Top Gear relaunch faces potential clash with new ITV motoring show

ITV's new Top Gear ^[1] rival could launch against from Chris Evans's take on the original BBC2 motoring show, with both scheduled to debut in the coming months.

ITV has announced details of its new show, The Drive, in which eight celebrities will compete against each other in a series of races and vehicles.

The broadcaster has signed up Louis Walsh, Mariella Frostrup, Angus Deayton, weather presenter Laura Tobin, Johnny Vegas, rapper Professor Green, singer Ella Eyre and Olympic athlete turned presenter Colin Jackson.

The five-part series, hosted by Vernon Kay with former professional driver Jason Plato offering expert advice, is expected to air by the summer.
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Evans's new-look Top Gear, which has been beset by problems including the loss of his hand-picked executive producer Lisa Clark ^[3] after just five months, is to launch at the beginning of May.

While the two shows are not direct competitors, there are similarities, with early reports about ITV's programme referring to it as a take on Top Gear's "star in a reasonably priced car" time-trial segment.

And while ITV's schedulers are yet to confirm a broadcast date, Evans is unlikely to appreciate a new, high-profile motoring-themed show to potentially overlap and steal some of the PR thunder of his highly anticipated relaunch of Top Gear on 8 May.

ITV's show will use a knockout format that will culminate in a final involving a race with Formula 4000 racing cars. The programme is being made by TwoFour Productions, the company behind Splash! and The Hotel Inspector.

Kay said: "Everyone thinks they can drive – but can they? This show will test not only their skills behind the wheel, but also how they control their fear. Drive is not just about straight-line speed, all driving skills are going to be tested. But when it's not your clutch you're burning or your tyres you're shredding, it's full steam ahead."

Speaking in California last week, Evans admitted the atmosphere at Top Gear was "apocalyptic" and "armageddon"-like when he joined, following the assault scandal that resulted in Jeremy Clarkson and ultimately his co-hosts, James May and Richard Hammond, and executive producer, Andy Wilman, leaving the show.

Evans, who is filming scenes for the show in the US, admitted the hectic schedule and pressure to reinvent the programme had been a "baptism of fire, to say the least".