The Skoda Octavia is a practical car that’s usually chosen for everyday use. The podcast mentions the Octavia VRS, which is the sportier version. It’s brought up because it can be both useful and quick enough to be interesting.
“Road legalized” means the car has been modified and approved to be legal for public-road use, not just track competition. In the GT40 context, it usually implies additional compliance items so it can be driven like a normal street car.
“Semi road legal” means it’s not quite a fully normal street car. It might be allowed in limited ways, but it’s not as completely approved as a fully road-legal version.
Chrome bumpers are the shiny bumpers you’d expect on a street car. The host is pointing out that this GT40 is set up for the road, not just track use.
Term
well cool
This phrase sounds like the host is describing some cool-looking exterior parts, but the transcript doesn’t clearly capture what the part is. So it’s hard to explain exactly which component they mean.
Term
override it
“Override it” here sounds like they’re talking about how one part covers or changes another part on the car. The transcript doesn’t clearly name the exact piece, but it’s about the car’s exterior details.
A “boot” is the trunk area where you can store things in the back of the car. The host is saying this GT40 has a real storage space, not just race-car practicality.
The Ford GT40 is a legendary race car from the 1960s. It has a V8 engine in the middle of the car, and the way its suspension is tuned affects how it rides and steers. The speaker is saying that even with those compromises, it still feels surprisingly great.
Term
inverted commerce
That phrase doesn’t sound like a normal car term, so it may be misheard in the transcript. What matters here is that they’re comparing GT40 versions and saying the suspension setup changes how the car feels.
A monocoque is a way of building the car’s body so the body shell acts like the main structure. Because it’s stiff and strong, it can help the car feel more stable and predictable when driving.
“Mid-engine” means the engine is placed near the middle of the car. That often helps the car feel balanced and makes steering and handling feel sharper and more responsive.
A V8 is an engine with eight cylinders. The speaker is mainly talking about how this V8 sounds and how smoothly it delivers power compared with race-focused versions.
Term
de-teamed
“De-teamed” isn’t a standard automotive tuning term, and it likely refers to the engine being detuned or set up differently from the race-car specification. The context is that the V8 is not exactly like the race version, but still sounds and drives impressively.
“302 cubic inch” is how big the engine is, based on the volume inside the cylinders. Bigger displacement often means more potential power, and the speaker is saying this one is roughly five liters.
The BMW M1 is a special, limited-production BMW sports car from the 1970s. It’s well known because it was tied to racing and is considered a classic BMW performance icon.
The Alpine A110 is a small sports car. It’s designed to feel light and easy to handle. The podcast mentions it because they’ve been testing it over time and using it in everyday driving situations.
The Porsche 911 is a well-known sports car from Porsche. In the podcast, it’s used as a comparison point for the “best” kind of performance in a certain category. The key idea is that the 911 is seen as a top benchmark.
Torsional stiffness is how much the car’s structure resists twisting when you drive hard. If it’s stiffer, the wheels and suspension work more consistently, so the car feels more precise.
Damping is how the suspension controls movement—how quickly it stops the car from bouncing. Better damping tuning can make the ride feel more controlled and the handling feel more connected.
Power steering helps you turn the wheel with less effort. If the settings are changed, the steering can feel quicker or more natural, especially at low speeds.
A homologation special is a street car made so it can qualify for racing rules. The idea is that you can’t just race a one-off—you need enough road cars built to prove it’s real.
The Audi RS 3 is a high-performance version of the Audi A3. It’s meant to be quick and exciting, but still easier to live with than bigger sports cars. The podcast mentions it because it can be a practical way to get performance.
CVT is a type of automatic gearbox that can smoothly change ratios instead of shifting gears. The downside is that sometimes it doesn’t feel as responsive, so the driver uses paddle controls to take more control.
They mention the Audi R8 V10 and say they often use the paddle shifters even when driving normally. The idea is that the car’s automatic behavior can feel a bit off at cruise, so paddles make it feel more controlled.
The Toyota MR2 is a small sports car. It’s known for being light and fun, and some versions have the engine placed near the middle of the car. The podcast brings it up because people were speculating about what a prototype might eventually become.
The Toyota Celica is a sporty Toyota car, usually a coupe. The podcast mentions it because people were wondering whether a test car might be related to the Celica instead of another model. It’s one of Toyota’s well-known sports-car nameplates.
A “mule” is basically a test car. Engineers put new parts or ideas into a regular car so they can see how everything works before building the real version.
The Lexus IS is a sedan model from Lexus. Here it’s being used as a “test car” (a mule) so Toyota can try new drivetrain ideas without risking a final production design.
The Lexus RC is Lexus’s sporty coupe. In this context, it’s used as a test vehicle so Toyota can see how the new drivetrain idea fits and works in different car shapes.
A manual gearbox lets the driver choose gears using a clutch and shifter. The mention here matters because it changes how the car delivers power compared with an automatic.
Rally One regs are the main technical rules for the top class of WRC rally cars. They determine things like engine size and how the car’s structure is built.
Term
tuba frame tub
They’re talking about the main structural “skeleton” of the rally car. The rules require teams to use a common base, which helps keep costs down and makes the cars easier to run.
They’re saying the rally rules call for a 1.6-liter engine that isn’t hybrid. That means the car relies on a conventional engine rather than an electric assist system.
It means the rally car can use a shared base structure, but teams still put their own body shape on top. So the outside can look more like the brand/model, even if the inside is standardized.
A hydrogen demo car is a prototype that uses hydrogen to make energy for the car. Toyota uses cars like this to test whether hydrogen power can work in real driving and racing conditions.
That’s a 24-hour endurance race at Fuji Speedway in Japan. It matters because running a prototype for a whole day is a tough test of durability and consistency.
They’re talking about a Toyota Corolla race prototype that uses hydrogen. The important part is that they’re working on making it last longer—more laps—so it can handle endurance racing.
Nitrogen is a gas that can be used in racing systems where pressure control matters. They’re saying Toyota experimented with many options, but not nitrogen for this particular setup.
The Nissan GT-R is a fast sports car made by Nissan. The podcast mentions it in the context of how people react to it after tests. It’s known for being very quick and performance-focused.
MQB (Volkswagen Group’s Modular Transverse Matrix) is a shared platform architecture used across many modern VW/Audi/Skoda/SEAT models. It standardizes key components and mounting points, which helps manufacturers build different cars efficiently while keeping driving characteristics broadly consistent.
A hot hatch is a regular hatchback, but tuned to be much faster and more fun to drive. It’s the kind of car people buy for both everyday practicality and sporty driving.
The Toyota Yaris is a small hatchback. The point here is that Toyota keeps improving it step by step, so it gradually feels better and more polished over time.
Car
Honda Type R
Honda Type R is Honda’s name for its most serious, performance-focused versions of certain cars. They’re saying Honda keeps making it more refined over time, not just more aggressive.
The Volkswagen Golf is a popular small hatchback. The hosts are discussing how this particular Golf feels in the hot-hatch world—more usable than a pure track-only car, but still trying to be exciting.
The Nürburgring is a legendary race track in Germany. When a car sets or reclaims a record there, it’s a big deal because the track is very challenging.
GTI is Volkswagen’s badge for a sportier version of a Golf. Here they’re talking about the GTI’s big anniversary and how that could affect naming and marketing.
The Morgan Super Sport 400 is a Morgan sports car. The hosts are using it to talk about how Morgan is currently releasing new versions and evolving its classic style.
The B58 is an engine design from BMW. In this case, Morgan uses that BMW engine as the base for its Super Sport 400. The idea is that Morgan gets a strong, modern engine and then tunes it for their own car.
An active valve exhaust is an exhaust system that can open or close a valve to change the sound. When it’s closed, it’s quieter and less annoying; when it’s open, it gets louder and more exciting. The host is saying this car uses that trick to sound good without being obnoxious all the time.
Sport Plus mode is a button/menu setting that makes the car behave more aggressively. In this case, it’s linked to when the engine and exhaust sound really open up. The host is describing it as the mode you use for more exciting driving.
“Burbles” are the little pops and crackles you sometimes hear from a performance car’s exhaust. They often happen when you lift off the throttle or slow down. The host is checking whether this new setup still makes that same kind of noise.
