Motoring legend James May has taken a playful dig at his Top Gear co-stars after revealing the “strange” thing they used to do while filming the hit BBC show.
The 62-year-old, known to fans as “Captain Slow”, admitted he still loves driving – but says pals Jeremy Clarkson, 65, and Richard Hammond, 55, didn’t always share his enthusiasm.
In a new video, May confessed he was baffled by his fellow presenters’ behaviour on set, claiming they often refused to drive themselves to work, as reported by What’s The Jam.
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“Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond at various points [of filming] had drivers, which I always thought was a bit strange,” he said.
“Doing a car show, why would you not want to drive cars yourself?
“I still find it enjoyable, when I drive down to my pub from London which is about just under a 100 miles.
“It’s quite an interesting drive – there’s a bit of town, a motorway and then some nice rural windy back stuff.
“I actually look forward to it, ‘ooh we can get in the car and drive down to the pub.’”
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Fans were quick to poke fun at the idea of the famous petrolheads being chauffeured around.
One joked: “To be fair Richard Hammond’s history of crashing would imply that he needs a driver, lol.”
Another quipped: “I would say Jeremy needed a driver or he wouldn’t go to the studio.”
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A third added: “Jeremy and Richard allowing someone else to drive them to work is something I never imagined possible (except maybe when recovering from a crash).”
Throughout their Top Gear days, the trio took on gruelling driving challenges, including long-distance races and 24-hour endurance events at Silverstone – so the pair might just have been taking a well-earned break from the driver’s seat.
Reports suggest Clarkson still loves cars but often moans about modern motors, calling them too heavy, touchscreen-obsessed and soulless.
The Clarkson’s Farm star previously told fans: “After 35 years do I still have the same love for cars?
“No, honestly no.
“They’re all s**t now.”
Electric cars are also a no-go for the outspoken presenter, who insists they “lack character and personality”.
Meanwhile, Richard Hammond has stayed deeply involved in the motoring world, running his classic car restoration business, The Smallest Cog, while daughter Izzy documents her own motoring journey online.
As for May, he says he’s toying with the idea of retirement – although he admits it might not be up to him.
He said: “Well I tell myself I’m going to have a crack at retirement but I’ve utterly failed at that.
“I think it’s either rank insecurity or what Buzz Aldrin called the melancholy of things done.
“It’ll probably stop quite suddenly [TV work] and that decision will be taken by other people, not by me, they’ll just decide we can’t be bothered with you anymore and to be honest I think I’ll probably just forget about it – do something else.
“Make things probably, talk to animals.”
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