I am pretty certain that Top Gear have a development car...they've had it some time.
I'm never too sure about just how fast Clarkson and his crew actually drive...there's an awful lot of clever camera work and editing. A bit like Stig's lap in the M3W....it's all done for maximum entertainment value, if he had been a lot smoother it may well have been a faster lap. He must have done quite a few laps to get use to the car and they just picked the most lairy of them.
