Top Gear Australia Season Two: The Penultimate Episode

AFTER LAST WEEK'S episode delivered a mild upswing in viewers for season two of the love-it-or-hate-it Top Gear Australia, hopes were high that this week's episode (the second last for season two) would build upon episode six's ratings rebound.

Alas, no, it was not to be. While episode six managed to get 550,000 pairs of eyeballs locked onto TGA, this week's effort only managed to drag in 510,000 viewers: a return to its downward slide in ratings.

This week we saw Pizatti and Brown take a smart fortwo and a Fiat 500 along the Oodnadatta Track (an exercise that was doomed from the outset) and a Patrol-v-Landcruiser comparo with a twist - the Landcruiser being 30 years senior to the Patrol.

But for many people the only redeeming facet of this Monday's show was the Stig's hot lap with an Australian-delivered and de-limited Nissan GT-R, which was pedalled to within a few tenths of Porsche's much-worshipped GT2.

So, the numbers show that more and more people are deserting Top Gear's Australian franchise in droves, but will they be enticed to return for next week's episode, the finale for series two?

On offer will be a Porsche Cayenne/stockhorse race, a comparison test between the Lexus LS600hL and Mercedes-Benz S-Class and a comprehensive feature on the legendary Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 3, which will include a Stig-driven timed lap, skidpan test and a visit to the just-as-legendary Bathurst circuit.

Insiders say that this episode will most definitely deliver the goods, as all stories were produced late in the series and should address many of the concerns raised by viewers unhappy with the franchise thus far.

We'll be tuning in on Monday to find out whether this is true, but will you?