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Mike Skinner

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Michael 'Mike' Skinner (born June 28, 1957), referred to on the show by his fictional character The American , is a NASCAR driver and was the resident racing driver for The Grand Tour for the duration of the show's first season, before he was replaced with British racing car driver Abbie Eaton . Skinner logged a total of nineteen individual lap times around the Eboladrome during his tenure on The Grand Tour.

Skinner's played an exaggerated self-righteous American character on the show, who was critical of almost anything that wasn't American-made and had a particular vendetta against communism.

Skinner's character was not well received by the show's fans and he was scrapped from The Grand Tour before the second series premiered. On the 17th of November, 2017, as part of the promotional campaign for the second season, a video was posted to The Grand Tour's YouTube channel that showed Clarkson 'calling Skinner' to let him know that he had been let go.

In International Buffoons' Vacation , Skinner was spotted stalking the Trio during their road trip.

Lap Times [ ]

• 1 Mike Skinner
• 2 Hammond's Rimac Crash

NASCAR Driver Mike Skinner, "The American," Won't Return to The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour's version of the Stig announced via Twitter today he will not be back for Season Two.

Mike Skinner, the NASCAR driver known as "The American" who acted as The Grand Tour's on-hand expert driver, announced today via Twitter he will not be returning for season two.

Skinner states on Twitter that he is leaving the program in part because "my character wasn't developed as I was told." It's unclear whether the decision was Skinner's or Amazon's.

If you weren't able to catch any of Season One, Skinner played the role of a stereotypical American with a disdain for any car without an American badge. It was clear from the start that The American was the show's version of Top Gear 's The Stig, but just different enough to avoid legal trouble.

Brian Silvestro is Hearst Autos' former lead deputy editor for rankings content. He spent over seven years as a staff writer for Road & Track Magazine where he contributed car reviews, industry interviews, and more. He has a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing.

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The American (TGT)

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The American

Mike Skinner, aka "The American" is an American Racing Driver. He worked for The Grand Tour during Series 1 as the test driver who would take cars round The Eboladrome once they had been tested by the presenters at the same track.

Appearances [ ]

Skinner was introduced as The Grand Tour's Chief Test Driver at The Eboladrome in the show's premiere . While setting a test lap he would make "American" comments often putting down the car from an American perspective, only praising cars which were actually American. During his tenure, his tests ranged from a Fiat Abarth 124 Spider to an Aston Martin Vulcan. Due to unpopularity with viewers he was replaced in the show's Second Series by Abbie Eaton .

In International Buffoons' Vacation , The American was spotted stalking the trio as they drove across the Nevada desert, although only Jeremy Clarkson could see him.

See Also [ ]

• Abbie Eaton (Successor)

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‘The American’ will not be returning to The Grand Tour Series 2

Series 1 of The Grand Tour got a lot more things right than it did wrong, but it still did have its fair share of parts which were, well, a bit rubbish. Take Celebrity Brain Crash for example. But news has emerged today that will surely have fans of the Amazon Prime show breathing a collective sigh of relief – ‘The American’ will not be returning in Series 2.

NASCAR driver Mike Skinner, who portrayed the brash, redneck-inspired stereotypical American racing driver announced the news on Twitter: “For your information I won’t be joining the guys on The Grand Tour’s 2nd season,” he wrote. “I wish them all the luck. My character wasn’t developed as I was told.”

This will come as no surprise to many, ourselves included, after ‘The American’ was singled out as being one of the worse aspects of The Grand Tour’s first series. The problem with ‘The American’ was that he simply wasn’t entertaining in any way at all. We struggled to find any redeeming features – his complaints whilst behind the wheel weren’t funny, and don’t even get us started on the endless stream of communist jokes.

The character was shitty to say the least. Amazingly, Skinner seems to think so, too.

“I agree with many of you that it sucked,” he wrote. “If you’re gonna wear Evil Knievel’s firesuit, you need to be Evil Flipping Knievel!”

“By the way… I enjoyed some of those cars I got to drive & I don’t really hate the Brits,” he added.

