Are you the Top Gear USA test track?
 

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Spinning off shows from British television into American programs are all the rage these days. Just ask anyone who watches <em>The Office, American Idol, The Shield </em>or<em> Life on Mars</em>. But the one we're most excited about, of course, is the U.S. version of <em>Top Gear</em>. A long time coming, the pilot is set to air on the History Channel in about a month. And as the date approaches, details have been trickling in. The latest covers the test track that will be the show's playground. <br />
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Like its original British counterpart, the <em>Top Gear</em> test track has reportedly been converted from an old military air base: in this case the Marine Corp's former facility at El Toro in Orange County, California - the same location the NBC project was to use.<br />
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The track combines north/south and east/west runways from the former air field. Disused airport runways make great circuits, but there's one downside: no elevation changes, the likes of which make tracks like Spa and Laguna Seca the legends they are. The El Toro configuration ameliorates the situation, however, with a ten-foot drop and subsequent climb through an off-track loop on the right side of the map pictured above, giving it what most runway tracks - like Silverstone and the original <em>Top Gear</em> track in England - don't have.<br />
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[Source: <a href="http://jalopnik.com/5672084/top-gear-usa-the-stigs-new-track">Jalopnik</a>]<p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/26/spied-top-gear-usa-gets-on-track-at-el-toro/">Are you the <i>Top Gear</i> USA test track?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://jalopnik.com/5672084/top-gear-usa-the-stigs-new-track>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/26/spied-top-gear-usa-gets-on-track-at-el-toro/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19687612/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/26/spied-top-gear-usa-gets-on-track-at-el-toro/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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