Some Say

He's garnered over 1.2m subscribers with his top-quality content filmed from the mighty Nürburgring Nordschleife, and now the one and only @mgcharoudin is the guest of my latest podcast. What I love about Misha is that he's a true driver at heart – performing up to 1000 white-knuckle laps of the iconic 13-mile race track he calls home each year, in some incredibly varied and capable machinery. In this podcast, we talk his early days, the evolution of the last nine years living inside 'The Green Hell', and compare notes on racing now that he's delved into competitive motorsport.

I was lucky enough to recently visit the one and only Mat Armstrong's garage, to see just what it is that makes this YouTube sensation tick. I check out some of the latest exotic cars that he’s saving from the scrap heap, and hear more about his fascinating past and ambitious future plans. Mat is one of the nicest, most genuine guys on the scene, so it was great to finally see where most of his incredibly popular YouTube content is filmed from for myself. Thanks so much to Mat for having me down, and stay tuned for much more content with him very soon.

In my latest 'Some Say...' podcast, I sit down with the one and only @BenPearson1965 – one of the most familiar faces from the iconic Channel 5 'Police Interceptors' TV series, to get a candid and no-holes-barred insight into what really goes on behind the scenes with the British Police. Ben really did see it all during his time on the force, and thankfully, was willing to share some of the grittiest, surprising and sometimes alarming anecdotes with me during our chat.

"If you enjoyed part 1, brace for impact. Wilman tells us what really went down in the Deep South on the American Special, the Argentina debacle, why & how Top Gear became a hit, Clarkson vs Special Forces. How Wilman identifies as David Brent. I also included some revenge from the editors whose eyes bled on many a late night working with Wilman into the small hours to whittle the show into the masterpiece we wanted to see on Sunday at 8pm. This one's for the Top Gear die hards!!!! :)

YOU'RE FIRED!!!! No he never said that. But working for Andy was a rite of passage and a PHD in film-making. No two days were the same. He was a man of few words and I can honestly say that I think we spoke more during this podcast than in the 8 years I worked on Top Gear. Wilman, as we know him, is a fascinating character and hopefully I teased out enough of his personality to give you some idea of what he's like. Enigmatic, a perfectionist, inspirational, ruthless, charming, hyper-focused and a brilliant creator. Like Jeremy, his best mate from school, Wilman has a demanding work ethic that can be tough but usually rewarding in equal measure. From childhood prodigy to failed actor to TV presenter (naked and otherwise), to Executive Producer (we argued on the meaning) of Top Gear, Grand Tour and Clarkson's Farm - Wilman is a very rare human being and I'm glad that despite our courtroom antics, I think we are mates. It meant a great deal to me that he agreed to do this interview. Hope you enjoy it. Thank you for the great times Wilman.

Wade Eastwood is the stunt coordinator for Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation and is credited with stunt work on over 70 Hollywood films. In this episode of Some Say, he joins Ben on the Mission Impossible Sound Stage to talk about the secrets behind all the automotive action we see on screen and why it's so important to do things for real rather than CG. You know what your mission is...

There aren't many people who can claim to drive faster than a speeding bullet. In fact there's only one person who holds the only supersonic land speed record, which was 763 miles per hour, and that person is Andy Green. In this fascinating episode of Some Say, Ben meets Andy and Thrust SSC for a very in-depth chat about what it was like to drive the world's fastest supersonic car. You can also watch the full interview on Ben's YouTube channel, Ben Collins' Drives. 

Tommy Byrne is every driver’s worst nightmare: a natural born racer. Someone who has such an innate feel for driving that driving fast is second nature. In this interview Tommy reveals the truth behind why he didn’t stay in Formula 1 and dominate in the way that his abilities predicted. He also discusses his unique speed secrets and a career overlapping with Ayrton Senna. Tommy has something in common with pretty much every top level Champion I’ve studied from his era of racing. He was a factory driver at Van Diemen in Formula Ford in the 80's. That fact alone doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, but what it did guarantee was SHED LOADS of seat time – fine-tuning the chassis – and developing as a driver. Practice perfects the art. My impression from speaking to Tommy is that he’s a real seat-of-the-pants cowboy who drove the wheels off everything he sat in. Watching his racing footage, you can tell that his style is cavalier but perfectly balanced. There’s plenty of archive footage of his driving for you to decide for yourself. I’m always fascinated by what makes someone ludicrously fast and it’s every racing driver’s job to observe and poach as much information from other competitors as possible. In the era before data-logging it was much harder to do so and the only way to observe was to follow in their wheel tracks, gauge their lines and braking points, the shifting weight of the car at turn in and hear the throttle inputs. Maybe one day I can get on track with Tommy in identical cars and have at it !!!

In the second episode of my chat with my old Top Gear crew, I get Richard Porter to tell me what was the real story behind that number plate in Argentina, and Jim Wiseman tells me how those epic races between Clarkson and Hammond & May were always so close. Plus we find out who really were the best and worst guests. There may be a few naughty words in this episode. Produced by The Content Works. 

The real story behind Top Gear