It is unclear at this stage who The Grand Tour will choose to take over Eboladrome lap duties following Skinner’s departure. But once again they’ll have to go to great lengths to ensure the driver has absolutely nothing in common with The Stig – to avoid being sued by the BBC.

Who do you think they should choose?

Jeremy Clarkson breaks amphibious car speed record

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Mark Webber is your man. He has shown he can work well with the crew already. Aside from the bad rap the American got, the one single funniest comment in the new series was, him saying” where I come from, a car like this is cry for help!” Very very funny.

Get Elvis from Wheeler Dealers.

Jenson Button as jenson Button !! Just let him drive the car and talk !!!

So the yank has gone, no loss to the show there, I wonder what Jenson Button is up to these days?…

Tiff Needell gets my vote.

I would like to be the new tame racing driver on The Amazon Prime motoring show The Grand Tour.

I would like to have the job of being the tame racing driver on The Amazon Prime Motoring Show The Grand Tour.

I liked him and his jokes

Well, I don’t hate him, but his character just boring.

Would like to see Ben Collins

I was thinking the same but would he still be considered as associated with the stig and the TG?

Just get a regular retired driver. Any former F1 or similar would work fine. No need for a gimmick or identity secrecy.

Glad to hear that he’s gone. Maybe they can hire a retired F1 or touring car driver.

I can see what they were trying to do where the stig was silent this USA dude could talk and be rude as possible for entertainment but it just didn’t work right .

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Amazon’s ‘The Grand Tour’ Introduces New Female Racing Driver

It’s been a boys club so far on the Amazon original series The Grand Tour . The show’s three hosts and best friends Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May had the first season all the themselves but now the mates are welcoming a woman in the show’s the second season.

They’ve hired a new British racing driver and her name is Abbie Eaton. (She’s replacing American Mike Skinner).

Clarkson introduced her on the show’s second episode “The Fall Guys”: “We needed a replacement. We needed a new driver. We spent the last nine months auditioning everyone we could think of—former F1 drivers, rally drivers, stunt drivers, test drivers—until we ended up with the fastest. And here she is.”

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The camera switched to Eaton inside a viper-green Mercedes-AMG GTR ready at the starting line on their test track.

Clarkson added at the end of the drive, “That was an impressive lap, but let’s see how fast it was, here we go… yes! 1:18:7. That, that is quick.”

Hammond called Eaton an “incredible driver” and Clarkson added, “Yes, she’s a phenomenal driver, absolutely phenomenal. We are delighted to have her on board.”

So, who is Abbie Eaton? According to her website , she’s a 25-year-old professional race car driver who has driven in the SAXMAX Championship and the Production Touring Car Championship.

She was also the champion at the Mazda MX-5 SuperCup in 2014. And in 2017, she drove in the British GT Championship and the Blancpain Endurance Series, where she was the first woman ever on the podium.

Check out the clip below:

Ladies and gentlemen, our new driver. #TheGrandTour pic.twitter.com/R94SQhvOGz — The Grand Tour (@thegrandtour) December 15, 2017

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The Grand Tour Axing ‘The American’ for Season 2

Our prayers have been answered.

_JamesGilboy

jamesgilboy

The inaugural season of Amazon's The Grand Tour may have had its moments, but it experienced teething problems in the form of multiple ill-considered repeating segments. Celebrity Brain Crash was only funny once, but overstayed its welcome by appearing in every episode to follow. The show's replacement for Top Gear 's helmeted, silent test driver named The Stig, named "The American," was as unpopular as Celebrity Brain Crash, due to his atrocious dialogue. He only praised a car once, when he drove the new Ford Mustang, and his incessant complaints tired viewers out quickly. According to "The American," portrayed by 1995 NASCAR Trucks champion Mike Skinner, the character will not be returning on the show's second season, as revealed on Twitter Tuesday.

Skinner's character joins the list of casualties suffered in the transition between seasons of the new motoring show, which now includes the once traveling, now stationary tent studio , and almost included Richard Hammond . Cheap car challenges are, despite photographs suggesting their return, not due to feature in this season of The Grand Tour .

The speechless Stig was replaced by a character with a speaking role due to scuffles between Amazon and the BBC over intellectual property similarities between the two shows. James May even spoke of a lawyer trying to reserve the BBC 's right to one of his signature swears, "Oh cock," despite the fact that May had said it since before appearing on Top Gear .

