The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour Season Finale: Here’s What To Expect in Episode 13

This week on The Grand Tour, a Mercedes lorry does a skid, James get a face full of mud, and he and Jeremy both run on television!

And no, we have no idea what the point of winching is.

We meet this week’s episode with a mix of anticipation and sadness, as this is the final episode of the series. What better way to close it out though than by filming in a location with possibly the highest number of supercars per capita? That’s right, the trio have pitched their tent in the UAE this week, more specifically, Dubai.

For at least part of the episode, the team seems to be split up in separate locations doing their own thing. Richard, for example, is in France, learning how to drift like a pro. Here’s the really interesting part though; the name on the door of that drift car (a Nissan R34 GT-R to be exact) says “B. Ostalowski”, the first person ever to be granted an international racing license with no arms. This Polish drift king lost both his arms in a motorcycle accident, and now uses one foot to drive and his shoulder to change gears. How cool is that?

Richard drifting

Meanwhile, Jeremy and James are taking part in a segment that lends its name to the episode, “Past vs. Future”. They will apparently be pitting their own personal cars against one another to determine which is best. Clarkson will be using his own Volkswagen Golf GTI to represent the past, while May champions the future in his electric powered BMW i3.

On the Eboladrome this week, we see a BMW M4 sliding about. With its twin-turbo, 3.0 liter, inline 6-cylinder engine and 425 horsepower, we will see what they (and the American) think of this one. Oddly, this is not the first M4 we’ve seen on the track this year. Earlier, they tested the M4 GTS, and, due to its terrible ride and ridiculously low front splitter, Jeremy hated it. Perhaps this is a chance for the “regular” M4 to prove its worth? We shall see.

m4 coupe

That just leaves poor Mr. May getting splashed in the face with mud. Really it seems like James or Jeremy would have been equally miserable in this muddy environment, and no doubt, Hammond would have loved it. May must have drawn the short straw.

James gets muddy

Winching is a type of European motorsport, which is similar to something done in the U.S. called mudding. The difference being that in winching the idea is to get stuck and you may get dirty in the process, while in mudding the idea is to get messy and in the process you may need to be winched out.

At events, a course is set through some seriously muddy, boggy bits and teams must complete it for time. As getting stuck is the name of the game, you must be skilled with a winch and be able to do it quickly, or you will lose. Quick and muddy, sounds like just the ticket for Mr. Slowly.

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One Comment

  1. They did not show the American in the BMW M4 on thier track. That was Hammond learning to drift.

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