Of course it is Top Gear that is internationally known and keeps millions of motoring fans glued to the TV set on Sundays during certain times of the year. But often we forget about good old Fifth Gear, which originated from the original Top Gear Team when BBC pulled the plug some years ago.
Although it isn’t known worldwide like Top Gear, probably because channel 5 does not have a worldwide service, it should not be discredited as not worth watching. In fact Fifth Gear seems to bridge the gap between testing cars we can afford to those we just dream about, where Top Gear is firmly in the supercar, let’s dream department. Even so its track tests and humour are well worth the investment of 1 hour of your time, as Tiff Neddell, Jason Plato and team get to grips with fast cars and talk about safety issues, without the Laurel and Hardy comic scenes we see on the BBC.
The new series kicked off with the guest appearance of David Coulthard ex Formula One driver, testing out a racing super van. We were all routing for David but it seems Tiff had more practice. Fifth Gears popularity has been confirmed a few years ago when the broadcast time went from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, proving there is more than one motoring show that can be popular.
Anyway to get you in the mood, here are some behind the scenes stiff from Fifth Gear, something to do with a VW challenge.