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Yeah... Now,
a year ago,
Jeremy raced James and me
from Italy
to London.
James and I in his ridiculous aeroplane,
and Jeremy in a Bugatti Veyron.
And, annoyingly,
he won.
Then we heard from a bunch of aeroplane enthusiasts
called the RAF.
They said, "Why don't you come up to our place
and we've got a plane "that'll give your car
a run for its money."
And, well...
since I'm the only one who hasn't yet driven the Bugatti Veyron,
I took up the challenge.
Yes, the 1,000 horsepower legend
is back
and, if I'm honest, I'm a bit nervous.
Not because of the car itself,
but because of the burden
that now rests on my shoulders.
When Jeremy drove the Veyron,
all he had to beat
was an incompetent James in a useless little aeroplane.
Then when James went to Germany and maxed it,
the car didn't even break sweat.
But this time,
the Veyron's honour really is at stake
because never before
has it gone up against something like this.
The most modern,
the most hi-tech strike fighter
on the planet.
The Eurofighter Typhoon.
And for once,
when it comes to figures,
the Bugatti really is well and truly top-trumped.
Its twin engines develop 20,000lb of thrust each,
punching the Eurofighter up to 65,000ft
and a top speed
of over 1,500mph.
This machine is the cutting edge
of what a plane can do.
It's actually designed to be
aerodynamically unstable
to make it as agile as possible
in a dogfight.
So it needs 70 computers to keep it in the air,
and if they fail,
it would simply fall out of the sky.
It's a kind of a mix
of science fiction
and brute strength.
These wings, for example, have to be able to take the stresses and strains
of all those extreme,
high-speed manoeuvres.
They might look slim and dainty,
but each one can take the weight
of 35 Volkswagen Golfs.
All in all, a handy bit of kit,
as you'd expect,
at £67m a pop.
Faced with the clear and present danger of the Eurofighter,
the Bugatti Veyron really is the car world's best shot
at clinging to some honour.
And no-one knows what the outcome will be.
In fact, Bugatti's so concerned,
they've sent over not one,
but two Veyrons.
Maybe they're gonna tie them together or something.
The shoot-out will take place here:
on the main runway
at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
And here's the challenge:
it's a horizontal versus vertical drag race
over two miles.
Here's the start-finish line
and the car and the plane.
Yeah, It's difficult to get hold of models of a Veyron and a
Eurofighter.
Both start from here, the car will race
down the runway for a mile,
when it reaches the mile marker,
turn, as quickly as possible,
and then race back down,
over the same mile,
to cross the start-finish line here.
Meanwhile,
the plane will set off,
and take off as quickly as possible,
and cover a mile...
vertically.
When it's done the mile,
it turns and swoops
back down the same mile
to cross the start-finish line.
Or to crash into a £1m supercar it didn't expect to see
and YouTube has a field day.
Otherwise, last one to finish is a vegetarian.
Simple as that.
Now, you might think the plane is going to walk it.
But don't be so sure.
The car should have the edge
off the line.
It will do nought to 100 in 5.7 seconds, for God's sake.
And when it gets to these yellow dots,
which mark the mile point where it has to turn around,
the Veyron has another advantage.
Down here,
its awesome brakes should come into play.
And then there's the air brake as well,
which on its own generates the same stopping power
as you'd get in a normal hatchback.
A straight line is a straight line.
So the car does what it does there.
But up here,
I've got to brake
as late as possible,
and lose as little time as possible making the turn,
before the return mile.
so I reckon
it'll be won or lost
here at this end.
Traction control off,
gearbox to manual,
launch control,
left foot on brake,
give it the full beans on the throttle...
This is it.
'Stand by one, give me 20 seconds.'
As drag races go, you will agree,
this is quite a good one.
We are away!
We're neck and neck!
I'm getting away!
I can't believe I'm looking in...
Wow!!
I can feel the wash from the jet!
And there it goes!
So I'm fighting for the Germans in a battle against the RAF!
If you're watching thinking, "This is cool"...
It is.
After just 18 seconds I was doing 188mph
and getting ready to brake for the mile turn.
That's as late as I dare.
This is where it's won or lost.
I'm on the return mile now.
This is the best race in history!
If I mess this up, I may as well get a paper out.
I was doing 196mph but was it enough?
I must still be ahead, I can't see the plane.
NO-O-O-O-O!!!
Nooo!
I suspect I may get some abuse for this.
You failed!
You are a vegetarian and you failed
and you're useless.
Yes...
Gotta admit though, it IS quite a car.
Oh, it is staggering, but...
what a plane!
And here is the guy who flew it:
Squadron Leader Jim Walls.
Must have been terrifying.
Well, it was, because...
Not you, him!
Had to wake up that morning, "What am I doing today?"
"Oh, Richard Hammond's coming, he's driving a fast car in a straight line on a runway in the North!"
He's not gonna go, "Can I do nuclear war instead?"
So, well done, mate, fantastic.