Some say that it’s getting a bit old inserting the “some say” joke in Top Gear stories, so we’ll just get down to business. As you may probably have heard, the world’s most (in)famous TV car show is back for its 19th season.

Even though the three hosts teased us about what was about to come, and after watching them for so long, we’ve come to expect almost everything, the season premiere that aired on Sunday, 27 January on UK’s BBC Two managed to throw quite a surprise.

It’s not that Richard Hammond tested the exquisitely made (one day for manufacturing the badge?) Pagani Huayra, James May’s shirt nor the fact that Jeremy Clarkson made fun of the hypercar’s name but not of Stig (OK, the last one threw us off guard).

No, it was the time the Huayra set in the hand of the man in the white Simpson helmet and Alpinestars racing suit at the customary Top Gear lap that was extraordinary.

Believe it or not, the show’s tame racing driver posted the fastest ever lap time, managing an amazing 1:13.8. This is way faster than the crazy Ariel Atom V8 that weighs half as much as the Huayra and boasts 500HP and, until now, topped the list with a lap time of 1:15.1 and bears no comparison to the McLaren MP4-12C’s 1:16.2 or the all-wheel drive Lamborghini Aventador’s 1:16.5.

By Andrew Tsaousis

Story References: YouTube, Top Gear via Autoblog.com

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