Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May once raced to the Swiss Alps in an epic car v public transport battle, with Clarkson winning by minutes in a Ferrari supercar. The trio embarked on the crazy race back in Series 5, with the three hosts aiming to travel between Top Gear's studio in Guildford to Verbier, Switzerland in the fastest possible time.
Richard and James took public transport with the duo heading on planes, trains and buses to reach their destination. However, Clarkson turned up in a stunning Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, pipping his co-hosts to the finish line by just a matter of minutes.
The challenge started before dawn, with James and Richard heading straight to Guildford station to take a train and a bus to head to London's Heathrow Airport for their first flight. This allowed Jeremy to build up a substantial lead, with the Ferrari supposedly covering 100 miles of France before the duo had left the ground.
Jeremy’s journey took a slight turn for the worse when the Scaglietti picked up a rattle, but the sound didn't affect the Ferrari’s speed. Despite Jeremy’s best efforts, Richard and James had taken the lead with their plane landing in Geneva while Jeremy was still well north of Dijon, around 250 miles behind.
At this stage, Jeremy admitted he couldn't really win, but pressed on regardless after stopping over to fix the rattle. However, Richard and James were delayed in Switzerland, having to take trains from Geneva to Martigny and then across to Le Chable.
At the same time, Jeremy was finally starting to feel good about his chances, using the Scaglietti’s 5.7 litre V12 engine to close up. On arrival in Le Chable, Richard and James had to take a bus to Verbier before a short walk to find the ski lodge finish line.
However, as the two desperately searched for the chequered flag, Jeremy peeled around the corner with the two spectacularly meeting in the middle of the road.
Upon seeing the Ferrari, James threw his luggage into the middle of the road, shouting: “You’ve got to be kidding. I can’t believe that."
Jeremy added: “I can't believe this. No one is going to believe.” The host quickly darted into the Scaglietti and spun away. Leaving the boys for dust as he reached the finish line minutes ahead.
Jeremy concluded: “So there we are, the best integrated public transport system in the world, allied to a plane that actually arrived at Geneva early, was beaten by a car.”