Jeremy Clarkson defiantly hits back at criticism of The Grand Tour replacements as he makes plea to fans over new trio

However, given Mr Clarkson, Mr May and Mr Hammond's near-two-decade-long stint as the face of motoring television, loyal fans soon expressed dismay.

Criticism soon flooded in, ranging from fans thinking the new trio may not be the right fit to some even calling for Amazon to end the show for good.

But one man who is convinced the three men will be able to replicate the success of Clarkson and co is the man himself.

Taking a break from farming at his Oxfordshire farm, where filming has been halted for the past few months, Mr Clarkson has appeared on a new podcast to deliver a glowing endorsement of Mr Bourgeois, Mr Holland and Mr Engelsman.

The defence of the Grand Tour newbies came in a discussion with Autocar journalists Steve Cropley and Matt Prior. The pair welcomed Mr Clarkson onto their podcast to discuss his love of cars and how he still owns many that featured in both Top Gear and The Grand Tour.

After discussing "a Toyota Hilux we tried to kill on Top Gear", the podcast's hosts asked: "Given that the cars that you’ve got are quite related to The Grand Tour, and I’ve just read Andy Wilman’s book, and there was a hell of a lot of regret when it ended. Are you sorry that it’s over?"

Mr Clarkson replied in no uncertain terms: "No. No, not even slightly. I don't miss it.

"I’m glad we did it. We had an enormous amount of fun doing it, but it’s quite physical. It’s much harder to do than you might imagine."

Delving into why he felt it was the right time for him, Mr Hammond and Mr May to bid farewell, Mr Clarkson explained that obstacles outside of their control played a major part.

"The world is a much smaller place now. Think of the trips we’ve done over the recent past. Ukraine — can’t get there anymore. Russia — can’t get there anymore," he began.

The 65-year-old continued: "We landed in Iran, drove up past Iran into Turkey, down through Syria, through Jordan into Israel. Can't do that.

"The whole of North Africa, with the exception of Morocco, is gone. So we’re suddenly limited to southern Africa. We’ve done Libya, we’ve done Mozambique, we’ve done Botswana. We’ve now done Zimbabwe."

One of the hosts interjected to express their disappointment at Mr Clarkson's decision to step back. "We’ve been doing this for three years, and so we find ourselves talking about car programs and the fact that it’s not here anymore-" the host said before being abruptly cut off.

"It’s coming back," Mr Clarkson interjected, although the host seemed as unconvinced as the many who lodged the aforementioned complaints about the new line-up.

"Well, yes, but—" the presenter unconvincingly replied, which prompted Mr Clarkson to go into defensive mode: "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no — don’t be hasty. Do not be hasty."

"And you’re involved in it at all? Not involved at all?" one of the hosts asked, leading Mr Clarkson to explain: "No, no, not at all. I think Andy's involved to some extent. Difficult to work out how much, but he’s definitely involved. I know this because I heard his voice on the guide track of their film.

"But I’ve seen the guys being chosen in the early days, and I’ve seen some of the stuff they’ve been doing. And it’s very, very good."

Seemingly still not won over by Mr Clarkson's defiance, one of the presenters asked if the show would have a "different" feel.

"Oh, it’s different. I mean, it’s different because they’re three completely different people to us," Mr Clarkson clarified. "But they’re bl**dy funny."

When the Clarkson's Farm star was pressed on whether the format would change, he teased: "You shall see. You shall see. But no, I’m pretty confident — I’m pretty confident that that will work.

"I mean, touch wood. But I love the idea that Grand Tour carried on in this way."

Mr Clarkson isn't alone in his praise for the new trio. Upon their unveiling, longtime collaborator and producer Mr Wilman echoed his colleague's high praise of the hosts.

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He said: "We are properly happy to hand over the baton to Thomas, James and Francis, because quite simply - they are doing it right.

"Not only do they have passion and knowledge, but more importantly, they are in no way cardboard cutouts of the old three. They have a delightful chemistry that's all of their own making."

Mr Bourgeois and the Throttle House boys will front the new six-part series later this year.

While the locations remain under wraps for now, Amazon has teased that they will be "tackling motoring’s most pressing, and delightfully absurd, quests across some of the world’s most challenging terrains."