Torque is the engine’s “pulling power.” More torque available earlier and for longer usually means the car feels stronger and easier to drive without needing to rev as high.
Brakes are what help the car slow down. The host is saying they didn’t change the brakes for this version, so the improvements are coming from other areas.
Tyres are the rubber that touches the road and provides grip. The host is saying they didn’t change the tyres, so the driving differences are likely from suspension/engine tuning instead.
Adjustable dampers are shocks you can tune to make the car feel softer or firmer. More “clicks” usually means you have finer control over how the car responds over bumps and during cornering.
The BMW M3 Competition is a sporty, higher-performance BMW version of the M3. In this part, it’s mainly being used as a reference point for how much money these cars cost.
The Porsche 911 Carrera T is a lighter, more driver-focused 911 variant positioned between the standard Carrera and the S. The host describes it as a “nice blend” and suggests it’s the one you’d choose if you weren’t going for a GT3.
A restomod is a classic-looking car that’s been modernized. It keeps the old-car character, but uses newer parts so it drives and feels better than the original.
The Lotus Emira is a sports car made by Lotus. It’s built to feel nimble and fun to drive rather than just be fast in a straight line. The podcast mentions a 420 Sport version, which is a more performance-oriented take on the same model.
A hard top is a rigid roof panel, typically used on convertibles or cars that can be configured with different roof types. Compared with a soft top, it usually feels more solid and can reduce wind noise and flex.
Anodized aluminum is aluminum that’s been treated with an electrochemical process to create a tough, corrosion-resistant surface. The hosts highlight it as a premium material choice for the upgraded shifter, implying better durability and a more refined feel than the standard part.
A crash test is when engineers intentionally crash a car (or test parts) to see how safely it performs. They’re saying the shifter design has to survive those kinds of safety evaluations.
A rig is a custom testing setup that holds a part in place while engineers apply forces to it. They’re using it to stress the shifter repeatedly and see how it fails.
Traction control is a safety/assist system that stops the wheels from spinning uselessly when the road is slippery. It helps the car put power down and accelerate more smoothly.
Monaco is a very famous Formula 1 race held on tight city streets. It’s hard to drive because there’s little room for error.
Car
amg gt gt2
They’re talking about a Mercedes-AMG GT race car in a GT2-style spec. It’s the kind of car used for racing events where drivers need to stay consistent for long stints.
Fastest laps are the quickest single lap times set during a race. They can matter for points in some series and are often used as a signal of pace, but teams may decide they’re not worth extra risk if the race is already under control.
Person
veritan center
The host says they had a poster of a racing hero on their wall as a kid. The exact name is unclear from the transcript, but it’s clearly someone they looked up to in motorsport.
It’s basically a formal “here’s your race car” moment. The team hands the car over to the people who will run it in races, often right after it’s been prepared or updated.
Term
W16
W16 describes an engine with 16 cylinders arranged in a special shape. It’s a rare, high-cylinder layout meant to make lots of power smoothly.
It means drivers can’t just push hard all the time. They have to save their focus and stamina across the whole season so they don’t get burned out before the important races.
A simulator is a high-tech video game setup that tries to mimic the real race car and track. Drivers use it to practice and improve their driving without going to the track.
The paddock gate is the entry point into the team area at a race. It’s where lots of people go—teams, media, sponsors—so it can be hectic even if it feels like a safe zone.
A press conference is a scheduled media Q&A where drivers and team representatives answer questions in front of journalists. In F1 and other series, the format can become repetitive, and drivers may react strongly if questions feel unoriginal or political.
An endurance race is about lasting a long time while staying quick. It’s not just speed for a few laps—teams have to manage the car and drivers for hours.
“Hypercars” are the fastest, top-level race cars in Le Mans. They’re built to go extremely quickly for a long time, so they look and sound more intense than the slower classes.
Term
GC3 cars
“GC3” is one of the race categories at Le Mans. It’s for a different group of cars than the top “hypercar” class, so the cars and pace are different.
The host means that even though it’s a 24-hour race, it can feel like everyone is racing at maximum intensity. The drivers still have to be fully “on” for long stretches.
Term
flat out two hour grand prix
The host is saying endurance drivers still push extremely hard for a long time. It’s like doing a very intense race stint for hours, not just driving slowly between faster moments.
A “stint” is how long a driver stays in the car before switching to another driver. In long races, teams time these changes carefully because tires and fuel don’t last forever. The goal is to keep the car fast while avoiding pit stops that cost too much time.
“Balance of performance” is how race officials try to make different race cars compete more fairly. They may add weight or limit power so one design doesn’t run away with the race. The idea is to keep the racing close across the field.
“Aero” means the way the car’s shape and wings interact with the air. At racing speeds, aero helps the car stick to the road and stay stable. If another car blocks the airflow, the following car can feel unstable and lose grip.
Term
NMP
In this context, “NMP” is an older shorthand the host uses for the top prototype category name that has since changed. The point is that the class naming has evolved, but the racing structure still separates faster prototype/hypercar machinery from GT cars. For listeners, it’s a reminder that endurance series often rebrand categories while keeping similar performance tiers.
Liquid hydrogen is hydrogen that’s cooled until it becomes a liquid. It’s used as a fuel for hydrogen vehicles, so the car can store and use hydrogen more practically.
LIVE
When quiet and totally silent, you could hear a pin drop apart from
there was a Porsche club celebrating with a flag they were waving.
Hello everyone and welcome to Evo podcast episode 52. I am joined on this episode.
James Taylor, Deputy Editor.
Hi Steve.
Sam Jenkins, Senior Staff Writer.
How about you?
Being told off by Henry the other week.
Bit pudding there I'm sure.
And I'm Stuart Gallagher, Editor-in-Chief of Evo.
Yeah episode 52 as you just pointed out that's quite a lot of hours.
It's quite a few podcasts.
Yeah so thank you everyone for sticking with us and welcome to everyone who is new.
So James you've not been on for a couple of weeks because you've been here there and everywhere
taking some holiday but also talking to future world F1 world champions.
Let's hope we haven't jinxed it for him.
Unsurprisingly driving some race cars.
And a rather cool new road car as well and it's been quite a week.
You've been out in our GI Yaris that we are in mourning for because it's just returned.
Yeah it's just quite sad.
Quite sad that is.
They're cracking the whole car aren't they?
We're going to touch on some hot hatches in a minute but
yeah when we've had quite a few GI Yaris's they're turning into our Octavia VRS.
Yeah they are.
Racemen aren't they?
Every excuse of can we get one in.
And we're also going to this episode is going out Friday morning of the Mon weekend.
So if you're traveling down you can listen to us or other podcasts are available.
But a couple of us are heading down to the Mon this weekend so we thought we'd also do
a bit of a Mon theme in this episode as well.
But James back to you.
You've been a busy boy.
You started off with sort of supporting Dickey and the team and writing some content for
Evo Iri's series which actually has a little bit of a Mon theme I remember because you drive a
4 GT 40 which is not a car you can easily forget.
So I'm still pinching myself about that.
It was genuinely a dream come true.
That's a car I wanted to get behind the wheel of ever since I was really really young.
It was a favorite car my dad's and I'd read so much about them.
I almost felt like a driven one before because I'd sort of imagined it so much.
And this was the Mark 3 the road going version.
So they only made seven of these sort of road legalized GT 40s.
You could buy the race car with a sort of semi road legal spec.
But this is a proper one with chrome bumpers.
Those cool little well cool.
I'm not sure those override it.
Yeah we thought they were quite cute.
Yeah they sort of add something to to the car and this big long tail on the back to
make space for a boot which was actually a kind of metal box this big sort of metal.
Oh is that what it's for?
Yeah and so these also reroutes to go underneath.
But just to really heat it up.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Something you know it's an oven.
Brisk it in or something.
But it had a reputation that car for being well I guess sort of the worst in inverted
commerce GT 40 because the suspension's softer.
Yeah it's a bit higher or these compromises but it felt pretty incredible to me.
It drove so well it felt like a much more modern car.
Oh really?
Than it was I think because with the the kind of stiff monocoque structure
it kind of rode and handled like quite a modern car.
It felt you know almost a bit lotus-ish I guess in a way.
It kind of breathed with the road and responded really well like a modern mid-engine.
