‘Top Gear’ season premiere draws 4.3 million viewers in UK

Still, Chris has stood by his work, saying on Twitter yesterday: “The new Top Gear is a hit”. I had Tinie Tempah, Chris had Seasick Steve – this blues singer – and Eddie Jordan had Sharleen Spiteri, from the band Texas.

Co-hosts May and Hammond refused to continue on Top Gear without Clarkson.

Reviewing the show’s first episode, The Daily Telegraph said that while the new presenters had “sharp things” to say about the vehicles, “the show’s trademark flights of savagely amusing sarcasm were as thin on the ground as edible grub in service stations”.

Referring to the row that led to the former presenter being sacked by the BBC, the new host joked: “By the way, we don’t talk about catering on this show any more”. Top Gear audience grew throughout the hour.

The Daily Telegraph suggests that rapper Tinie Tempah, who also appeared in last night’s show, could be lined up as a possible co-host.

It features a new auto and new track, as well as seeing two celebrities going head to head.

Jesse Eisenberg and Gordon Ramsay are also on the show as guests.

Chris explained changes to the new format using a football analogy. That’s a great philosophy because kids get bored really quickly. “So we have this rule that you’ve got to move it in 15 seconds”.

Chris Evans heads to Nevada – the home of Top Gun – to pit the 645bhp Dodge Viper ACR against a Chevy Corvette Z06 driven by Sabine Schmitz.

The new revamped Top Gear which now features Matt LeBlanc, was still the most watched programme in its 8pm time slot, attracting 22.8 per cent of the audience.

An underwhelming 4.4 million people tuned in to the relaunch of BBC Two’s Top Gear.