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Chris Evans has claimed the new Top Gear will be “more inclusive” and “less blinkered” than the previous version of the BBC2 show led by Jeremy Clarkson.

Evans said that the upcoming series would feature more characters on camera than Clarkson ’s show, which focused on himself, James May and Richard Hammond.

He and co-host Matt LeBlanc have just completed their first challenge for the BBC show - a UK v USA race from London to Blackpool in Reliant Rialtos, painted with their respective country’s flags.

“The film we made up in the north of Britain over the last few days, I counted there are 36 other people, other than Matt and I, in those films on camera, so we’re going to be much more inclusive,” Evans explained.

“If there’s something or someone applicable to the car that will be in the film, whereas before it was a lot more blinkered, so we are opening this up.”

(Image: FameFlynet.uk.com)

Claiming that the cars were the stars, he added: “We’ve got a road trip and some very well known co-drivers coming with us next week ... but they all love cars, they adore cars. So it’s cars first, name second.”

Read more:Top Gear backlash as viewers hit out over SEVEN strong presenting team

The new series will see the Top Gear crew filming in countries including Norway, Kazakhstan, Scotland, South Africa, Morocco and Cuba.

Evans revealed the new seven-presenter line-up would function with him and LeBlanc as the main hosts, with the remaining five presenters coming “in and come out as required”.

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He said that the pair of them were like “a modern style odd couple”.

“He knows so much about his cars, he’s a brilliant driver and he’s a world star, and that’s very important for Top Gear,” Evans explained.

“Also the transatlantic connection, we are very much like a modern style odd couple, completely different on first impressions but actually we’ve got an awful lot in common.”

(Image: FameFlynet.uk.com)

In the classic 1968 movie, Jack Lemmon plays fussy Felix who is so downcast over his impending divorce he moves in with his pal Oscar, played by Walter Matthau.

Their friendship is put to the test by Oscar’s messiness and Felix’s cleanliness – so they do not last long as flatmates but eventually realise that they are both improved by the other rubbing off on them.

Read more: Matt LeBlanc breaks down TWICE during his first ever Top Gear challenge

LeBlanc – best known as Joey Tribbiani – praised Evans, saying: “We’ve just done our first film together and we spent three days in the rain and the mud, and we had an absolute blast.

(Image: MARK CAMPBELL/MCPIX)

“Sets can be very long, with tedious hours and for me, I like to spend that downtime between setting different shots and setting different scenes, with people whose company you enjoy, it makes the day go quicker.”

He added that Evans was “a nice guy, very approachable, taller than me”.

The US actor, who clinched a £500,000 deal to star in the new show, confessed it “didn’t feel like a job to me, it feels like this is a fun thing to do”.

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The new series of the BBC2 show is due to start in May, featuring The Stig, ex Formula 1 boss Eddie Jordan, German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, motoring journalist Chris Harris and car reviewer Rory Reid.

LeBlanc said Formula One driver Romain Grosjean and US Motocross/Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath have asked to be on the show.

Evans said he wants McLaren’s star driver Jenson Button to be a guest and added that he wants people “who genuinely love cars inside and outside of what they do, even if what they are involved in is motor sport”.

The pair were speaking in Liverpool as the BBC showcased its latest programmes for the international market.