The announcement by Skinner does not fully describe the reasons why he and the show parted ways, and The Drive reached out to Amazon Studios for more information on the split, though no comment was returned.

July's teaser for the upcoming season can be watched here , and the trailer from Nov. 1 can be seen here . The second season of Amazon's The Grand Tour is due for release on Tuesday, Dec. 8.

Ranked: The top 10 American drivers in Formula 1 history

Phil Hill, Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney all feature in our top 10 of American F1 drivers ever.

American interest in Formula 1 has never been greater, and the sport is enjoying closer ties with its US audience. But who are the greatest American drivers to have raced in F1?

The United States of America has a fantastic motorsport history, including a host of racers, innovators and personalities, so we’ve ranked the 10 greatest American drivers to race in Formula 1.

In this top 10, we have leaned towards the drivers with the greater levels of success. An honourable mention goes to Bill Vukovich, who claimed two Indy 500 wins when the event was part of the F1 schedule in the 1950s. However, he has been omitted from this top 10 due to not having competed in a Grand Prix.

10: Harry Schell

A name not often associated with the early years of Formula 1, but Schell was the first American to race in the sport, doing so at the second-ever race, the 1950 Monaco GP. Although he had limited machinery in the first half of the fifties, he earned opportunities in faster cars later on in the decade.

Driving a Vanwall in 1956, Schell put in impressive performances for a team that was rising in stature, including strong showings against race-winning teammate Maurice Trintignant. However, with Vanwall opting for an all-British lineup for 1957, Schell missed out on the start of the team’s success in 1957 and 1958.

Racing for the Maserati team, Schell took his first podium at the 1957 Pescara GP and, when he moved to the improving BRM team for 1958, took second place at the 1958 Dutch GP behind Stirling Moss. His F1 prospects were diminishing by 1960, but Schell was killed in a crash during a practice session for the Silverstone International Trophy.

9: George Follmer

In the early seventies when Formula 1 drivers were beginning their careers at younger ages, accomplished racer Follmer made his debut at the age of 39. Following championship success in the Canadian-American (‘Can-Am’) Challenge Cup in 1972, Follmer signed for the fledgling Shadow team for 1973 to help bolster their development alongside the experienced Jackie Oliver.

The team didn’t make their debut until round three of the season, and Follmer scored the team’s first point in their very first race with a sixth place finish at the South African GP. He followed this up with an impressive podium at the following Spanish GP, finishing ahead of the likes of Peter Revson and Denny Hulme.

Both he and Oliver were replaced for a younger, punchier driver lineup in 1974, but Follmer had acquitted himself well, and provided an insight into what might have been possible had he started his Formula 1 career much sooner.

8: Mark Donohue

Another relative latecomer to Formula 1, Indy 500 winner and Can-Am champion Donohue only made his debut in what was supposed to be a one-off appearance for the Penske team. The Penske team were running customer McLaren cars for their efforts at the 1971 Canadian and US Grands Prix, with Donohue taking a surprise podium in wet conditions on his debut.

After further racing in America, Donohue had retired a couple of years later, but he was tempted back out of retirement by Roger Penske, who was now focusing on establishing a full Formula 1 outfit by the end of the 1974 season. Renowned for his technical abilities, Donohue helped drag a problematic car to a points finish in 1975 before the team had to run a customer March car towards the end of their first season.

However, a crash during practice for the Austrian GP eventually claimed Donohue’s life. After initially appearing to sustain minor injuries from the crash, he developed a blood clot two days later and died.

7: Masten Gregory

Gregory was another American racer who impressed on his debut, and drew attention with a third place finish on his Formula 1 bow, driving for Maserati. He was the first American driver to claim an F1 podium finish at a Grand Prix (discounting the Indy 500 race that were part of the F1 calendar in the fifties).

He had a stop-start career in a variety of machinery until 1959 when he raced for the Cooper team for most of the year, taking a further two podiums and contributing to their Constructors’ Championship success that season.

He contested in the remainder of his F1 career in a mix of customer and second-hand machinery, and raced on-and-off until 1965. He would achieve greater success outside of F1, and won the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Jochen Rindt.

