Grand Tour Episode 2 Mixed Utter Ridiculousness With Flashes Of Brilliance

Most of you will be aware that I wasn’t a huge fan of The Grand Tour’s debut episode. I seemed to be very much in the minority with my more negative review of the hypercar infused installment, and I reckon the only way I could have pissed off the petrolhead community any more is if I’d have set an R32 Skyline GT-R on fire. And put the flames out with my own urine.

So, one week on, I was very keen to get stuck into the second episode of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s Top Gear follow-up, to see how it measured up. And as much as I don’t want a virtual mob brandishing virtual pitchforks at my door again, I have to report that I wasn’t 100 per cent sold on this effort either.

There was certainly a lot to like. The Aston Martin Vulcan film was utterly stunning, and the decision to take it around the tight, twisty and bumpy ‘Ebola Drome’ rather than a full size track was a brave one.

Yes, I very much enjoyed watching Chris Harris take a Vulcan around Yas Marina circuit on Top Gear earlier this year, but the Grand Tour Vulcan film gave me a much better idea of just how much effort it takes to drive the damn thing. Clarkson’s always been good at relating what a car’s like to drive, and this was Jezza at his very best.

It was also great to see James heading out and sampling some local car culture. It was like a throwback to the sort of segment that might have been on Top Gear many, many years ago, and I sincerely hope they continue this feature in each of the show’s stops. Although I’m not sure they’ll have found quite so much in the way of tyres smoking antics in Whitby…

So, those were the good bits, but what about the not so good? The big military exercise feature that the episode hinged around is the most important point to touch on. It had its amusing points and some epic sequences (I’m thinking the Audi S8 car chase), and I must admit there was a perverse pleasure to be had in seeing the boys form the world’s worst special forces team. But it frequently descended into farce, and had the feel of a bad action film spoof.

Elsewhere, the already tired celebrity death joke made an unwelcome appearance, and “The American” continued to be deeply unfunny. Which is a shame, as that balls to the wall Vulcan lap looked amazing.

Am I being overly harsh? Perhaps, but we all know the brilliance this trio and the people behind the scenes were capable of on TG, so I’ve no doubt the very best GT has to offer is yet to come.

What did you think of episode 2?