There have been a lot of fears that New Top Gear – the one without longtime hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May – just wouldn’t be the same. But now, the UK’s Telegraph is reporting that happy German racer lady Sabine Schmitz and happy British regular man (and recent Jalopnik columnist) Chris Harris are joining radio host Chris Evans on the cast.
And all of a sudden, it’s like we’re not afraid at all.
We have an email in to Harris to confirm the news and will update if we hear back.
If you’re unfamiliar with the work of Sabine Schmitz, she’s also known as the Queen of the Nurburgring, due to her extensive work there, as well as the host of German car show D Motor, and for that one time she taught Clarkson how to properly drive a van:
And if you’re unfamiliar with the lovely Chris Harris, you may remember him from the time he wrote this, or this, or this, or this for Jalopnik, or in a much more likely scenario, all of the fantastic work he’s done on two Internet shows, Drive and Chris Harris on Cars:
No matter where you remember them from, however, rejoice in the (still unconfirmed!) news that your most beloved motoring program won’t be hosted by a bunch of wooden jamokes with no passion for the automobile.
Instead, it’ll be hosted by jamokes we’ve all already come to know and love.
Though that’s not to say all is well over in Top Gear land. The report about Harris and Schmitz comes hot on the heels of news that the show’s executive producer and script editor have quit, months before the show sees a television screen. And it also comes less than two months after Evans himself hinted that he’d be the solo star of the show, so we may want to take this latest news with a big, solid grain of salt.
Still, the new Top Gear debuts May 8th, and we’re more excited than ever.
Contact the author at ballaban@jalopnik.com.
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