Fans of Top Gear will undoubtedly be a tad naffed off to hear that the show won’t be back on our screens with a new series again until 2013.

And why is that I hear you cry? Well, apparently it’s because the BBC fear the show will do badly in the viewer ratings as it would clash with The X Factor in the timeslot it’s been allocated.

However, why the Beeb can’t just move it around the schedule will forever remain a mystery.

Of there being no new episodes this year, gob on a stick presenter Jeremy Clarkson said, “Top Gear is a medium-sized van. Cowell is a juggernaut.”

Writing in The Sun, Jeremy continued, “Would love to be back in the autumn but Sunday nights then will be full of fat people singing…

“The good news is that the longer we have to make the films, the better they will be.”

But at least we’ll get a Top Gear Christmas special the end of the year, and in yet more good news from Aunty Beeb, Rob Brydon’s show has been re-commissioned for another run on BBC2 this summer.

Rob, who of course formerly played Uncle Bryn in Gavin & Stacey, said, “We already have some great guests lined up. I can’t wait to get started.”

O, I can’t wait to see where to he’s goin’ with it.