And it literally did sound so good because that V8 is de-teamed from the race cars but
302 cubic inch which is about five litres I think.
Just so smooth.
There's just over 300 horsepower but delivered in this really sort of smooth graduated way
and sounds every bit as good as you know you would expect it to sound.
So yeah yeah I'm still kind of reliving that one.
Yes yeah that was part of our kicked off our 2026 Evo eras which is the supercar for this year.
So that was part of our origin supercars and then you've been out doing 70s and 80s subsequently
we're going to do a couple of special episodes just on those but what was give us a brief
highlight of the 70s and 80s.
Also still pinching myself on those as well.
I mean I don't know if anyone's watching on YouTube you can see in front of us we've got the
the first issue which is lands any moment now of the 70s test.
So yeah that we'll do as you say a proper episode on it but we had you know Lamborghini
Kuntas LP400 and Ferrari Berlinetta Bugza BMW M1 all these cars which some of them
had only seen in the inside books and the magazines you know it was it was a proper
kind of unicorn test.
So I drove up to the test with John Barker in our long-term Alpine 110 from the fast
We car-shared up to the North York Mars where we did the test and we pulled in at the
into the kind of car park where all these cars were assembled and we both kind of
went speechless for a moment because it was such an incredible group.
It's quite a lineup isn't it but yeah we're gonna we're gonna pick up on those when
John and Dickie are back as well they've been instrumental in that so we went no spoilers.
Bring you back down to earth or was it you went off on a hot hatch test
yeah with our no it wasn't with our Yaris was it it was with a GI Yaris aero
aero performance version yeah um gold 50th edition that's right and obviously our old
favorite and sadly has it gone out production now I think I think officially as you can't
you can't buy one brand new anymore because it's the Civic Type R which is the Porsche GT3 of hatches
yeah now a couple of those cars you drove the GI Yaris in Monte Carlo earlier in the year but
had a very brief drive of it that's right um you said something the test is doing the video for
us but what was your having spent more time in it what's your thoughts on that aero performance is
it just a standard Yaris with more body kit on it or could you tell the difference well on paper
that's where it should be pretty much a standard Yaris with a few a few tweaks but
myself and you said who's right in the test we both both came to the same conclusion it's the
best GI Yaris we've driven and it sort of shouldn't be because the main thing is it's
it's some aero kit as the name suggests but they've made all these tiny little tweaks that
that just kind of added up to greater than the similar parts yeah so we also have a GI Yaris
as you say that's just left our long-term fleet that was an auto wasn't it you drove that to
Monte Carlo how many fuel stops or did you stop counting I think it's five I think I filled it
on London yeah it was weirdly it was Mayfair to Monte Carlo was the way it goes which is
much posher surroundings than I normally find myself in and then Peterborough too
yeah exactly it did end up back near Peterborough but yeah I think it was five Phillips I think
yeah um and this car compared to that car so our long-term I was a 2024 spec one this being
sort of the latest gen one that they've just there's a little bit more torsional stiffness I
think there's a few more weld points in there the damping they've just a tiny little things like
like like the the tuning of the dampers power steering they've reprogrammed the power steering
and there's definitely something else I'm trying to think back now it was back in January yeah
but yeah it's it's just feels a bit more kind of alive and responsive and together and the front
ends a bit more positive it's just just yeah a little bit more immersive than the previous one
yeah because you've spent some time in it before it left yeah our car yeah what do you think of it
there's a lot there was a lot of hype around the Geo Yaris when it first came out and it's a
really really cool concept yeah it being a homologation special that never happened but it
happened anyway I think they look great and the new the gen two car is much improved but it now
comes with the auto ours has the yeah also wasn't it because we had to find an excuse of running
another one so yeah run an auto we've not had a red one so this was a red auto yeah and so you
were driving the car you picked me up in it yeah and at low speeds sort of normal in normal driving
the gearbox really sort of slurs and almost feels like a CVT sometimes yeah it does not feel like a
performance gearbox it's not sort of snappy and and on it so I wasn't really looking forward to my
drive back when I got in the driver's seat but if you if you push on as soon as you get it in
manual and in the right modes it really does liven up and become and then you realize what
what it's all about I'd barely spent any time in a Geo Yaris before this yeah somehow um and I do
get it whether I'd have one over say an RS3 yeah which is a lot more practical yeah and it still
has that all-wheel drive kind of you know rally car-esque um dynamic package I'm yeah I'm not
I'm not sure I interest because I'd I've only driven our auto long-term and yeah the most
inappropriate journey so driving the full length of the m4 yeah it's not the best
for that no but to your point on the gearbox even on the motorway you end up using the paddles
because if you leave it in drive it does feel like a slow slowly confused CVT so you end up
driving an auto but on the paddles over which a few cars you'd do it on r8 yeah r8 v10 you
end up driving on the paddles because the gearbox doesn't seem quite in sync when you're just cruising
along and I'd have a manual geo yaris I don't think the auto adds enough when you're absolutely on
it yes because you but for the rest of the time it takes so much away from the car so I think I'd
I'd have a manual but I'd I'd have one over an RS3 still I think yeah I know it's more practical
the RS3 but if you're gonna have I've just I've always been a massive fan of that of the gen one
and gen two it's a really cool car it's a very and it's very confident in what it's meant to be
it's not trying to be anything else and the RS3 is sort of a blend of quite a few things
but yeah it's a there's still a cracking car there's the marixo coming we've seen some stuff
that's really exciting this week yeah you saw that in in Monte Carlo that's on its way and there's
this mid-engine development mule that's hacking around that a colleague has driven this week
actually I'm so interested to see what he he says of that but there's lots of sort of rumors of
whether that's a mule for an MR2 or a Celica not the rally car because that's got to be a 1.6
because this mule car is running around in the new 2.0-litre engine that you saw some stuff at
tail end of last year on that engine yes which is what 300 horsepower 2.0-litres 400 horsepower
is the sort of yeah base-ish level of the engine right it's it's essentially it's a it's a development
of the three-cylinder but it's also sort of half of the v8 that's in the GRGT because it's all a
modular system so they're going to use it in plenty I think is the idea but yeah so baseline of 400
but it can be used in combination with hybrid systems so they could boost that figure in in many
ways and yeah so it's in this mid-engine Yaris for now they've tested it in some Lexus mules like an
IS Saloon and an RC with a manual so they're thinking about manual gearboxes as well clearly
it'll be very interesting to see what they do but they haven't really said anything concrete yet
which is typical sort of Toyota and also all Japanese manufacturers they sort of very
as their culture is very reserved and then suddenly here it comes like that yeah
uh GR GR MN Corolla that came out or yeah a couple weeks ago two seats like a R26R
Corolla um but yeah if you're fascinated with what they do with that mid-engine
sort of concept there's all kinds of torque of what it could be and where it can be used
and the rally car that's been seen testing it's not a Yaris shape is it you know it looks mad
yeah like a three box saloon or a coupe sort of yeah so that's for WRC 27 regs that place
rally one regs isn't it so it's a tuba frame tub that they all use but 1.6 cylinder non-hybrid
engines yes so that for those regs and then they can put their own body on it within a footprint
and it should be much less expensive to run than the current should be smaller cars and and more
common parts with rally two cars rather than more bespoke so that's another thing that
Toyota's doing plus they're doing the GT plus this mid-engine mule plus more derivatives and then
they're in the mon running a hydrogen demo car this weekend and they're at the pointy end of the
grid as well and they they ran that mid-engine Yaris at Fuji 24 hours as well so they're
really pushing pushing it with that so and in the same race they ran which they've been doing for a
while the Corolla hydrogen race car as well which they've just been expanding how many laps it can
do trying everything but nitrogen so they are I think as Accio Toyota has said it's fingers in every
pie yeah because I have to have powertrains that work in their global company and yeah the world
isn't the same everywhere so yeah yeah it's fascinating what they're doing with those performance
cars at the moment hedging yeah interesting way possible exactly it's great for us because all
these things hopefully come out and we benefit from so after the aero you also had in that test
the Golf GTR which no one's really been a huge fan of on the long hate but I think it's NUSIF drove
this 50th edition didn't he at the beginning of the year yeah it's a sort of prototype and came
back because that's really good but it was in on a launch in Spain in soaking wet in the winter
where you think there'll be summer a winter sun and it's snowed yeah so it's the first time we
had it in some decent conditions and it was you came back really impressed with it weren't you
I was surprised how impressed you were with that yeah genuinely I mean I know it's damming with
faint praise to say it's the best market Golf GTI because that's not a car that's been brilliantly