6: Eddie Cheever

Impressing with race-winning drives in the European Formula Two championship, Cheever progressed to Formula 1 in 1978, but failed to participate in a race due to the woefully underperforming Theodore team. Another impressive year in F2 with the Osella team in 1979 saw Cheever and the Osella team climb to F1 for 1980.

He slowly climbed the F1 ladder thanks to impressive stints with the Tyrrell and Ligier teams, which brought his first three F1 podiums before earning a shot with the improving Renault team. He was mostly second-best to F1 legend teammate Alain Prost, who was challenging for the championship, but nevertheless took four more podiums that year.

After leaving Renault, he had mostly-unsuccessful seasons at the Benetton-Alfa Romeo and Haas-Lola teams before landing at Arrows in 1987. He claimed further podiums with the team in 1988 & 1989 before leaving F1 as one of the drivers with the highest number of podiums without claiming a victory. He did, however, taste success at the 1998 Indy 500.

5: Richie Ginther

Following success in the US, Ginther was brought in to race alongside World Champion compatriot Phil Hill at Ferrari in 1960, and impressed in his part-time campaign, claiming his first podium at the Italian GP that year. He turned heads by being the closest challenger to Stirling Moss at the 1961 Monaco GP, which was one of three podiums that season.

His time racing for BRM from 1962-1964 yielded a heap of podium finishes as he became one of Formula 1’s established frontrunners. Despite not winning a GP in that time, he claimed third place in the 1963 Drivers’ Championship with his remarkable consistency and forged a reputation for his mechanical sympathy.

It was in 1965 when he secured a place in F1 history by taking victory at the Mexican GP for Honda, who were the first non-European team to win a race. Unfortunately, his career petered out of the next couple of seasons with less-competitive teams, meaning his career ended with just the one GP win to his name.

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4: Peter Revson

Revson had two bites of the Formula 1 cherry. Firstly with customer cars and racing under his own Revson Racing entrant (and briefly for Reg Parnell Racing), which brought no success. After these efforts in 1964, he raced Stateside, and rose through the ranks in the Can-Am series. Championship success with McLaren in 1971 brought a full-time return to F1 for 1972.

At a McLaren team that weren’t far away from their first championship successes, Revson raced well alongside 1967 World Champion Denny Hulme, and he claimed three podiums in ‘72. That season’s Canadian GP saw Revson take Pole Position before eventually being defeated by Jackie Stewart.

He beat his more experienced teammate in the 1973 standings, and took two victories en route to fifth place in the Drivers’ Standings. His first success at Silverstone came after fending off the threat from Ronnie Peterson, and his second win came at the confusing 1973 Canadian GP, which became famous for the post-race timing confusion after the first official use of a Safety Car.

3: Phil Hill

The first Formula 1 World Champion from the United States, Hill became one of the most esteemed racers of the fifties and sixties. From taking a podium on his Ferrari debut at Monza in 1958, Hill also took his first F1 win on Ferrari’s home turf just one year later.

Having mostly been deployed in a ‘team player’ role for most of his Ferrari career, the 1961 season became Hill’s big chance for a Formula 1 title. With Ferrari having the fastest car in the field, the season turned into a battle between Hill and Wolfgang von Trips. Tragically, the season was decided at the penultimate race of the season when Von Trips was killed in a crash at the Italian GP, which opened the door for Hill to take the title with a win.

Hill also achieved a stellar sportscar record for Ferrari. He took a hat-trick of victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and replicated the success at the 12 Hours of Sebring. He took only three more F1 podiums after his 1961 title, but also went on to win the 24 Hours of Daytona.

2: Dan Gurney

Widely regarded as a driver who deserved more than his four grand prix victories, Gurney was one of the most gifted all-round drivers in history. Combining raw speed with a fantastic technical mind, Gurney has been one of the most impactful American drivers in Formula 1.

However, his timing of team switches was less than optimal. After starting out with Ferrari in 1959, he moved prior to their championship challenge in 1961. At the BRM team for 1960, he also left them before they started challenging for championships for the first time.

