As we know, practice makes perfect.
So, I'm gonna get some practice now, before the course opens, in the 'Bago.
-Clarkson! -What?
-I know it's you. -What are you doing?
We're up to 40 miles an hour in the 'Bago! It's James! Come on!
I was asleep.
-Where's May? -Pack it in! I'm on the throne!
Clarkson, it's not funny!
Clarkson, you infantile pillock.
You're tidying that up.
At 9:00, the event began, and we immediately bought some hats,
so we'd blend in.
Morning.
Then, it was time for our safety briefing.
On a run, if a car has a problem,
they blow up an engine or they catch fire. They turn out to the right
and we know immediately to send the fire truck.
-So we go right if we have a problem? -Correct.
If we go left, spinning out of control, that doesn't mean we don't have a problem.
It means we can't go to the right.
Our challenge was simple.
To see what speed we could achieve as we went past the mile marker.
I'm not leaving here until I've achieved 170 miles an hour.
My target for that is 150.
-One fifty. -One sixty.
-Fifty, 60, 70. -Right, gentlemen.
On a mile-long run on tarmac,
our cars would hit those speeds easily.
But on salt, that's a very different story.
There's a top coat of, you know, tiny crystals.
You kind of float over 130. You start floating around a little bit.
It's slicker. The surface responds differently to the tire.
Does it slide about?
Sometimes. Depends on how much horse power you put down.
What will happen at 425 then?
-You'll spin out. -Okay.
You'll spin out? So what am I gonna do at 640 horsepower?
You need to be awfully careful.
It was time for our first runs.
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!
They probably think that's a Bon Jovi lyric here.
Okay, here we go.
Come on, baby. This is your territory.
This is what you do. Just that little bit more.
Oh, that was a bad start.
A bit of shaking. Bit of wobble. Come on, car.
One mile! There we go.
Course is clear.
All of us were too slow.
-A hundred and sixty six. -One fifty seven.
A hundred and forty two.
-That's not... -No, I know.
To reach our targets,
we'd have to get the wheel spin off the line exactly right.
Every gear change exactly right.
We'd have to get our line in the salt exactly right.
Every bit of the run would have to be perfect.
And that's a tall order for us lot.
(bleep) the limiter.
No, this is hopeless.
One forty four.
One six six.
One thirty three. Ignoring that one.
Come on. Come on.
Oh, no, I misdrove!
It's gonna be worse. No!
This is so irritating.
Oh, (bleep)!
-One four four. -One fifty seven.
Missing the gear cost me three miles an hour.
It just doesn't work with the traction control off.
That was a complete cock-up.
That was hopeless. I'm going backwards.
Hundred and forty four again.
In the midst of all this disappointment though,
the little red Corvette achieved something amazing.
Well, you've got the fastest run we've ever clocked on these clocks.
Most people would be pleased to break a record for production cars.
Damn, damn, damn!
But Jeremy was still shy of his 170-mile-an-hour target.
They call this salt fever when you become so obsessed
that you just can think
of nothing but going faster and faster and faster.
-Sod it! -Even Captain Slow was infected.
Have you met James? Middle name Queue Barger?
I like this game.
To help us find more speed, Jeremy and I pumped our tires up.
While Richard had found an expert who said he should let some air out.
If you have too much air in the tire, the air is actually holding
the pressure held on the side wall, so the tire can't grow.
I'm really pinning my hopes on that guy being one of those
sort of mystic gurus of the flats. They exist.
Jeremy and I lined up for another run with our tires bulging at 50 psi.
Warning notices all over my dashboard, and I'm ready to rock!
Good gear change there. Didn't hit the rev limiter this time.
Come on, stretch it. Stretch it. Stretch it. 162, 164, 165.
One six nine. Half a mile an hour to go.
Come on, come on, come on.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
-One fifty nine. -Oh, God! I can't do it.
It had been close, but no banana for Jeremy and James.
So now, watch and learn.
That's a much better start.
It's gonna work!
Come on, Challenger.
Think of the glory, think of the honor.
A hundred and thirty... What's that? I can't read it.
Hundred and thirty nine.
It was afterwards, when we were making the front of my car more streamlined,
that I learned a bit more about my salt guru.
How much of your life have you spent on the flats?
This is my first time on the salt.
Okay.
Still, he was pretty good with tape.
So, with my grill sealed over and my tires pumped up,
I set off for another run.
Snaky start. Snaky start. Come on.
Oh, no! A bit of tape's gone.
I can't press the pedal any harder.
Come on, come on, keep climbing. Keep climbing.
Do you have a knife I can borrow? There you go, Challenger, breathe!
With my tires pumped up to the point of exploding,
I set off after Hammond.
Forward into the pages of history!
Synchro's getting a bit weak on second.
That's 153, four.
Come on, stretch it. Stretch it.
Come on, 'Vette.
Oh, I don't know.
I didn't expect that. I've done it.
-150.02. -What?
Just this second, that last run.
-You've done it? -I've done it. Look, 150.02
-Congratulations -What've I just done?
-Let's see, 176.549! -No.
So, could Slow make it three out of three?
Now, come on.
Quick change.
Come on. Come on, come on.
One-hundred-seventy-six miles an hour.
I got my 150 from my Challenger.
I've ruined it, obviously.
Come on.
Please let that be it.
-Good run? -Felt like it.
-Sir? -One sixty three.
Yes!
-Do you know what it is? -We all did it!
-Has Hammond done it? -Hammond's done 150.
-Fantastic. -He's celebrating in the honey bucket.
Hammond!
-What? -He did it!
What, 160?
-Yes. -One six three.
-Hey, we've all hit our target! -We've all done it.
We were ambitious and for the first time ever, successful.
We've never been good at anything before.
And we've been factual.