received but yeah it really feels like it's back back on form with this car I mean it's
it's very expensive as these things are and it's got some dubious trims or bright reds or
postman pat red pedals and some quite cheap looking badging all over the car but it drove
really really well so the ride's a bit firmer than you might expect of a Golf but still has that nice
sort of fluid supple yeah quality to it and you can adjust the level of damping like other modern
mqb cars there's the big slider on the touch screen so you can choose I think 15 levels of
damping which yeah so you know still over complicated perhaps but I think the thing that
shines through with it is it's just feels a bit more like like they used to you know there's a
bit more feedback through the steering surprisingly tail are happy not in a wild way not in a you
know sort of sort of not a car that you'd worry about having an incident in but more just very
pointy front end okay bar rear end and yeah genuinely a fun car and save it to our past
all brilliant yeah that's the thing it's it's funny because on the outset the test we and I'm not
going to give give the result away but going into it we thought okay the Honda we all know how good
it is it's just kind of it's kind of laid waste to everything that's ever come before it but between
that the Golf and the Toyota it was a much closer thought test than we expected and a lot more
nuanced it was a lot harder to pick a winner than we thought on the way in but um but yeah
that the Civic is a benchmark for a reason it is such an incredible car stunning thing isn't it
it's sort of car where within a few meters you think okay this is great doesn't it in the car
park yeah this is amazing no other hatch like it no it's interesting that that's quite old
fat generation and that concept but it still is untouchable yeah in terms of as you said there's
nothing else like it and it will go down as an all-time great won't it as a hot hatch of any era
and also in the way that Toyota the GI department keep refining the Yaris and holding it to make it
a little bit better that's what Honda's done with the Type R as well it's
so polished and so fine and the Golf is it is it essentially sort of a marquee Club Sport S or is
it a bit less than that because it has rear seats isn't it yeah I would say so apparently the Club
Sport S which as you say is the old two-seat car the one that used to have the Nürburgring records
which this car's just reclaimed actually um was apparently the benchmark while they were developing
it which is a pretty good benchmark to have yeah quite a good benchmark yeah um I would say this
doesn't feel quite as special as that okay I think the old Club Sport S probably feels a bit more
like how we just described the the Honda actually it's very pure and very focused this is definitely
a bit more well-rounded not just because it's got you know seats and doors um but it yeah it's a bit
less of a sort of track special yeah I wonder if it hadn't been the 50th anniversary of the GTI
whether it would have had a different name yeah it's a good way to celebrate yeah that landmark
doesn't it yeah um yeah I haven't had had a go in that yet it'd be interesting it's a good
big hit definitely as you say the marquee was very forgettable it got off to a pretty shaky start
yeah and it sort of improved but it was that era of vw thinking well we're just going to be id cars
we don't need to worry about the inconvenient petrol cars and that's turned out spectacularly
for them um opposite end of the spectrum um this is this is the James Taylor podcast
Morgan doing a lot yeah well exactly Morgan Super Sport 400 yeah so we're fans of Morgan quite a
lot we invite them to to everything we can when they've got something new and they're in that
sort of purple patch at the moment of the whole family of cars are being new cars new tech
new design language or or an evolution of its classic design language but the cars are evolving
at quite a rate because we had a super sport on car of the year last year but this is the 400
which again strikes us as quite a evo I mean the super sport was quite an evo car but what's
this 400 like it does it have they fallen into the trap of more power more power or is it actually
a more nuanced as you said about the hot hatches yeah no I'm happy to say it is it is fairly nuanced
I mean the more power is the headline here so it's for the super sport 400 because it's got
about 400 horsepower 402 bhp to be precise and it's the first Morgan road car to have that
amount of power they've done some you know wacky racing cars and prototypes over the years but
of in you know all of the century plus history of the company this is the first car they've made
with that amount of power and they've not just kind of rocked up to a dyno made a few tweaks and
yes um they've worked together with BMW so this uses the b58 engine that was in the super sports
the regular super sport but it's the new 01 development of that engine which has a few
tweaks and then Morgan's done its own modifications as well but they've done them together with BMW
so BMW's kind of signed off on their work if you like so they've done a lot to the cooling system
as well as some other areas as well so the regular super sports got 335 bhp at the top of my head
so it's a big jump in power and they've also worked on the exhaust system so one criticism
we didn't have many criticisms of the super sport but it's quite a it's not the most memorable
sign in car yes your expectation is quite high because that b&w engine and you think well they
haven't got the constraints of b&w but actually quite muted and loud wasn't it this this isn't
thanks it's still an active exhaust system so it's you know it's got active valve it's a
single valve system now so it's got the benefit of sounding better and weighing less which is nice
so when you're just tootling around town it's you know it's not antisocial or anything and if
you're on the motorway it's not droning away but when you do sort of let it loose on a b-roads
or put it into there's a sport plus mode yeah it sounds amazing it sounds it's got this this real
sort of guttural kind of raw sound to it that engine does sound good yeah and i think this this
gives it the chance to sound as good as it can i think does it still do the this sort of burbles
and cracks that any b&w with that engine has yeah but they sound more kind of cultured some
right okay yeah because they can sound a bit synthetic in b&w's or the ones you hear racing
around you know yeah yeah housing estate so i guess it doesn't have anything hyped in
whereas b&w's you're hearing a blend of natural and pure and exhaustive on the morgan it's all
going to be yeah be more natural and all around you and what have they done to sort of harness this
seven-chill horsepower increased torque has that gone up the same level but it comes in at different
revs so it comes in a bit earlier but more crucially hangs around for longer yeah we've got it from
i can't remember the figures off the top and the head but it's below 1500 rpm all the way past
6000 rpm yeah this big table kind of table top of torque chassis wise actually they've not changed
the brakes the tyres they were they were happy with them and it's got the the handling pack which is
the adjustable dampers that you get as an option on the regular super sport is standard on this car
and they've made the baseline setting 10 clicks differ so there's 24 clicks to get to get really
into the details for a moment it's it's five clicks from four stiff now okay which is quite a
bit more than the normal one and i think you do need to maybe treat the car with a bit more
respect i think the super sports are very safe handling car which is not to say this is unsafe
but i think it's just that little bit sharper and more responsive gives it more character than just
are we doing a bit more power but yeah it drives the same the bad news is it also costs quite a
lot more of course it does so it's it's the best part of 130 000 pounds now it's but yeah that is a
lot of money but isn't everything yeah i mean that's an m3 we keep coming back to it but an m3c
historian is 130 000 a 911 Carrera which i know is it's not direct comparison two but
911 Carrera when they came in as 996 is always seemed to be well the base 911 is x so it's
got to be as good as that otherwise you would just buy 911 but the base Carrera is now 102 yeah
it starts it's passed 100 000 it is now yeah i mean and the Carrera T which is that nice blend
between a Carrera and an S and is probably the one that if you weren't going GT3 you'd probably
go hell that's 115 or something 10 15 long those lines yeah i mean we were saying the other the
other week the the Morgan is almost sort of like her it's the closest thing to a raster mod you can
get in a production you know standard car and for 130 grand you're not going to get anywhere near
the Morgan in terms of performance and usability and looks um in the rest of mod world and there's
also in last week or so uh Lotus have announced the Amira 420 Sport although the press release
was entitled r but we're gloss over that anyway sport that's based on the i4 engine car so and
20 horsepower more um so 420 you've got 105 000 and i know that they're different cars and there's a
20 grand price to us but when you're in that market yes i think the more it's a more of an
emotional purchase and and you're you're also in that space of nearly new vast Aston Martin
Vantage and stuff but it is as we mentioned on that rest day mod podcast with Henry the other
week it is very you are stepping into that more bespoke world of what i want something different
so yeah and if it drives you know the standard super sport blew a lot of people away on car
really impressive finish six out of 12 cars yes yeah and the 400 will be you know sounds like it's
well we were talking to Joe who who comes out from Morgan and the lead chassis engine lead chassis
engineer who came down and supported the car just in case you had any punches or stuff like that and
we're all sort of hanging on come on you can get more out of this you have that sort of
wing can desire yeah well just wait and see and this is the wait and see moment and it sounds like
they've they're just yeah it's those incremental gains isn't it they keep they're now in that
lovely sort of seems to be in that run of from that plus four we had in 2024 yep to super sport
and to this there's just sort of every new model now is is more than just a few tweaks it's got
