Minor spoilers ahead, but stop here if you don’t want to know anything at all about the new season.

It seems quite a few people were confused by this Sunday’s episode description and thought that James May was being replaced by a new presenter. This is not the case.

James May will merely be introducing the new character (note that I said “character” and not “presenter”). The “steps aside” phrase just means he’s getting out of the way or whatever, not stepping down.

So calm down — Top Gear is Jeremy, Richard, James and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon.

Sorry these weren’t up earlier. Been busy with the holidays. ;)

Here’s the two shows that aired next to Top Gear last night:

• Richard.Hammond.Meets.Evel.Knievel.WS.PDTV.XviD-REMAX
• James.May.My.Sisters.Top.Toys.WS.PDTV.XviD-REMAX

Enjoy!

James May is already planning his next amphibious car.

I now realise that the ideal car for conversion to maritime duties is in fact the MGB roadster; not only that but, ideally, the one with the rubber bumpers, because they would float. The MGB looks a bit like a small motor launch, so we’re halfway there already.

Amphibious cars work very well in my head.

For those of us who just can’t get enough of Top Gear and it’s presenters, Jeremy, Richard, and James all have released new books for the fall.

Richard’s autobiography, entitled “On the Edge“, was co-written with his wife Mindy. It details his 288 MPH crash last year and his recovery from the accident. There’s also a really funny video preview of the book by Richard at Amazon.co.uk.

Or you can just watch it via YouTube:

Jeremy’s book, “Don’t Stop Me Now“, contains his latest collection of columns as well as a ton of other random stuff.

Lastly, James May’s 20th Century accompanies his recent television series which covered various inventions and discoveries made over the past century.

[Via TopGear.com]

James was in Second Life earlier today as a part of a promotion for Sky News. While there, he answered some questions, including one asking how many episodes would be in the upcoming season. His response? Ten!

There’s a streaming video replay available on Sky News’ website, as well as some screenshots on our forums.

That’s right, those lucky bastards down in Australia are going to be able to see the MPH show themselves, a car show / live Top Gear thingy hosted by Clarkson, Richard, and James reports GoAuto.com.au. It will be sometime within the next 18 months according to the article.

James May has a new TV show called “James May’s 20th Century” currently airing on Tuesdays at 8 PM. Here’s a small preview:

Looks pretty interesting and we’ll hopefully be posting links to torrents in our forums’ video offers area if rips become available. Discussion here.

Via: Jalopnik

For those who can’t wait another 8.25 hours, here’s the James May Top Gear trailer in high quality, once again thanks to danbarnesdavies.

We also have a high quality version of the Clarkson trailer that was previously posted in poor YouTube quality.

You can also download both trailers if you wish.

Clarkson and May have both written new articles at TopGear.com about Hammond. Both are very excellent reads and Clarkson even mentions some of the stuff coming up in this new season:

And in the series currently sitting on the shelves waiting for Richard to be better, we have tested tractors, built our own stretched limos, and repaired a stretch of road in Warwickshire.

Clarkson’s article can be found here and May’s article can be found here. I recommend you read both.

James May broke his wrist during a recent presentation of MPH’06 (a live Top Gear of sorts set on a stage). He wrote about it in an article in today’s Telegraph:

James May, the other bloke off Top Gear and co-host of this year’s MPH ‘06 live motoring theatre, was last night said to be “severely hacked off” in his local pub after sustaining a suspected fractured wrist in a high-speed supermarket trolley crash.

May, 43, was performing a live stunt for the MPH extravaganza, billed as “human 10-pin bowling”. In this, he attempted to guide a modified shopping trolley, fitted with rudimentary steering, into 10 giant rubber skittles on the opposite side of the stage after being propelled by his co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson, driving a low-powered G-Wiz electric city car.

However, in what the show’s script described as a “humorous twist”, and supposedly unbeknown to May, the G-Wiz was replaced at the last moment with a 480bhp Ford Shelby Mustang. Members of the audience, many of whom filmed the tragedy on mobile phone cameras, have reported that the trolley reached a speed of “almost 20mph” before it struck the skittles and toppled sideways in a rather pathetic way.

The best part of the article though is the Hammond bit:

Richard Hammond, who was involved in a similar accident involving a jet-powered trolley some weeks ago, and who claimed to present the popular Sunday-night TV show Songs of Praise with May and Clarkson, told reporters: “Riding around in a supermarket trolley is the sort of thing that drunken 22-year-old men on a stag night would do. Sadly, it’s the sort of thing we would do as well.” Half an hour later, he told them the same thing again.

However, within minutes of that paragraph being written, the real Richard Hammond rang this column and said, “I’ve heard about your trolley crash. That’s pathetic. I hope you’re not going to use it as an excuse to make some more cheap gags about my short-term memory loss, because it’s been greatly exaggerated and anyway, I’m better now.” Even after several hours he had not rung to repeat himself, so he might have a point, unless he simply forgot to call back.

Man I love James May.