Best ways to drive like a stunt driver

1. Drive it like you stole it

There’s often only one chance to make a lasting impression on celluloid. Many moviemakers have tried using digital cameras where you can film a sequence again and again without burning film stock, including the 007 franchise, only to return to the energy of real film to capture that one special moment. So give it rock all, otherwise cinema audiences will yawn their disapproval.

For the stunt driver that means unleashing everything you have when the director calls for action. Car chases always involve a high-speed race through traffic, with inches to spare and bumper-to-bumper. Timing is everything, which is why we rehearse these sequences so much. But ultimately it comes down to being able to summon that little extra to squeeze through a vanishing gap or dig yourself out of trouble when a fluid situation throws a curveball.

1. Don’t overcook it

Top Gear was the perfect training ground because we had to live within our means. We would be given one car to film with and told “not to put a scratch on it.” One night in Basingstoke I was chucked the keys to a shiny new black Corvette and we had an entire shopping mall as our playground. I was handbrake turning past Costa Coffee and smashing through their tables and chairs, exploding though fruit stalls and generally abusing 1 million square feet of prime retail space. Between takes Pat Doyle, the Series Producer, was monitoring every fleck on the surface of the car and “buffing out” would-be scars.

1. Standby

My first movie was National Treasure 2, which featured the biggest car chase in London’s history. I had been put on standby for almost three weeks, which means waiting on the film set to be given something to do, and found myself distracted by the heavenly bounty inside the catering wagon.

Out of nowhere the stunt coordinator’s assistant came running towards me with an incredulous look in his eye. To my shame I looked down and realised I hadn’t turned my radio on, nor realised that I was keeping Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris waiting… It was hard to make excuses with a Mr Whippy in my hand.

I had four broken ribs from a racing accident, so running was really out of the question. Well… I sprinted like I was running from a seething volcano. I jumped onto the roof of the Mercedes, where we had a chair with steering and pedals so that I could drive it from a special ‘pod’, and spent the rest of the day swinging my rig around the backstreets of London City. Suffice to say, it was a lesson learned.

1. Tweak the Car

You need a car with a decent handbrake so that you could spin the car around on its nose and slide it whenever you want to. Today’s car manufacturers have lost their minds by installing push buttons that are as useful as a white crayon. You can bypass all that rubbish by fitting a hydraulic handbrake that attaches to a line to the rear brakes, or go in search of a car that still has old school creature comforts.