The team behind one of television’s most popular fast car shows thought it would be a great idea to race a 250 mph Bugatti Veyron, the world’s fastest street-legal car, and the twice-the-speed-of-sound Typhoon multi-role fighter, set to be the backbone of the Royal Air Force (RAF) for the next 30 years.
The result is a breath-taking filmed sequence which will be aired during the new Autumn series of BBC 2’s popular “Top Gear” programme, aimed at fast car buffs, this one scheduled for Sunday, 28 October 2007.
The tricky issue of just how to race them against each other was eventually resolved. It was decided that the car would cover a measured mile and back along the runway at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, timed against a Eurofighter Typhoon taking off alongside it and climbing a mile upwards and diving down again to cross the finishing line at a height of 100 feet.
With two such advanced machines involved, it was inevitable that only the best quality drivers would be appropriate – Richard “The Hamster” Hammond, “Top Gear’s” legendary fast car man, was behind the Veyron’s steering wheel, and the RAF’s Typhoon Display Pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jim Walls, was the Typhoon jockey.
“Well, it’s an awesome car versus an awesome aeroplane,” said Richard Hammond. “For a guy who spends a lot of his life celebrating technology and speed, and clever machinery, it is a fabulous challenge.
“It is a recipe for huge fun,” he went on. “We have taken one of the most exotic and expensive cars in the world and pitched it against one of the most technologically advanced and fabulous fighters,”
He marvelled at the level of technology contained within the Veyron’s frame – worth a cool £700,000 – and at the thought that went into its design and construction. “So you can be whispering along at 200 mph, but it really feels like just 30. It is a real celebration of what can be done. Given this go-for-it, no holds barred, view of what a car can be made to do, it is a marvellous achievement.”
Fighter pilot Jim Walls was equally enthusiastic about the contest. “It is very exciting
and to me it is very akin to display flying. It is an aerobatic manoeuvre near to the ground, the sort of thing we do in the display,”
Describing the race he said: “From a standing start the car travels a mile, turns around and comes back a mile. It will finish at full speed, and will be able to use the 200 feet width of the runway to turn round.
“The aircraft, from the same standing start, will take off, go up a mile, perform a half Cuban to turn round, and will then descend to cross the finishing line at a height of 100 feet. It will be going as fast as it can within the legal limits – it cannot go at maximum speed because it must not go supersonic over land”, he explained.
“Top Gear” assistant producer Alex Renton said: “We got the idea of going out there and seeing what cars could compete with Typhoon. And there was no doubt in our minds that the Bugatti was the main contender.
“The acceleration statistics are unbelievable with 1,001 brake horse power, and stopping distances are startling, all on a road car. Jim, the Typhoon pilot, has been doing some flights in the simulator, and he was estimating about a minute to complete the run; rough estimates from Bugatti showed they would be similar, so that really was the car for us,” said Alex.
“Why Typhoon? Well, it’s the RAF’s new toy,” explained Alex. “We have read so much about it in the press, and have heard about its agility and amazing performance in the air, both at subsonic and supersonic speeds, we really wanted to have a good look at this piece of kit”.
When the BBC put forward the proposal for the race RAF Air Command considered that the programme would be a positive way of increasing the public’s knowledge of the capabilities and advanced technologies of Typhoon, and it was subsequently approved, subject to very strict safety guidelines.
Once the financial details had been finalised under established defence Wider Markets procedures, with the BBC agreeing to meet all the RAF’s additional costs associated with the event, filming took place at RAF Coningsby on Tuesday and Wednesday 04 and 05 September.
