INLSA
Five-year-old Stig junior Amal Shiba reaches out to his dad, Nayan, outside the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Shiba will be the mascot for his fathers Royal Vulcanizing stall at the Top Gear Festival on Fathers Day.
The Top Gear circus has arrived in Durban with its entertaining trio of presenters, Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May, who quietly jetted into town before the massive motoring weekend.
Organisers of the Top Gear Festival refused to divulge any information to The Mercury on when the famous three would arrive or where they would be staying. But the banter among the famous presenters has begun on Twitter, with “the Hamster” Hammond revealing that he had arrived on Wednesday night.
“Well, I’m in Durban, ready for Top Gear Live. Captain Slow and The Ape arrive tomorrow. So… I was the first to arrive! First time ever,” he tweeted.
Hammond was in Africa on a safari in Botswana and flew into Durban from Joburg. Clarkson and May arrived from London yesterday morning. Clarkson’s Twitter pictures showed that he and May flew in on a luxury private jet.
“Wow, slept in a room, not a tent – apparently you shower indoors. Going for a run by the sea. Other two still flying, can’t respond – the pair of… ,” Hammond tweeted yesterday morning.
This week’s cold front from the Western Cape and unseasonal rainy weather had Hammond (and many Top Gear fans) set to descend on Durban worried. But a characteristically warm winter weekend has been forecast for Durban. The maximum temperature is expected to be 25ºC.
Hammond and crew are believed to be staying at the Beverley Hills Hotel and posted a Twitter picture of a raincoat-clad man on the uMhlanga beachfront promenade.
The antics are expected to spill over into the Top Gear Festival itself, which begins tonight with a tribute dinner for world-renowned Durban-born McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray.
Tomorrow and on Sunday, four stadium shows hosted by the Top Gear trio and “The Stig” will include a number of motoring challenges and daring manoeuvres, including a double loop-the-loop stunt world record attempt.
Festival director Hannah Cabral said that, besides the live stadium show, there would be all-day entertainment, from street track and off-road challenges to an extensive exhibit of supercars and a luxury car auction.
“There are still tickets available. Saturday’s show is almost sold out, and platinum tickets are sold out.”