Moving to Porsche for 1961, the iconic brand failed to reach any championship-contesting heights, despite Gurney taking several podiums and his first F1 win in 1962.

Gurney joined the rising Brabham team in 1963 to partner Jack Brabham, and outscored the team boss in all three seasons that they raced together, and registered two victories in 1964. The Brabham team emerged as championship challengers in 1966, but by this time Gurney had left to set up his own team, All American Racers.

Racing his own cars under the Eagle chassis name, Gurney’s final F1 victory came driving his own car at the 1967 Belgian GP, which is the only time an American-built car has won a race.

Aside from racing exploits – which included wins in NASCAR and IndyCar – Gurney is credited with the creation of the aerodynamic device known as the ‘Gurney Flap’, and is also credited with starting the tradition of spraying champagne on the podium!

1: Mario Andretti

An icon of US motorsport, Mario Andretti has to be the first name that comes to mind when considering the greatest American F1 drivers. The Indy 500 winner, Formula 1 champion, and IndyCar champion is one of the few people to have bridged the divide that often existed between F1 and the USA.

Already a two-time winner of the hotly-contested USAC Championship series before reaching Formula 1, Andretti announced himself on the world stage with a Pole Position on his F1 debut at the 1968 US Grand Prix, ahead of icons Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill. He would have likely taken a debut podium without a clutch failure.

From there, Andretti only made sporadic appearances in F1, but was still able to claim his first win in the sport at the 1971 South African GP, driving for Ferrari. It wasn’t until 1975 that he made a full-time switch to F1, but his time with Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing was mostly unrewarded.

A switch to Lotus in 1976 started the upturn in fortunes that Andretti required, and he took his second victory at the infamous rain-soaked season finale in Japan. With Andretti spearheading Lotus’ return to championship contention, further victories in the pioneering ground effect cars came in 1977 before his triumphant title-winning 1978 season.

A sharp drop-off in performance for Lotus, followed by a switch to the Alfa Romeo team meant Andretti never won a race beyond his title-winning season. As his time in F1 was fizzling out – not before a memorable Monza podium with Ferrari in a one-off race in 1982 – Andretti had begun pivoting towards IndyCar, and switched full-time for 1982.

Instantly competitive, Andretti claimed top IndyCar honours in 1984, and continued to race in the series until 1994, and took his final win in 1993. The legacy of the Andretti name continued through his son, Michael, who became a champion in the US racing scene and founded the Andretti Autosport team, who are currently pushing for a place on the Formula 1 grid.

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Abbie Eaton Is The Grand Tour's New Racing Driver But Bizarrely Nobody Is Saying Her Name

The Grand Tour is officially done with Mike Skinner The American, but it needed a new hot shoe for track tests, and the awesome news is that the role’s gone to a woman for season two. She’s racing driver Abbie Eaton, but you wouldn’t know that from actually watching the show.

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We’ve known that the show was searching for a new racing driver after they announced that Skinner wouldn’t be on the show anymore. In a November interview with The Daily Telegraph and reported on by MotoringBox , James May revealed that their new driver was a woman, but kept her name a secret.

Last night, we got to meet Eaton for the first time, during which she thrashed a viper-green Mercedes-AMG GT R around the test track. It was fantastic. I’m very excited to see her on the show.

Yet, her name wasn’t mentioned once during her entire (short) segment, even when Jeremy Clarkson introduced her. In addition to a tweeted clip, you’ll also find the full transcript of the hot lap segment below:

Clarkson: “...But the point is, we needed a replacement. We needed a new driver. We spent the last nine months auditioning everyone we could think of—former F1 drivers, rally drivers, stunt drivers, test drivers—until we ended up with the fastest. And here she is.” Eaton: “Right. Here we go.” Clarkson: “And she’s off. Tidy start, no wheel-spin, full power from the twin-turbo V8 to the first corner. Will she lift? No, it didn’t sound like she did. “Right, second corner. Balancing the car nicely. God, that thing looks planted. “Right, here we go, this is the tricky bit. Let’s have a look at how she’s getting on ‘round here. Oh, that thing looks planted! And quick! And she’s on the raggedy edge on the down-changes. Michelins squealing in pain but that is—let’s have a look—inch perfect. “Now, back onto the Isn’t. She really only has one throttle position here and it is in the carpet. Okay, lifting now and into the Old Lady’s House Complex. Working the low speed grip through there. Yup—and back on the gas for the bumpy run to Substation. Showing no mercy down there. Leaving the braking nice and late, tidy line through the second-to-last corner. “Just Field of Sheep to go. Really on it through there—and across the line! “That was an impressive lap, but let’s see how fast it was, here we go... yes! 1:18:7. That, that is quick.” Richard Hammond: “Yeah, it is, and she’s an incredible driver.” Clarkson: “Yes, she’s a phenomenal driver, absolutely phenomenal. We are delighted to have her on board. But now it is time to move on.”

