Currently, the only way to view Top Gear over on this side of the pond is via BBC World which airs “special” 30 minute versions of the show (chopped up, no guest driver, no news, little or no studio bits, etc.).

Well, starting August 20th at 8PM ET, season 8 of Top Gear will begin airing on BBC America in what will probably be full format shows. Based on the schedule listed at the official site, each episode will air for an hour each and feature the star in a reasonably priced car.

Regardless of whether it will be a chopped up version or not though, this only further the exposure of Top Gear here in the States which definitely isn’t a bad thing. Let’s hope this all leads to us getting a Top Gear of our own…

More on our forums.

UPDATE: I’m told that BBC America does infact have commercials, so my guess is they’ll be cutting out the news segment of the show and perhaps a little more. Not the ideal solution, but some Top Gear is better than none, right?