its own step on isn't it which is great to great to hear and this car is more or less what we were
saying yeah on that too if only you had a bit more x y and z either addition yeah almost is it
available just as a hard top or you can get it with no this one yeah same as the normal super
sport you can choose to have it with a soft top or a hard top or both if you want that deliver it
with and the other the only thing that they don't seem to be able to get right quite right yet seats
yeah the better than they used to be i remember driving the the plus six a few years ago and
thought i was going to fall out the thing when i was trying to do a cornering shot this is um
yeah it's it's yeah i did find myself because i drove we drove it into south wales to get this
test yeah it's sort of from the morgan factory and i was sort of fidgeting quite a lot in the
seat by the time the time i got back but yeah the quality is really impressive i think yeah for
and also i think i'm am i right when i read the review they've also changed the gear shifter
yes so yeah finally on the sieve sport because the cost of changing it from the b&w design
to their own was well into six figures wasn't it and it's a big chunk of budget just for exactly
that for something because it's part of the modigational crash test isn't
it the shape it's all the fail saves basically yeah was what what joe was explaining that they had
to build a rig basically and set up they set it up where they make cups of tea so we turn
like this make a cup of tea they would try and break it basically yeah but keep clicking it and
moving it around so um yeah they've developed their own really nice anodized aluminium shifter
rather than the part spin bmw shifter because that was the only thing that jarred wasn't it
exactly yeah yes you knew it had a b&w engine but had the best bits of b&w along with quite a
yeah it just feels a bit dearshift cheap doesn't it yeah speaking of cheap the bad news is this
shifter it's an option it's not standard so you you still get the bmw one unless you pay an extra
let me consult my notes uh 1,741 pounds 700 pound for a gearshift yeah however i've been doing my
doing my maths which has never been my strong point so maybe don't hold me to this but
that would be less than two percent of the car's total price because fine then the price is actually
138,883 pounds 143,000 with the right gear knob yes like yeah that's a lot but it is a lot but
yeah it's special said it is a special thing it is it's really well made it's it's now really
bloody quick as well it is so which is it way it weighs uh it's somewhere around 1100 kilos
and that's full full of fuel i think yeah it's just under 1200 it's highly 11th isn't it with
for the fuel yeah yeah 180 miles an hour top speed 3.6 seconds i think 62 yeah and it feels every
bit as quick as that sounds and that engine as well is yeah it's the way it delivers its torque
it's power really really effective it's very effective it's not spiky or anything even in an
1800 kilo bmw yeah it feels quick so yeah 1100 kilos how to weight ratio it's pretty spicy
yeah that's good it did rain quite a bit while i was driving the car well yeah perfect british
summer yeah um so the traction control works and and you can still switch it off if you if you wish
so yeah sounds good you're getting to one of those um and then your final summer spree early
early summer spree um you spent some time with uh i'm sure you were here's good luck charm more
that he seems to need it this season but kimmy and nanny you're at silverstone yes three days
before i mean this kid's just amazing yeah three days before monaco and he's at silverstone with
uh a couple of journalists and some customers driving amg gt gt2 hand those right customer yeah
hand over race cuts but what ignoring the race car what is i mean he's he he is going to be a
f1 world champion isn't he i mean he's just he seems to have it in he just is so he's confidence
behind the world just watching that monaco race is no matter what was thrown at him to
the safety car a red flag yeah um restarting next to a very fast start yes yeah having yeah
two the ferrari's that were deemed to be favorites for monaco and you've got charles and they were
chasing you down yeah um but just doesn't seem to be phased by anything and some of the laps he
was putting was it after five laps he'd pull three seconds on everyone there was just bono was
saying we don't need any more fastest laps can you that's why it's discerner center kind of thing
yeah he mentioned it's on his bedroom wall at home growing up he had a poster of veritan center
and a poster as you'll feel now if they were his two why he was growing up you've bought yeah you
watch him he's just so that's 55 on the bounce six now yeah no sorry
yeah five isn't it um i think it's five yeah yeah but it's just if it's just a way he when he wins
there's doesn't seem to be anyone he can catch him i think his superpower is his youth not just in
terms of you know no imagination okay go wrong but i think also his his life at the moment is just
driving racing cars really fast and enjoying it yeah and he's not encumbered by any of the other
stuff that comes with more years in the sport and fame and focus the pressures of adulthood you know
it's he can kind of because on the day he interviewed both him and george russell his team
oh yeah it was quite short it was um it was 50 minutes with each of them with yeah another
journalist as well and it was really interesting because they're both very different characters
in a different place in their lives but both of them really engaging really intelligent
and really happy to answer questions um and yeah with kimmy he's got so much kind of energy
and he would answer the questions really fast really enthusiastically and he just
sensed that he's just loving like yeah at the moment and he mentioned you know he's in a second
year of formula one last year obviously um as we all know he's replacing durs hamerton at mursadys
driving the most complicated era from the one car that's probably been and he said this year
everything is so much easier for him because he's done it once you know knows what to expect
everything was new to him last year not so much the team because they signed him at 11 years old
uh this is the thing that really struck me uh he was 11 years old in 2018
that was oh no well there was another on the podium so it's kimmy, lewis and isaac and those two
were the same age combined combined as lewis i think actually it might have been a year younger
yeah it might have been a year younger but yeah there's i mean it's oh yeah that's mad
but he looks like a as you say he looks like a young yeah he just left home
end of last year he moved to samarino from blowing it where he's from
only only learned how to use his washing machine a few months ago he uh did what we all did and
put the wrong colors together the first time he used it um but yeah really just super engaged super
smart just lots of energy and george equally was you know really engaging and gave really thoughtful
answers but yeah much more sort of considered and sort of philosophical in the way he was answering
the questions and do you feel i'm as hard in those events it's away from an f1 weekend it was a
customer handover event for those gt2 race cars w16 right but do you get a sense
that george is thinking he has got more experience he's always thinking right what's next next race
next race next update whereas kimmy still has got that yeah he's in the moment living in the
moment give him yeah i mean george mentioned that managing your energy over a season has
become really crucial because now it's west of shorter season now then it would have been with
the races in the middle east been cancelled but yeah they're still racing in 20 different countries
over 10 months and he said um when he was younger he said when he was the age kimmy is now uh with
williams he would say yes to everything so that's what you do as a young driver you say oh yeah i'll
do one more day in the simulator i'll go to that dinner i'll do that interview talk to that sponsor
yeah and he's thinking oh god i'm knackered and because it would creep up on you and he said now
um as he's older and has more experience he's got much better at defending his time yeah a bit
more protective of his energy and that's what can really pay dividends when you get to race 17 race
18 of the season yeah are you are you burnt out not through the racing but all the everything
which is what you see and everyone complains about drivers or they don't engage and stuff but
having done a few f1 races and sort of they are on from the minute they absolutely they
scan into that paddock gate so you think that you think that's a sanctuary but actually the
amount of people in there it's it's all the guests sponsors it's all your backers it's
all the investors then there's all the media and the thing that struck me um one year when we did it
with went fortunate to go to spar with ms adi so it was louis and nico and we were just we were
having some time with them later on in the day but we just observed one of the f1 press
conferences that was in the motown that ms adi was not a motown it's a structure that in london
cost you thousands of pounds a month 20 million pounds um and not having a go our colleagues in
the automotive in the motorsport media space but god they need to come up with some new questions
because there was questions i heard at that spa race that i'd heard in every f1 media conference
and i can see why f1 drivers are just so spiky with them it's like come up with something new or stop
stop trying to create a rivalry because there just isn't one you're just an
a brit race and f1 journal would ask a question then the italian f1 journal would ask exactly
the same question but for his italian audience and you just think have some respect for them
ask them something about the race they're in what they've just done in qualifying and what they've
but they're not yeah they've probably got editors going we want a story on this and we want a rivalry
and and poke the bear and see if you can get a reaction but i totally see why that in to george's
point of keeping that energy why that is tiresome and just you've just been oh can't be bothered
you asked me that last week and i'm going to give you the same answer yeah stop asking the question
and and fair play to him he answered all of our questions in a lot of depth but he answered them