Weird, right? The omission of her name was actually so glaring that it distracted me from the show. In fact, it was only during the credits did I actually learn who this pilot was.

Eaton is a 25-year-old professional racer driver from England. According to her website , she’s raced in the SAXMAX Championship and the Production Touring Car Championship, where she was the Class B champion. She’s also driven in the Mazda MX-5 SuperCup and was crowned the champion there as well.

After that, she drove in the GT Cup, the British GT Championship and with the Blancpain Endurance Series, where she was the first woman to finish first in her class. And when she’s not doing all of that, she works as a driving coach at Silverstone, according to The Sun .

To make sure this isn’t just a thing that happens on The Grand Tour , I went back and watched the premiere season’s first episode, where Skinner is makes his appearance. Clarkson brings up both his NASCAR background and his name there. What gives?

When tapped for comment, a spokesperson speaking on behalf of Amazon speculated over the phone that because the public reaction to Skinner was so overwhelmingly negative, the producers decided to downplay the role of the driver from a character to merely a driver. They couldn’t use an anonymous driver like the other car show does, so this is what we ended up with.

I don’t believe this is the full reason, because you can totally introduce a new race car driver and also publicly provide her name without making her into some kind of character on the show, like Skinner or the Stig. It seems like the producers told Skinner to put on a personality they wrote for him, which backfired spectacularly and now they’re trying to fix their mistake by minimizing the role of the driver altogether.

Still, it’s good to see some more diverse representation on a show as big and influential as The Grand Tour. I can’t wait to see Eaton drive in future episodes. But let’s hope the show lets everyone know who she is.

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Who Is The Grand Tour's New Female Racing Driver?

The Grand Tour has replaced The American with a new female racing driver – but they failed to even mention her name.

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After axing The American , one of the biggest mysteries surrounding The Grand Tour season two was who was going to be the show's new racing driver setting lap times around the Eboladrome circuit. A series of tongue in cheek videos showed Clarkson, Hammond and May "auditioning" new drivers like former Formula One racer Mark Webber , a stunt driver , and even a brazen car thief . In episode two, it was revealed that a female racing driver has replaced The American - but it was very anticlimactic. Bizarrely, they didn't even mention her name.

Clarkson simply announced "and here she is!" when introducing her. After audiences complained about The American's incessant one-liners, it's possible that they want to avoid turning the next racing driver into a caricature, but it felt awkward watching Clarkson refer to her as "she" without ever mentioning her name. Instead, we had to wait until the credits rolled to find out her identity. According to Jalopnik , an Amazon spokesperson speculated that audience reactions to Mike Skinner, aka The American, in the first series were so overwhelmingly negative that producers deliberately downplayed Eaton's role as a driver rather than a character.

But that still doesn't explain failing to even mention her name, especially as they can't use an anonymous driver like The Stig. Her name is Abbie Eaton, and she's a professional British racing driver. A quick visit to her official website reveals her long list of impressive racing accomplishments. The 25-year old racing driver won the 2014 championship in the Mazda MX5 Supercup, and won a race and secured several podiums in the 2015 British GT Cup driving a BMW M3 GTR. More recently, she drove a Ferrari 488 GTE in the 2017 Blancpain Endurance Series, where she became the first female to finish on the podium.

