James and Jeremy's epic race across New Zealand! | Top Gear Classic

0:03 After 60 mi of crowded house, I was finally heading in the right direction.

0:09 But I was approaching the often crowded city of Oakland.

0:14 According to the tracking device, James is now 100 miles ahead of me.

0:21 Dear God, let Oakland be clear.

0:29 Mercifully it was.

0:33 I'm doing 120 km an hour on a very smooth road.

0:39 Coming to get you, James.

0:45 Out at sea, conditions were getting even worse.

0:51 Hold on, big fella.

0:53 You all right?

0:56 With the rough seas slowing us down,

0:58 I decided to use my sack boat to see where Jeremy was.

1:07 That's the end of that.

1:08 What's wrong?

1:09 That tore it clean out of my hand.

1:11 I just couldn't keep hold of that.

1:17 Please.

1:21 I'm on a mission from God.

1:25 Go, go, go.

1:32 Despite the conditions, the sailors were pushing the boat to the ragged edge.

1:42 Oh, that's a biggie.

1:44 Wa fatty.

1:52 Yeah, this is bloody madness, mate.

1:55 Yeah, it's not too good.

1:56 It's like we've never sailed these things in these conditions before.

2:01 And uh

2:03 now you tell me 20 knots of breeze, you know,

2:06 if we do go in, you have to hang on cuz you're going to be breaking bones.

2:10 So really, James, the best thing for you to do, mate, is to hang on.

2:14 Thank you.

2:17 In the little blue hatchback,

2:18 the news from the GPS tracking device was encouraging.

2:24 James May is now only 67 miles ahead.

2:30 I'm catching him.

2:33 But am I catching him fast enough?

2:35 That's the big question.

2:38 I decided to take a shortcut even though it

2:42 would mean leaving the tarmac and using gravel roads instead.

2:51 This is going to save me 20 miles.

2:59 Yes.

3:02 My plan was working well, but then the gravel ran out.

3:06 There's no track.

3:08 Oh.

3:18 Yeah, I wouldn't do this in my Mercedes.

3:20 Pretty certain of that.

3:26 Oh dear, I've run into the white cliffs of Dover.

3:28 Literally.

3:30 Still could be worse.

3:42 Sir Binsley.

3:43 Sir.

3:45 Yes.

3:45 Please don't take this personally, but this is bloody purgatory.

3:50 Can you imagine?

3:50 No.

3:53 Ow.

3:55 Meanwhile, I'd found a track.

3:58 This must take me back to the road.

4:03 Oh my god.

4:04 TRACTOR.

4:13 SO, Ben Ainsley, sir.

4:16 Yes.

4:15 What happens if you need a slash on this boat?

4:18 I think there's a bucket somewhere.

4:20 Right.

4:22 I might just piss myself.

4:26 What is the point of sailing?

4:30 The track had indeed taken me back to the road,

4:33 but the accident with the tractor meant I was

4:35 no longer driving the fastest car in the world.

4:45 The noise is not good.

4:48 It's not going to make it.

4:49 It just is not going to make it.

4:53 So, there was only one thing for it.

4:58 Hi, good afternoon.

4:59 I got a small problem with my car.

5:02 There was a maniacal tractor driver.

5:03 He was doing like 70 km an hour.

5:05 I swerved

5:07 in a jiffy.

5:08 The helpful hire car lady had me back in the race.

5:13 Now, in one important respect,

5:15 this car is not the same as the one I started out with.

5:22 But at the finish line,

5:24 I suspect James will be so exhausted he won't notice that I

5:30 set off with a blue car and ended up with a red one.

5:35 And anyway, right now I had bigger issues because I was 100

5:40 miles from the finish line and James was only 50 mi away.

5:44 To win then I'd have to go twice as fast.

5:51 Nice gly boy.

5:55 Stay vigilant though, boys.

5:57 Stay on it.

5:58 Anything from Jeremy?

5:59 Where is he?

6:00 No idea.

6:01 Ah, no comms.

6:05 Come on.

6:06 You've got the fastest car in the world.

6:08 Now use it.

6:17 23 knots.

6:19 Okay.

6:19 3 2 1 diving.

6:26 Come on, James.

6:27 Get my head.

6:28 Come on, man.

6:28 LOTS OF BLOODY LOVE, BOYS.

6:35 Come on, Jeremy.

6:36 Concentrate.

6:36 Concentrate.

6:38 Make every corner as crisp as you can.

6:41 Come on.

6:50 Take over 9 years.

6:54 I'm so sick of this.

6:58 What I really needed was a road with no corners.

7:03 And thanks to this wonderful country, that's exactly what I found.

7:16 This is called 90 Mile Beach because it is exactly 55 mi long.

7:24 I don't understand that either.

7:27 What I do know and I do understand is that it is genuinely a public highway.

7:33 It's a road.

7:38 No traffic, no corners.

7:41 James May, you have had it.

7:57 in the boat.

7:58 We were about to go round the very top of New Zealand.

8:05 That is the cape there.

8:07 Once we've rounded that, we think we'll have wind and a bit of tide with us.

8:13 Water will be flat.

8:14 Then we've got about 10 miles of pleasant sailing like in Howard's way.

8:20 It can't come soon enough.

8:25 Dang it.

8:32 Bit wobbly there.

8:37 Yeah, boys.

8:37 Just stay vigilant for this last six or seven miles.

8:40 Not far to go.

8:49 I was now off 90mile beach.

8:53 Back on gravel.

8:54 I wasn't expecting that.

9:01 Come on, small red hatchback, whatever you are.

9:07 I'm doing this now to uphold the honor of coal,

9:11 gas, and oil, the cornerstones of civilization.

9:20 Is that our beach there?

9:21 Yeah, the finish line was a checkered flag at the water's edge.

9:27 But to make my day even more miserable,

9:29 Sen announced that the boat couldn't actually get there.

9:33 You're going to have to jump off and swim ashore.

9:36 What?

9:37 Are you joking?

9:41 There's now only 5 miles to go.

9:48 Okay, James.

9:51 Don't lose it now.

9:53 Do not lose it now.

9:56 Going quick.

10:07 Uh-oh.

10:21 No, no.

10:25 Come on, please.

10:34 Another one.

10:36 Another one.

10:37 Another one.

10:39 Oh, man in heaven.

10:41 Oh, God.

10:47 Holy c.

10:48 Have you seen your face?

10:50 I was just about to conclude and say we must now close down all coal

10:55 and gas powered power stations and switch

10:58 immediately to wind power cuz obviously it's better.

11:01 But look what it does to you.

11:03 It's brought me out in boils and sores and blindness.

11:07 Did you have to use any of your insurance waiver forms?

11:11 No, none at all.

11:12 No.

11:12 The car got here without a single scratch.

11:17 It was blue when you set off.

11:20 Wasn't, wasn't it?

11:20 It was blue.

11:22 Wasn't.

11:22 I'd have sworn it was blue, wasn't it?

11:25 Red.