very quickly he could yell he was sort of like okay but he gave us a really thoughtful answer for
each one but um you could tell it's probably the like 80 millionth interview he's done yeah
that month yeah i do that's a really interesting point about that energy thing is that mental
energy as you say you get to the end of the season when there's probably more stuff riding on it you
could be looking at a going for a title or second or third in the championship or being the difference
of the team winning constructors all getting further up and you would and you need that focus
yeah and you've got someone asking you the same question if what did you have a breakfast this
morning yeah what do you think about max racing in nerver green you think that was months ago but
well i asked george how much time off do you actually get and he said okay well it's been an
unusual start to the year with those two cancel races he said but now we're in the thick of it
he said it'll be kind of a four month block where we'll probably get half a day off every 10 days
yeah and then there'll be the summer break for two weeks and then the same again because it's
they're now going into so this is this will if you'll listen to on the friday this is the friday
of limon and barcelona it's barcelona so it's five races in seven weeks yeah around europe
which that's full on that's and it's all the stuff in between and as you get into europe
where all the teams are based the american ones there's more activation to do yeah because you're
you do stuff with the factory because that's where the team is that's building your car
and they're all based bar two of them based in the uk so you get to silverstone if you're
red ball you get to the red ball ring and that's it's yeah it's just relentless of
of a lot of people yeah there's always will it's like it's the everything that sports people
isn't it is always thrown at them you get paid a lot of money to do this but it's
there is a respect for the human body and the human mind of how working for that
you can put up with you know it's it's half a day for in four months or every 10 days but that's
not really time to do anything that's just you know you're still recovering you're still training
and you probably still got your own personal business stuff that's going on and the other
journalist asked george about social media and he said why i just don't look at it anymore i've
got to the the stage now where you know if i'm doom scrolling on sunday night after a race it's not
good for me or good for anyone else no no i'm like max he just seems to then get after a race
and jump on a sim and just constantly driving he did a 24 hour sim race
during a grand three weekend once didn't he got criticized for it didn't he for doing it but i
think he did then go and win the race the result was fine yeah the result was all right yeah they
were saying oh should he be he had him i think he dropped it in quali didn't he and they were saying
he was distracted and then yeah one all got on the podium right that's what you do um well that's
yeah i mean kimmy's just a fascinable and so i'm such a likeable guy i mean both of them are really
likeable yeah um but yeah kimmy's got such a sort of yeah just this really nice sort of vibrant energy
to him he's he's a really likeable guy i think that monaco drive i think you look at that all the
things that were going on of all the places where there's jeopardy at every curb yeah yeah for someone
who's so young and he's second year at monaco and stuff he just kept his head and going into that
race both kimmy and george said they thought that was going to be the most challenging race in terms
of the competition because they said you know the other teams have caught up a little bit
or so they said we've got a great powertrain at the moment but that's negated around monaco and
they weren't expecting to necessarily no and if you look at george's performance he was struggling
in quali and um in the race and it just showed his you know the the misfortune you have at monaco
is 10 times what you have at any other circuit the rump the greens got to be with you yeah
doesn't help when your team forget to carry out their penalty for you but um i think they've
put their hands up for that but yeah i'm looking forward to what kimmy does for the rest of this
season and going how long is he going to i think he's there's quite a good bunch of young drivers
think oh is it hands are really yes you want you know driving around with a powertrain that
didn't seem to work and still have after a string of second red bull drivers who have not had the
easiest of times he's he's really fascinating it's fascinating well sticking with the motorsport
theme um limon this weekend yeah uh you're going sam i am you're you're giving a miss this year
james aren't you i think yep yes yeah i've been the last few years but not not this yeah i'm
how many times have you been sam what you what what you do you're obviously going to about
end 24 that's your thing what do you see that what's your how do you rate limon what's the
difference for you it's very very different i mean obviously it's the same 24 hour race you know
it's a bit of an endurance race for spectators as well as the people in the race but it's so
different to spectate because you you can't get quite as close to the track and the access to
the paddock isn't quite as good as at the nirburgring but then the cars are totally different it's
another planet i mean you have the gc3 cars but the hypercars are yeah so different to watch um
and they're changing every year now as well the grid is is different again this year no Porsche
but Genesis is now here and yeah i mean it's a it's a great thing just to to go to it's my fourth
fourth year oh yeah i think it's my 12th wow impressive i've missed quite a few well doesn't
my daughter was born on the weekend of limon and my wife thought i was being very good by
staying up the weekend that she was in labor um which happened to be euro sport coverage was on
24 seven um yeah it is a facet the cars are fascinating particularly those hypercars they are
i don't you can appreciate how quick because it's a sprint it's a 24 hour sprint it is
being mentioned hasn't it yeah many are starting out of but how strong those cars are but also the
we were just talking about drivers in in f1 and that sort of mental fitness but the resilience of
the drivers and jumping in and doing a flat out two hour grand prix almost with much slower traffic
and yeah well the traffic yeah capizza last year did a was it three and a half hour stint yeah they
just left him in a car yeah honestly well it's always every year there seems to be a stint isn't
there that is a standout stint with capizza last year i remember being um there the nictandy
you just seem to find another six cylinders in his Porsche well it's a four cylinder wasn't it
um and just did uh just did a night stint that just blew everyone away and just crazy it's
there is always something there's a driver that just has their limon yeah moment and then the
team don't want to take them out do they because if you spoil the rhythm yeah you don't want to
upset things yeah it's it's this year is the most it's a huge manufacturing isn't it from
from astum with valkyries and bmw ferrari cadillac um yes hergeot Toyota who we mentioned just
Toyota earlier didn't we but their commitment to motorsport is they won the opening round
in the lower i think of this yeah champion yeah yeah and bmw's won around so obviously we need to
see who was sandbagging and yeah and he might get a favorable balance of performance yeah
unfavorable one yeah astum might have gone a bit early in that uh test session earlier uh last week
didn't they they topped the time sheets there but it's it's those front running cars are so close
now in their performance aren't they and the way they can it doesn't seem to matter what bit of
track they're on they've got maximum performance in the entire technology has moved on hugely that
helps them with that um but the aero as well managing the aero in these cars we've all seen them
over the years even take off or just lose lose it behind the back of a slower car where the the
aero hasn't been been quite right and unsettled it but it's it's interesting that how the gt3 cars
and the the i still call them nmp cars they're not called that anymore no the hypercars keep them
there's that performance differentiation but they still are able to have their very clearly
defined races the gt cars don't get spread out just looking in their mirrors they equally have
knows to tower racing for 24 hours it's crazy a lot of people it's hard to on the circuit to see
when you're there isn't it how close they're racing unlike the ring where it's quite obvious who's
chasing who but yeah so it's it's really you hope it can maintain this momentum it's got with
manufacturers because it's a technology platform for a lot of likes of toto running that hydrogen
car in some demo labs in liquid hydrogen car but they've been there yeah a number of years 10 years
ago i think we were both at the same race weren't we yes where they had unfortunately
broke down on the last lap yeah right and there's awfully hot i remember being in the grandstands
when it happened it went quiet yeah totally silent you could hear a pin drop apart from there was a
Porsche club celebrating with a flag they were waving we're above the
pit garages so we could look down on the start finish line and initially everyone thought he
got it wrong it's got another lap to do right yeah it was just crawling yeah and then it was the
Audi's and the Porsche's overtook it and Porsche eventually won yeah but yeah that was that was
second in for toto that just felt was that fuel yeah it was i don't know if it was no it was um
i think it was something electrical Kazuki Nekajima was in the car at the time because i
ended up interviewing Anthony Davidson one of the drivers on the phone a few days later for an
interview and he said he was just glad he wasn't in the car because he said he might have been a
bit more fiery with this reaction he said luckily Kazuki's a very calm character so yeah he was
just doing everything the team told him sort of recycling the car that's all you can do isn't it
that's one of those horrible things if he'd crossed the line a bit later i hadn't lapped one car
or something the race would have ended the lap before yeah something like that i can't quite