She's also a qualified racing instructor, so she has plenty of driving know-how to bring to the show. It's great to see The Grand Tour diversify its line-up in what has traditionally been a male-dominated show. What matters most, though, is her talent on the track, and her first appearance, in which she thrashed a Mercedes GT R around the track, certainly left a lasting impression as she pushed the feisty sports car to its limit. It will be interesting to see whether they develop Eaton's character in future episodes. She's clearly a seriously talented driver, so it would be good to see her appear in films like Sabine sometimes does in Top Gear and interact with Clarkson, Hammond and May.

Grand Tour: What’s Abbie Eaton Doing Since Leaving the Prime Video Car Show

British racing driver, Abbie Eaton, rose to fame when she appeared on the second series of The Grand Tour as the test driver. We are taking a look at some of the many things Eaton has been up to since her time on the show starring Jeremy Clarkson , Richard Hammond, and James May .

Eaton is still listed as a test driver for The Grand Tour, so here is to hoping we might see her make a return.

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Abbie competed in the W Series in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. In 2021, Eaton competed for the Ecurie W team and came 13th overall with 19 points and in 2022 she drove for Scuderia W and came 13th overall again with 11 points.

Unfortunately, it was announced this year that the W Series was not going to be continuing. When the news broke, Abbie took to her Instagram to share the news with her followers. She wrote:

“W Series season curtailed. A real shame this is the end for @wseriesracing 2022 season. “A season I didn’t think I’d be able to make nearly 1 year ago, and one I knew would be a real challenge, both physically building strength and also mentally getting back to where I used to be pre injury. “If you ignore being wiped out at Miami and Paul Ricard, and the car failure at Barcelona, I’ve actually been extremely pleased with my progress, just a shame my final position doesn’t reflect this not being able to capitalise on these final 3 races. “But, more importantly, a big thank you to @wseriesracing and the team that work tirelessly to make things happen. I know it’s been a difficult year and an even more difficult few weeks but we appreciate every single one of you. “Congrats to Chadders for another title. @jamiechadwick “

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Abbie Eaton (@abbieeaton44)

Other racing

Eaton has also been competing in other racing series. As well as the W Series in 2021, she also competed in the GT Cup Championship GTO and the British Endurance Championship Praga.

Eaton raced for the JMH Automotive team in the GT Cup Championship GTO. She won the championship with 3 race wins, 4 pole positions, 4 fastest laps, and 3 podium finishes.

Driving for Team Praga Three Lions in the British Endurance Championship Praga, Eaton came 8th overall with 1 race win, 2 pole positions, 3 fastest laps, and 2 podium finishes.

A year since breaking her back

Eaton broke her back in a scary accident during the 2021 W Series at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin and as a result obviously had to take a break from racing and go through extensive rehabilitation. Abbie posted to her Instagram recently to acknowledge it being a year since the accident.

“Well guys it’s the 1 year anniversary since breaking my back at COTA…seems a lonnnngggg time ago! “Feeling very grateful for my improvement and pleased I dug in and made this year work. It’s been rough, and I still get good and bad days with it but I guess this is the new me. Mentally a bit of work needed but it’ll come! “Wish I was racing back at COTA this weekend but I’m enjoying driving the Holden at Donington Park instead. “Enjoy the whacky hair photos when it was unwashed for a fair while at the early days of the injury”

Working with Fisker

Fisker is an American electric vehicle company and Eaton has been working with them to promote the Fisker Ocean. Again, Abbie shared the news to her Instagram followers saying:

“Having a great time at Magna giving journalists a taste of the new Fisker Ocean in pre production form before SOP on 17th November. “We set up a course with 5 stations to test the dynamics of the car including a launch zone, slalom, elk test, wet grip and high speed oval. “

Richard Hammond’s Workshop appearance

Abbie recently made an appearance on Hammond’s Discovery + show, Richard Hammond’s Workshop and also featured on the DriveTribe video which showed the behind the scenes of the show. During the video, viewers saw Eaton join the team for the shakedown of the MGB GT racing car ahead of its racing debut.

Helping women in motorsport

There has been an emphasis on females in the motorsport industry recently. Eaton has done a lot of female racing drivers over the years and just recently was coaching some young aspiring female drivers with Porsche.

On top of all of this, Eaton continues to raise awareness for the LGBTQ+ community and women in motorsport.

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