Amazon Prime release date for new Grand Tour special as Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May take on their biggest challenge yet

Amazon Prime has revealed that The Grand Tour: Sand Job starring dream team Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May will launch on February 16.

On Thursday, Prime unveiled the first look at the special episode that sees the cheeky trio travel to the wild and remote country of Mauritania in West Africa for their biggest challenge yet.

Their challenge is to follow in the footsteps of the most dangerous race in the world, the iconic Paris-Dakar.

But instead of competing in custom, hand-built Dakar racers, our unfit trio must complete their journey in second-hand sports cars, customized by them.

Jeremy opts for a Jaguar F Type V6, Richard also opts for British with an Aston Martin Volante V12, while James makes a point for Italy with a Maserati.

The boys report to the northern part of Mauritania, in the dangerous Red Zone of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they have to pick up their cars. These are delivered on the world's longest iron ore train, a 2-mile monster that runs on this country's only railway line.

From there, Jeremy, James and Richard head into the Sahara, south to Senegal and the famous finish line on Dakar beach.

Along the way, they must descend treacherous canyons by cable, James must battle mysterious sandstorms that threaten his car, they must build unusual and ingenious devices to help their cars cope with the car-killing roads, and they must save themselves from a deadly minefield. .

In addition, because they are in the Sahara, in one of the least populated countries in the world, they must travel with their own fuel tank, which they must protect at all costs from blowing up.

Now that they have conquered the Sahara, their problems are far from over. To reach Senegal they have to make a dangerous river crossing, over a river without a bridge.

The final special of The Grand Tour featuring the trio will launch on Prime Video later this year.

It comes after Jeremy finally broke his silence after quitting Prime Video's The Grand Tour after five series.

The 63-year-old signed a major deal with the streaming service in 2015 to continue his motoring adventures with former Top Gear co-hosts Richard and James.

But now the trio's two-decade collaboration is coming to an end after Jeremy revealed they had nothing else to do.

He told The times: 'I've driven cars higher than anyone else and further north than anyone else. We've done everything you can do with a car.

“When we discussed what to do next, people would just throw their arms in the air.”

He also cited himself as “unfit, fat and old” as another reason it was time for the end of the “immensely physical” show, which followed the hosts camping on the beach and racing speedboats in ongoing series.

He also brushed off any suggestions of a feud with his co-hosts, saying: “We have spent more time in each other's company than in our families over the past 25 years.”

“So I don't think it would have lasted as long if we hated each other as much as James likes to think.”

An insider told this Sun last year that the 'surprising' decision 'very much marks the end of an era for the three presenters', who have worked together since 2003.

They added that while the show is one of the streaming platform's most-watched shows, “the guys aren't worried about it all moving forward in the years and they have a lot of other projects to pursue.”

The source told the publication that the broadcasters “felt the time was right and wanted to reach a peak if the show remained popular.”

Jeremy, Richard and James became superstars after taking over BBC's Top Gear and turning it from a niche motoring show into one of the company's most popular properties, selling spin-offs around the world.

Their time on the show was not without controversy.

Richard was almost killed when he was involved in a 320mph crash while filming a stunt for the show, with the impact leaving him in a coma for two weeks and 'Hamster' himself admitting he was scared as a result of developing dementia at a young age.

The trio also became the center of a number of racism rows, with Mexico's ambassador complaining when his people were branded 'lazy', 'weak' and 'flatulent' on the show, prompting an apology from the BBC.

They were also chased out of Argentina by an angry mob after a row over a license plate used during the filming of the series. Officials claimed the H982 FKL on a Porsche – which was registered in May 1991 – was a reference to the 1982 Falklands War.

That same year, Ofcom ruled that there had been a breach of the Broadcasting Code by including an offensive racist term during the programme's Burma Special.

They dramatically left the program in 2015 after Clarkson was fired by the broadcaster following a row with producers, before returning to The Grand Tour in 2016.

Since then, they have hosted 44 episodes of the series, which has taken them around the world with specials to Cambodia and Vietnam, Réunion and Madagascar, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

Late last year, their former bosses at the BBC announced that Top Gear, which made the trio superstars, was being sacked in the wake of a horrific crash involving presenter Andrew Flintoff.

Production on the show has been halted since presenter Flintoff, 45, was taken to hospital in December 2022 after being seriously injured in an accident at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.

Following the crash, the BBC announced it would pause production of the show, which was co-hosted by Take Me Out presenter Paddy McGuinness and motoring journalist Chris Harris, as it was felt it would be 'inappropriate'. safety assessment.

McGuinness later thanked fans 'for the love' in a 'see you soon' message.

And following the BBC's announcement to ax the show for the foreseeable future, Paddy posted a photo gallery on Instagram, starting with a photo of the trio in white Top Gear outfits.

He wrote the caption: 'We would always be b*****s but we were your b*****s.

“Thanks for all the love over the years folks, it was much appreciated.”