remember yeah there would have been a yeah it's that thing if you'd slowed down on one of the laps
yeah it might have counted back one there would have counted that or something but yeah it was
that was that was heartbreaking to see with the with the rival manufacturer and they were
very respectful of what had happened to a Toyota yeah they didn't want to set a break there
i think they inherited a podium and they were like well it's it's not our podium to inherit
really we shouldn't we shouldn't be here um but that's what that race does i think it like all
24 hour races the camaraderie between yeah the team it's an awesome thing yeah um but yes it's a
remarkable event first of all it was 92 um stayed in the tent which is why we're doing that again
not much because the Mazda was racing but not the noisy one okay um it was the year the TWR
WSC 95 won that sort of kind of Porsche TWR which won back-to-back 96 97 right
that was yeah the 92 was the um Mazda MXRA1 which wasn't quite as noisy as the other one but it
was still the Peugeot's i remember being quite noisy a really high yeah very high pitch stuff but
96 97 was that TWR which was the second time i went and drove down in the Geneta G20 race car
as you do stupid idea that was only one of us had about two cars a Mondeo and support car but only
the Mondeo had a mobile phone in it so when we managed to get lost from each other separated
coming off the Euro internal it took two hours to find each other again this makes me feel a lot
better because the first time i went to Le Mans i was also in a Geneta race car wasn't it G40 yeah
and literally leaving the Calais support and yeah and it took me about two hours to get back
with everyone else's we would drive around in circles and then eventually we asked someone
and they just well you just go down that road there you'll get back to the petrol station
so yeah it took us two hours to find out but yeah that was 96 97 yeah first year was 92
we did the Le Havre no Dieppe Le Havre and we came off the ferry
i've gone down with a friend of my dad's who'd been going for years and this little Clio
had absolutely bombed past everyone coming out of Dieppe and it's about an hour later
hour or so later we came around you come down this hill few twisties down a hill and it goes
into the valley and then it climbs back up again good restaurant in the bottom of the hill
but this was the early hours this was quite late at night we came around the corner and the Clio
was upside down his roof in the middle of the road um the lad was coming home and he was from
the next town up from where i lived right um so we rolled it back onto its wheels and
set it off on its way those are the days um but yes and for this there's
some great heroes that have come out in the mon as well that often get when you talk about F1
drivers but you look at you know likes of tom christensen yeah mitch and that he had uh nick
tandy alonzo's done it weathers done it yeah kibitz and all kibitzer with his performance
last year i think just really blew people away of how he could just get that car around there that
quickly um not not sure the factory team were quite impressed just about to say sam you were there
with the factory team weren't you so um what was the sort of atmosphere like in the frary camp
well after the race kibitzer had just done i think his last stint was that long three
and a half hour stint and i spotted him he was calm as anything taking questions from people
completely calm you would never he could have just got out of bed yeah i don't know how he does it
honestly um i think they all are they just remember one year yeah i mean we were doing a story with
nick tandy i mean wanted to get a shot but we couldn't get it because we um we wanted a shot
of him just as if he's just got out the car doing the stint but timings didn't say get out the car
they briefed the driver getting in and then they go straight to the back of the garage
brief the engineers yeah then they have to go and do a little bit of me but so by the time he gets
to us he was all tell down and fresh yeah so we went out and brought some cans of spray evion and
we had to spray him to make him look sweatier then let's say you do it some said but he doesn't
look like that when he gets out the car because they just get out yeah almost yeah box fresh but
yeah whether it's angsty davison or any of those drivers they just it just seems to be
not just doing a job and driving but they the way they manage themselves in the car remember do
went to spa the year that holkenberg won okay for yeah Porsche wasn't it yes he was racing for
force india which had him say these engines so we were with them say so he was we interviewed him
and and you just asked him what you won them on this year yeah that's all right yeah what was it
up yeah yeah car was good yeah we were fast we were the fastest car you know but it's just uh
that sort of i'm not emotioned they're doing their job i guess aren't they do what he was
that was the job i've done it yeah now folks they always look forward they never look
they don't tend to look back whether they do when they stop racing but
yeah they're just when they win it as you say they come out like i've done that remember one year
i went we were following a silver a3 1.6 back and it was going quite swiftly really good you know
overtaking everything nailing it and we were i can't remember we were in some sort of Porsche
trying to keep up with um and it was Andy Wallace and he had just won and his trophy was in the back
of an a3 that's amazing and yeah he was rushing to get back because he had another
job on that he had to get back for but he wasn't he was driving quickly but in that way that race
drivers do just that seamless speech unobtrusive yeah in a silver a3 basebeck a3 and his car on
the road being the quickest car on the road for 24 hours and continued he definitely had his eye on
by then yeah he was settled in in by then but he had a court finally caught up with him at the
Euro tunnel wow and the photographer i was waiting knew him because he was doing
obviously loads of stuff with Bentley and Audi and stuff so yeah oh no i've got to get back for
another job as Andy's sort of world was it sort of bounces from one onto the next one right
but it's that thing of you know i've done that yeah going home now yeah that's crazy i'm off the
clock i've been paid for right off i go it's uh it's fascinating so uh yeah some interesting um
drivers that sort of come through that also sort of fall under the radar a lot of Brits might come
away yeah he's back again this year to um yeah James Calardo with Ferrari um all these drivers that
sadly a lot of people just wouldn't know but they've made massive achievements in
not only Le Mans but sports car racing yeah in general because of the how important that
seems to have come for manufacturers we were talking about that with some of the drivers
last year of sort of what happens after the race are you are you then a celebrity in in the UK
and in the UK absolutely not but apparently in France okay it is as you would expect you're much
bigger things so i think you do become a bit of a celebrity then but okay it's a strange concept
willing them on and people not knowing yeah yeah there's some great great ones yeah you sort of
see them come up through their career and um you know Harry Ticknell was now in the Valkyrie
when he was he did the 4 GT yeah racing the 4 GT he's been there since very young yeah very young
driver by Jota originally yeah he was a really quick driving you forget how many quick Brits there
are out there yeah racing these cars what's your prediction for this year then Sam you've
you're with Ferrari again aren't you i am yeah so Ferrari need to win again because it seems to be
that when i go they win you brought them luck last time yeah um as you say that the Valkyrie
looks pretty quick at the moment doesn't it yeah but whether they were sandbagging or not
they're in their best second Le Mans and i think experience comes through i know that the team
themselves have done yeah Le Mans but second Le Mans in the car and it might just be a bit too
soon i think honestly i'm no expert but i would love it if if the Valkyrie winning would be an
awesome thing to see because it's such an exotic car you know has a v12 but three is like just three
on the bounce for Ferrari would be pretty big but would be romantic i think they'd be quite
they'd be quite happy with that BMW was looking quick i don't know whether that's because others
have yeah they've just had a 12 haven't they and yes bar coming into this so on paper
they should be the favorites but we don't know what and sparta was always traditionally being the
the test sort of the last test before long straight longest and the nearest they can get
isn't it um but then you can never rule out toto he will just probably turn up and blitz it
whether either blitz it or they don't don't come anywhere and they know have a mare it's amazing
how they've supported this race through thick and thin when it was you know down to just just them
and a couple of other teams yeah and people criticize them didn't they when they were the only
ones that in the top tier oh well you're beating yourself it's like well they could quite easily
pull out absolutely and that would that would have decimated the sport for for a while because
when there's no car manufacturers want to beat car manufacturers yeah if there's no one else there
yeah then no one else comes in so yeah they're a bit of their willingness to to support that
damned if they didn't win yes if they won everyone of course you've won
of course they didn't win they go oh why didn't you win exactly yeah although it has it it does
look like i don't think we'd get that private tier sort of element anymore will we that's already
gone now hasn't it but um i think it's it's on the radar now of a lot of f1 drivers to go and do
you obviously finando eventually won it um i think you might be going back with one of his
mates happy very in the in the foreseeable future i think someone who's got the bug for
endurance racing might be looking at it um but i think other drivers as well because it's that
you've got a lot to do in the car but it's and you've still got
balancer performance and you've still got fuel management and all of that stuff but you are
racing yeah flat out for you and the amount of wheel time if you just look at how much
