The Grand Tour’s original stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond reunited for the premiere of the new series on Wednesday, as they handed over the baton to the new hosts.
The Prime Video show returns Friday, with viral trainspotter Francis Bourgeois, YouTuber James Engelsman and motoring journalist Thomas Holland taking over the presenting trio.
Jeremy, Richard and James attended the premiere at The Tower Of London and even posed for a selfie with the show’s new stars.
The stars, who first rose to fame as presenters of Top Gear, stepped down from The Grand Tour in 2024 after six series.
Jeremy then shared a selfie with the show’s new stars on Instagram, with the tongue-in-cheek caption: ‘Transfer of the Grand Tour. Good luck guys.”
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host previously shared his sharp advice to the new presenters, admitting he warned them ‘not to screw it up.’
The Grand Tour’s Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond reunited for the premiere of the new series on Wednesday, as they handed over the baton to the new hosts
The Prime Video returns for a new series on Thursday, and the original presenters alongside new stars included Francis Bourgeois, Thomas Holland, James Englesman (centre)
Jeremy, Richard and James attended the premiere at The Tower Of London and even posed for a selfie with the show’s new stars
In the opening episode of The Grand Tour, the trio visits Jeremy at his Diddly Squat farm, where he tells them, “Listen, guys. Serious. Have fun with this. Success. Don’t screw it up. Right?
‘I have to be honest with you. I’ve been watching what they’ve been up to for the last year and a half, and they’re very, very good. You’ll love it.’
Andy Wilman, who has retained his job as a consultant on the show, added: ‘We – like the outgoing team – don’t have a monopoly on some guys doing fun things around cars. We don’t want a monopoly.
He told it The Sunday times: ‘So when Amazon said it was going to happen again with Grand Tour 2, we were all happy to participate.
“Jeremy, Richard and James do cameos in some films, which I think is very important. Jeremy is on the farm doing his thing.
‘Richard is in his workshop, James is in his pub. They’re the kind of retired veterans and these new guys come in for advice.”
Fans already have high expectations for this new trio and were quick to praise the ‘epic’ first trailer when it was released last month.
One moment saw Francis going to a large car and revealing himself removing the cover from a car before struggling to actually get it off as the others burst out laughing.
The stars, who first rose to fame as presenters of Top Gear, stepped down from The Grand Tour in 2024 after six series
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host previously shared his sharp advice to the new presenters, admitting he warned them ‘not to screw it up’
Fans already have high expectations for this new trio and were quick to praise the ‘epic’ first trailer when it was released last month
Fans were quick to share their excitement about the trailer as they wrote online: ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think this has a chance of working;’
While in another scene the group is kayaking, and when James tried to get into his boat, he was on his stomach. Thomas then shouted: ‘Which driving position are you going for?’ – to which James cheekily replied: ‘Missionary I think.’…
In their first series at The Grand Tour Wheel, Francis, James and Thomas tackle the big, important automotive questions of our time, including: Can you sneak through Colorado unnoticed in a trio of Japanese microcars?
And also: what is the most unbreakable car in history? And: if you urgently need to put something on F1 driver Alex Albon’s head, is there anything faster to get it there than a Pagani hypercar?
Featuring guest appearances from Jeremy, Richard, James and F1 World Champion Jenson Button, the series will also see them travel the world.
The team visits California to test out the latest and greatest American muscle cars – the Ford Mustang GTD, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the $2.75 million, 2,000-horsepower Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Evolution – against a pack of fighter jets.
Elsewhere, Francis, James and Thomas head to Malaysia to delve into the country’s rich car culture, while also exploring how little you can spend on a sports car without it immediately exploding.
They also travel through the desert of Angola in track cars that are completely unsuitable for the job.
Fans were quick to share their excitement about the trailer as they wrote online: ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think this has a chance of working;’
“Honestly, the fact that these guys have the blessing of Clarkson, Hammond and May… I’m excited about it;”
“I was one of the people who said they had no chance and that I would never see this show without the OG trio. But this really looks great. I’m going to try!’
This looks great, I have high hopes! Quietly excited; This is going to be epic.”
The new series follows the departure of Jeremy, Richard and James after concluding their run with the special One for the Road in 2024, ending more than two decades of collaboration on Top Gear and The Grand Tour.
Jeremy has remained in the spotlight through the continued success of Clarkson’s Farm, which has become one of Prime Video’s biggest factual entertainment hits, while Richard and James have continued with separate television and online projects.
Jeremy – who recently revealed his battle with cancer – discussed how the series should continue after his departure, previously saying: ‘There’s no point in hiring someone who ‘loves’ cars. Because that’s not enough.’
He added: ‘I would get three completely unknown figures. Start small, like we did. They have to be absolute petrolheads.’
Jeremy continued: “I need to be able to show them a picture of a quarter wing mirror of any car and they need to know what it is.
“That would be my advice.”
The reboot marks the first full series of The Grand Tour without Jeremy, Richard and James as main presenters.
The trio first became household names together on Top Gear, where their mix of ambitious road trips, studio films and challenges transformed the BBC program into a global success before reuniting in 2016 for The Grand Tour on Prime Video.
Unlike former Top Gear presenters Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness, who were already well-known television personalities before joining the BBC car show, Thomas, James and Francis are moving from digital platforms and enthusiast communities to one of the biggest car brands in streaming television.
