Top Gear season 24 first trailer released, show "Coming soon"

7 years, 10 months ago - 31 December 2016, motor1
Top Gear season 24 first trailer released, show "Coming soon"
Matt LeBlanc drives an old Mercedes E-Class sedan.

BBC is preparing for the next season of Top Gear and has released the first teaser video. Finally, we can take a first look at Season 24 of the show, which, as already confirmed and shown in the video, will feature Matt LeBlanc as a lead host, Rory Reid, and Chris Harris. In this first trailer the trio is racing... well, three old cars, including a black London cab, an old Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and a Volvo V70 Cross Country, without touching the steering wheel with hands and knees.

At the end of the previous season, Chris Evans stepped down as a host of the show, despite giving literally the best he can, as he explained in Twitter back in June this year. While Season 23 was not as successful as BBC wanted it to be, the first episode was watched by 4.3 million viewers. That figure fell by roughly half over the course of the season and the show underperformed considerably compared with previous series hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.

Evans' role will be taken by American actor Matt LeBlanc, who will lead the show in at least two more series, after signing a deal with BBC in September. Matt was hugely popular with Top Gear viewers with "his humor, warmth, and obvious passion for cars and for the show," as Mark Linsey, BBC Studios director, explained.

There's still no air date announced and the teaser video only says the "brand new" Top Gear is "coming soon." It's going to be pretty interesting to see whether the show will be filmed at its current home at the Dunsfold Aerodrome, which is about to become a large housing development. The construction of 1,800 homes will force the show to eventually find a new track.