wheel time you get yeah definitely you wouldn't be surprised if more f1 drivers move because
jensen did it he did it a couple of times didn't he in the jota car and then before that garage
56 wasn't it the next car yeah that was really quick really that was surprisingly quick wasn't
it yeah it looked really quick there in the garage with them for a bit of that race not not for very
long and i did ask how much power the car had and they they would just would not give me an answer
enough yeah yeah however much you think it's something like more than 400 and less than 800
or something that's the number they go 799 and what we add them together yeah um yeah that that
stuff as well is is um we saw all the you know n24 with the m3 touring yeah it's great um fugi
last weekend with the totes we've mentioned having and the mom with those experimental
garage 56 classes it still has that spirit of um a sort of endurance and challenge of going out
and doing it jenna it's i think one of the coolest things with limon and it's the case it's the same
thing with every endurance race really but even though the top class cars are really sophisticated
not quite as sophisticated as lmp1 but they're very high tech cars the the simplest things can
can ruin the race for a team so the the door i think the door latch failed on one of the 499s
last year or the year before and it happens on various cars but that could have that could ruin
the entire thing for them yes and just that sort of thing being being critical to the the result is
rory had a hole in the radiator do you remember one year when when we were there it was just just
just one little stove and then you know they put thicker gauze next time but you know that car could
have won the race yeah it's always so exciting it's not a in f1 it could be if you knock a
an end flap or something off a front wing and you lose x number of points of downforce and
well that's it then the race is over i'm just pegged at what speed i can do whereas i think
that's the fill of the mon isn't it the car comes out with gaffer tape on it yeah it's the spirit of
endurance race and he's still fight back and that there's that element of being able to still compete
and be petrified yeah finding solutions finding it yeah finding it exactly finding a solution that
more sort of motorsport that i think a lot more motorsport people involved in motorsport or compete
whether it's at club level isn't it's that how do we keep going yeah whether it's a Ferrari trying
to find a way of plugging a hole in the radiator or the door latch is closing a door how do we
close the door a club race will have the same well my door keeps opening how am i going to close it
you could so there's that close brings it all together closer kind of affinity and kind of oh
i know what they're going through sort of thing it's sort of more relatable in a weird way yeah
you feel part of it when you're there as a spectator don't you know you wake up and the
lead's changed or it's not changed and you see the race in different stages and you tend to get
behind a car and root for it and yeah yeah it's fine you latch on to a team or a car or a driver
don't you hear that you just want to sort of follow and see how they do here's a question
do when you're there do you follow it by watching it on the track and going around the circuit
or are you a fiddler starring like me and have to find a tv in a timing screen and just be glued
to it for 24 hours i've done both i think that's the stuff you win and lose and both
it's cool to go around and see you know he's even come through tech rouge and the arnaj indian
apolis sit if you yeah out there that's incredible and and you know smelling people cooking food on
the campfires and stuff but but then you do tend to lose touch with what's actually you do yeah so
i don't know there's pros and cons to both i just sort of absorb the race just from yeah i mean the
sounds and the and the sights and then when i get too tired to walk around i find a tv and just sort
lay down and watch the tv and then you know catch up that way but you see some people who
think you have not watched any racing at all yeah yeah yeah it's like i've made normally
love taking it all in up until the minute the race starts yeah okay and then it's like right now
actually what i've seen all of this i now want to see and pay attention and give it the follow
all these teams and drivers and challenges and i want to know what's going on um i don't know
what it is but it's all i can't spectate at most people just go and watch something you'll have to
have to be involved have to have someone to follow or be involved with the team otherwise it's just
well i could be anywhere yeah but then so then being total hypocrite well you could watch it at
the home but it's no but it's the build up of being fortunate in our roles being able to talk to
drivers and yeah team buses and stuff and you so you've got some insight before it starts but
then i just kind of feel i need to get invested in this and yeah yeah you still end up going out
and watching some bits but i'm constantly thinking right too far away from the timing screen and radio
limon is fantastic for keeping up it's the best way it's the it's the only way isn't it but you
still want to go and watch that yeah yeah all that yeah i'm sort of i have spent nearly a whole
race in a hospitality unit watching it once um but it was just i don't know i just found out i
what i found out more about that race than had i been stood at the side of the track
and then dipping back into the paddock to find out well what happened there what happened
sort of considering i'm rubbish with numbers i just want to know what lap times are doing and
how far away amity pit stops there are and stuff like that it's a weird but it's the only bits of
it's that race where you want to i don't know i want to be in with the cut in the car with the
driver the onboard is as impressive as as the off-board on on those cars the only and you
want you feel you're always missing out especially cutting through the traffic and stuff you see
yeah hopping over the curbs yeah i think but then you want to see it from the outside see how
sort of aggressive they can be and how on the edge those cars are yeah they're not sort of driving
within their limits at all are they yeah they're really hustling them they're hustling them and
they are making the most of them but yeah it's yeah it's been a couple of years i can't wait to get
back um yeah you're there with bm i'm heading down with bmw they're revealing a new car on probably
as you listen to this two o'clock on the friday um but they're also there because they want to win
they want to spar as you said they've come back big with a team and they want to win but i think
everyone is in it to win it i think so yeah to yeah it's gonna be good the journey there is kind
of part of it as well isn't it you feel like it's one big shared experience as you see everybody
gradually getting closer to the track you see all the banners out and every other car on that room
is you can it's much quieter it's much calmer than it used to be well yeah maybe it used to get you
there was a period when it got very sort of scary a bit laterian stuff but now it's great you just see
you know everyone is just there for for the same reason yeah the cars are great cars um
we've been fortunate to drive down in some weird and wonderful stuff and trying out enough Ferrari
so yes i am yeah 12-cylindry spider so hopefully the weather is good yeah i think it's gonna be a
hot one i went down friday watching the smurf coloured 296 oh yeah we've had the marinello concessionaires
colour scheme it didn't quite work on a tune on quite translates from no not with the blue
wheels maybe a luce but he got papped quite a lot yeah on the way down so um yeah that was that was
interesting um went down with henry in a couple of rs6's one year nice which was a good way to
travel yeah very good way to do that c5 and the then current 2016 nice which is a nice way to go
um it went down like v6 v8's cayenne manual one you know i think we spent a lot more for fuel than
you did going down to monaco but not because it had a tiny tank it just sort of drank it had a great
plasticky leather interior burgundy exterior you're not selling this to me i don't think they
sold it that's why it was a press car um but yeah the cars down there that that's great to see people
just enjoying the weekend enjoying the stickers on the cars and yeah and the dust afterwards i mean
richard tipper would have our attack but the um the year you drove out in the rs6 with henry i drove
there in a radical rxc coupe of course that's the most james taylor car ever yes took his
race suit and race license just in case someone was uh short of a driver um yeah that's going to
be i'm looking forward to actually it's going to be a yeah we need to work out where to watch it
well from behind the cash fencing you need to invent teleportation or some things you kind of
yeah or maybe an electronic device i could maybe carry and watch it yeah that might also existed
i should sort that out really um right should we bring this one to a close before we waffle on
for 24 hours about a 24 hour race or someone has an idea for 24 hour podcast um james sam
thank you very much um we'll be back next time don't forget to like and subscribe because that
helps things called algorithms um and yeah it's any questions what's the email account for questions
we're going to do another q and a podcast in a two or three weeks time so get your questions into
podcast at evo.co.uk there you go podcast at evo.co.uk but until next time thank you very much
goodbye thank you thanks
About this episode
The evo podcast looks ahead to Le Mans with predictions and a bunch of personal memories, from watching the race via timing screens to seeing cars come out with improvised repairs. Along the way, they connect endurance racing’s unpredictability—BoP swings, aero in traffic, and small reliability failures—to why the Hypercar and GC3 classes feel so different to watch. They also share rare car test stories (like a road-going GT40 Mark 3) and explain what makes Le Mans special.
Ahead of the 2026 edition, Stuart Gallagher, James Taylor and Sam Jenkins gather to discuss what makes the Le Mans 24 Hours so special in episode 52 of the evo podcast. We also recap our recent drives in everything from our recently departed Toyota GR Yaris, to a Ford GT40.
