In September 2009 the Top Gear team officially announced their latest world tour beginning in London and taking in Birmingham, Dublin and Amsterdam before arriving in Cape Town, followed by Johannesburg, Sydney, Auckland and Hong Kong.
For the Cape Town show, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and the mysterious Stig will team up with local radio and TV presenter Sasha Martinengo.
Estimated to attract over 340 000 Top Gear Fans worldwide, the live performances will include the usual fast cars pushed to their mechanical limits, breath-taking car stunts, special effects, precision driving and all the chaos, mayhem and the razor-sharp repartee that fans have come to love. It will also include the world's first indoor loop-the-loop, the “loop of death” which will be specially constructed inside the Grand Arena.
According to the BBC, the live show will comprise up to 16 different scenes or sequences and will include a chance for every visitor to set a time around the Top Gear test track, live in the arena. With commentary from Clarkson and the support of 5,000 fellow audience members at each performance, the participants will be encouraged to better the records set in other countries.
Another new inclusion is the Cool Wall, which will allow the audience to debate with the presenters. According to Jeremy Clarkson "we've turned your favourite motoring television show into the most spectacular motoring theatre show in the universe. We'll be taking all the best bits of Top Gear, and ambitiously attempting them live in our action arena. I'm sure it will work out well!'"
Top Gear first aired in 1977 as a local show to tackle motoring and road safety issues. Today, it enjoys a global audience of 350 million viewers across 90 different countries.
Shows on all four evenings will begin at 17h30. On Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 there will be a matinee performance at 14h00 plus an additional 11h00 show on Sunday 31. Tickets are available at Computicket between R250 and R450. An age restriction of three will apply and no children, including babies, will be allowed to sit on an adult's lap.
