Filming kicks-off for new TopGear series

09 October 2012 - 17:00

Filming kicks-off for new TopGear series

Good news! Jeremy, Richard and James have commenced filming the new series of TopGear.

After signing contracts to do TG for another three years, the boys are sinking their teeth into season 19, which will hit your telly in early 2013. On September 25, Clarkson confirmed that two segments of the new series were complete. But there's a long way to go.

"Each TopGear item takes two weeks to prepare, five days or so to film and two weeks to edit," tweeted Clarkson. "So far we've done two. We need another 22. Do the maths."

Rumours abound as to what's in the new series, so we've gone all detective and assembled all the snippets into the one place for you.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE 2013 TG SEASON:

- It will have another epic across-Europe TopGear race. "Tonight, when you are asleep, a pan European TopGear race begins," tweeted Clarkson on September 18. "Me in a car. Hammond and May on public transport. Wish them bad luck." He added: "And to be clear, our races are not fixed. We start at 3.30am. No-one knows who'll win. But this time, the odds are stacked in their favour." The next day, Clarkson confirmed that everything had gone smoothly. "The race is over. No-one was killed."

- The boys take a Bentley Continental GT Speed rallying. At the 2012 WRC Wales Rally, an all-wheel-drive Bentley did a stage with rally ace Kris Meeke driving. And James May reading the notes as co-driver. The segment was extensively filmed with a helicopter.

- It will star a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. A fan asked Clarkson on Twitter, will the new series have the new Ferrari? "F12 only homologated for Italy at the moment," replied Clarkson. "Sat nav not fitted yet. Not finished. It will be soon though." Sat nav not fitted? Could that be because it would be used in a TopGear race?

- The Christmas Special... will air in February. The boys recently began filming the special. "Well people here we go. Warm clothes and thick boots packed," tweeted Clarkson on October 3. "We leave in two hours to start the Top Gear Christmas Special. Airs in February." He added: "I know February isn't Christmas. But it is our Christmas special. And it will be shown in February. Don't ask me why." We hazard a guess that it mightn't be called the Christmas special, then...

- We can safely guess what cars will be in it. The new TG season will almost certainly star the Toyota 86, new Ford Focus ST, Jaguar F-Type, new Porsche 911, some sort of new Lotus (be it the Exige S V6 or Evora GTE) and the new Range Rover. Perhaps the McLaren MP4-12C Can-Am, too, or some sort of McLaren variant. Just not the P1. Yet. And we'd love to see the boys drive the insane Peugeot Onyx concept supercar.

So yes, the filming is well underway. And once the boys have filmed all the show's segments, it's then into the studio to film the news and host the stars in the reasonably priced cars. After some cutting and gluing, it will then be beamed to your TV sometime in early 2013. We can't freaking wait; it's been an ice age since the last new season of TG. Blame Clarkson's mate Simon Cowell.

Keep an eye on TopGear.com for breaking news relating to the new 2013 series. In the meantime, tell us, what would you like to see in the new season? Go to our blog and write us a comment.

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- Epic Car Fails: a gallery of why humans shouldn't be allowed to drive cars.

- TopGear's Hottest 100: We pick the 100 sexiest cars ever made. It gets a bit controversial.