'Top Gear' Season 29 Episode 4: It's Britain vs Germany in the clash of the Grand Tourers
Spoilers for 'Top Gear' Season 29 Episode 4
The penultimate episode of the 'Top Gear' Season 29 is perhaps the best of the series so far as it celebrates the finest cars Britain has to offer. Two segments make up the hour-long episode where Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness, and Chris Harris put three Grand Tourers through their paces. To decide the best British GT, Harris picks a Bentley Flying Spur while Flintoff and Paddy choose a McLaren GT and an Aston Martin DBX.
The first challenge is to clock the fastest lap in a Wales race track and Paddy cheats to win by cutting one of the corners. So nonetheless, the DBX takes the first place. The second challenge sees them face off against German F1 legend, Heinz-Harald Frentzen where the Brit cars compete with their German equivalents. The first test is between the McLaren and the Mercedes where cruise control mode without the use of brakes determines the winner.
Flintoff puts up an effort but is outclassed by the German driver giving him a 1-0 lead. The next test is to see how comfortable the cars are and as this means one member will be strapped to the roof of the cars which then rally around the dirt roads of a grand estate. The member with the lowest heart rate wins. Flintoff takes the first step and as Harris zips around the estate, Freddie remains on top, cool as a cucumber. The same though, could not be said for Paddy as he wails around while Heinz pushes the Porsche to the limits. Freddie wins and that's a win for Britain.
Up next, the challenge is to head to a local quarry where the SUVs take part in a hill climb. Paddy is the man for the job as his challenge is to make it to the top of the hill within ten seconds of the time set by Heinz. It's all drama and action as Paddy vrooms up the hill in the DBX in pursuit of Heinz's Audi. And it is heartening to watch the host give it his all and win the contest, The next segment is Harris' emotional tribute to Sir Stirling Moss, the legendary British driver.
Moss won 212 of the 529 races he was part of in his career. He has been described as "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship". Between 1955 and 1961, he finished as championship runner-up 4 times and in third place the other three times. Harris does a fabulous job explaining his tribute. It has been a fun season so far and while the coronavirus pandemic thwarted plans of episodes being shot across the world, the show has done enough to attract attention.
'Top Gear' Season 29 airs on Sundays at 8 pm ET on BBC America.
