Amazon's popular program The Grand Tour has been on the hunt for a new driver. When the trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May were still on the BBC, they wound up having to sack their silent wheelman, called The Stig.
In the new show's first season, we saw Mike Skinner step up for driving duty as The American during the first season of The Grand Tour. He's been sacked now, too.
Finally, though, we have some good news to report. The Grand Tour has found another driver... and her name is Abbie Eaton.
Ladies and gentlemen, our new driver. #TheGrandTour pic.twitter.com/R94SQhvOGz
— The Grand Tour (@thegrandtour) December 15, 2017
Although Mark Webber had given the job his all in an earlier test, the Grand Tour decided to go in a different direction.
Eaton is just 25 years old, but already has a heck of a racing career to her name. From 2001 through 2005, she raced karts before making the leap to full-size cars in 2007. By 2009, Abbie was competing in a touring-car series—and took home the top spot by winning 15 of the 18 races that season.
She eventually jumped to the MX-5 Supercup. This is a spec Mazda Miata racing series, and Abbie won the whole thing in 2014. Now she's running endurance races in a Ferrari, as well as the British GT championship series in a Ginetta G55.
When she's not competing in a full calendar of racing events, she'll be on hand to help The Grand Tour sort out all of the vehicles that come to battle on the test track.
She's very clearly not The Stig. Instead, she's better ... because you'll get to know who she is, and see what she can do behind the wheel of a car.
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