Clarkson, Hammond and May are set to return to the stage, having today officially launched this year’s Top Gear Live World Tour from London’s Royal Geographical Society in true style; suspended below a hot air balloon.

In preparation for their latest tour, which will play to over 340,000 Top Gear fans worldwide, the crew have been hard at work to create a completely new live experience.

Fans can expect flaming rally cars, extreme underground street racers and cars which change colour in the blink of an eye.

Other sequences will feature the infamous Stig who will be leading a troop of international stunt drivers via a mix of hand gestures, sonic pulses and Morse code, showing audiences the ultimate in precision driving.

Rowland French, Executive Producer, Top Gear Live said: “I for one am hugely excited about this coming Top Gear Live tour. We had a fantastic response last year, but to ensure we keep the audience on the edge of their seats once again, I’ve developed some truly groundbreaking machinery for the 09/10 tour.”

The task of putting on a show for 340,000 fans across four continents requires 135 trucks, 3 ships, 1 freight plane and 94 cars with 150 sets of tyres – a subtle hint at the tyre-frying antics we should expect.

The Top Gear Live 2009/2010 World Tour will premiere in the UK as part of the MPH show in London before finally reaching Sydney from the 11th to 14th of February 2010 followed by Auckland from the 18th to 21st.

Each leg will consist of ten shows presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May or, outside Britain, a combination of Jeremy and Richard or Jeremy and James, who will team up with a local presenter.