[2] The track was on a former Royal Canadian Air Force airbase constructed during the Second World War and later used by British Aerospace (and its predecessors) as a manufacturing and test facility.

[3] The track's main route, marked by painted lines and simple structures such as stacks of tyres, was designed by test drivers from Lotus.

[4][5] The layout of the track was designed to put the car through various conditions, ranging from provoking understeer to testing brake balance and tyres.

It was considered to be an equaliser for cars since, according to Richard Hammond, both 0–60 miles per hour (0–96.6 km/h) times and top speed are totally meaningless.

After the left hand "Bentley Bend" named after the person who first "discovered" Jeremy Clarkson and former Top Gear presenter, Jon Bentley, but commonly referred to simply as "the tyres", the course came to "Bacharach Bend", which, after the first series, was referred to as the "Penultimate Corner" or the "Second-to-last Corner" and is often regarded as one of the most challenging on the course.

The second most powerful production car ever featured on Top Gear, the 1001 PS (987 bhp; 736 kW) Bugatti Veyron, was taken around the track by The Stig in Series 12, Episode 4, after 3 years of waiting.

[10] In Series 15 Episode 5 however, the Stig took the 1,200 PS Super Sport version around the track in 1:16.8, thus setting a new lap record.

For the 1:17.6 lap, the Koenigsegg CCX was fitted with an optional rear spoiler to provide downforce after The Stig spun the unmodified version off the track.

The Stig allegedly recommended this modification, correctly predicting that the car would then be the fastest ever round the track,[11] although Koenigsegg stated that the improvement was due to other adjustments.

[12] A "non-qualifying" vehicle was one that did not meet the requirements to remain on the board; that is, one that was not a "road car", which according to Top Gear meant being: available to buy, fully road-legal (lights, indicators, registration, profile tyres, etc.

According to Caparo, the car driven by Top Gear was a prototype that did not feature the adjustable ride height found on the production model.

The following laps of Dunsfold were recorded, filmed and promoted independently of the Top Gear television programme.

Ultima say that their motive for running a non-televised lap was that they felt that the GTR was being specifically ignored by the producers of Top Gear.

The two slowest laps on the Liana celebrity list are held by Terry Wogan and Richard Whiteley, both of whom were beaten by Billy Baxter, a blind Bosnian war veteran.

The former British transport minister Stephen Ladyman added further injury to the Liana by denting the boot when he lost control during practice and slid backwards into a tyre wall.

David Soul's Liana featured a red police light and a white stripe in reference to his Starsky and Hutch role.

In its service, the Liana covered 1,600 laps of the circuit; went through 400 tyres; its brakes were changed 100 times; and it required six new clutches, two new hubs, driveshafts, wishbones, struts and gear linkages and a replacement wing mirror.

This was kept a surprise to the audience and the viewing public, and when Nigel Mansell came on the show, it was covered up in magazines and on the internet by saying that the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car would be Alan Titchmarsh.

Seven stars recorded times that day: James Hewitt (who Jeremy and Richard referred to as the 'Well Spoken Man' after failing to recognise him), comedians Alan Davies and Jimmy Carr, rock stars Rick Wakeman and Justin Hawkins, footballer Les Ferdinand, and actor Trevor Eve who topped the time at 1 minute 47.0 seconds.

On 27 June, during the first episode of the fifteenth series, it was revealed to be the Kia Cee'd and, as with the Chevrolet Lacetti, another open day was held to welcome the new car.

Nick Robinson, Peter Jones, Al Murray, Bill Bailey, Peta Todd, Louie Spence, Johnny Vaughan and Amy Williams were among the initial drivers.

[39] Sophie Raworth, Bill Turnbull and Fiona Bruce all did the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car for Children in Need 2012.

In the first episode of series 20, Clarkson, Hammond and May revealed their new Reasonably Priced Car: a Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Tech Line.

Following the abrupt end of Series 22 as a result of Clarkson's dismissal from the show, the Astra was returned to Vauxhall before being auctioned off for charity on 27 December 2015 for £17,800.

[42] Footage of several celebrities who drove the car before the first episode of the twenty-fourth series, was aired on spin-off programme Extra Gear.

[43][44] A very basic yet driveable version of the track appeared around 2003 for the PC racing simulation Grand Prix Legends.

There is also a version of the test track for the realistic PC racing simulation rFactor, produced with permission from Dunsfold park.

Top Gear have also added a basic version of the test track on the games section of their own website, with the title of "Be a star in our reasonably priced car".

[47] The game Gran Turismo 5, developed by Polyphony Digital features a fully rendered version of the Top Gear track.

There is also an achievement for completing a lap of the Top Gear Test Track in the Kia Cee'd fittingly named "Star in a reasonably priced car".