Broadcaster Chris Evans is to replace Jeremy Clarkson as the lead presenter of the BBC’s hit motoring show “Top Gear”, the corporation announced Tuesday.

The BBC said Evans, 49, had signed a three-year deal to present the world’s most popular factual TV programme, while Clarkson’s former co-presenters, James May and Richard Hammond, would not be returning.

Clarkson was dropped from the anarchic “Top Gear” programme, which has 350 million viewers per week in 170 countries, after he punched a producer earlier this year.

A BBC spokeswoman said Evans’ co-presenters would be announced “in due course”, with production of the new series starting in the next few weeks.