ski resort in Sweden, in order to race some "Swedish youths" on snowmobiles. The race was a dead heat until the near end, with it all coming down to a drag race across a frozen lake. Winner: Car Series Fifteen, Episode Five
• Car vs. gravity: Hammond raced one mile (1.6 km) against a Volkswagen Beetle dropped from a helicopter on a salt flat in South Africa with a Porsche 997 Turbo S. Winner: Gravity Series Sixteen, Episode One
• Car vs. "God": Clarkson, in a supercharged V8 MK IV Jaguar XJ, departed Land's End (England's most westerly point; Britain's most westerly point is at Ardnamurchan in the west highlands of Scotland) at sunset and raced 432 miles (695 km) to Lowestoft (Britain's most easterly point) attempting to arrive before sunrise. The race was held during the Summer Solstice to add an extra challenge. Winner: Car Series Sixteen, Episode Six
• Car vs. skeleton racer: May returns to Lillehammer and co-pilots a Mini WRC rally car, driven by Kris Meeke, against skeleton racer Amy Williams. Winner: Car Series Seventeen, Episode One
• Car vs. jet propelled man: Hammond and Finnish world rally driver Toni Gardemeister race the world's first jet propelled man, Yves Rossy, in a Škoda Fabia S2000 around an eight-mile special Welsh Rally Stage. Winner: Man Series Eighteen, Episode Five