Top Gear’s Ultimate Challenge: The Race to Chernobyl

The Race to Chernobyl

One of the most memorable and genuinely dangerous challenges in Top Gear history saw hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May embark on a journey to the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster: Chernobyl. The challenge was unique, requiring the trio not to win by speed, but by consumption—they had to run out of fuel before reaching their destination.

The Impossible Mission

The mission was set: travel approximately 100 miles to Chernobyl, near the border with Belarus, but with a highly restricted supply of exactly 23 liters of fuel in their cars. The irony lay in the fact that their vehicles were chosen for being incredibly economical. The producers’ chilling condition was clear: the town was dangerously radioactive, and the safest outcome was for their cars to sputter out of gas well outside the exclusion zone.

The Tactics of Waste

To achieve the unprecedented goal of excessive fuel consumption, the presenters resorted to ridiculous measures:

• Maximum RPMs: Both Clarkson and May adopted a policy of driving in low gear to keep their engines running at maximum revolutions per minute (RPM), a notoriously wasteful driving style.

• Increased Drag: James May strategically reduced the pressure in his tires to increase rolling resistance and burn more fuel. Later in the journey, Clarkson added a massive amount of aerodynamic drag by deploying a brake chute-like device.

• Electrical Drain: Jeremy Clarkson turned on every electrical component—from heated seats to the heated rear window—to put maximum load on the engine and alternator.

• Engine Tampering: In an act of desperation, Clarkson also disabled his engine management system, forcing the car to run inefficiently on a default, "worst-case scenario" map.

The Exclusion Zone

In a surprising turn of events, it was Richard Hammond who ran out of fuel first, safely coasting to a stop outside the most contaminated area.

Clarkson and May, however, continued onwards, eventually reaching the 30-kilometer exclusion zone checkpoint. Equipped with Geiger counters, which immediately began ticking loudly upon entry, the duo passed the iconic, still-exposed remains of Reactor Number 4.

Despite his numerous attempts to be wasteful, Jeremy Clarkson was the last man running. His car finally coughed and died in the eerie, abandoned city of Pripyat—the town once home to the nuclear facility’s workers—a fittingly ironic, and precarious, end to the challenge.