Head-to-Head Reversing: In a new challenge for this show, pairs of drivers are required to reverse down a short course, turn around in reverse and then reverse back to the start. As an added difficulty, this challenge is performed in right-hand drive Toyota Celsiors. Kevin and Margherita are the first pair to take the challenge, and their run rapidly descends into chaos, with both drivers crossing into each other's lanes and demolishing large sections of the course. Margherita at least manages to finish the course, but has clearly failed the challenge, not least because she never once looked out of the back window; Kevin doesn't even get that far, and gives up after getting his car wedged on a piece of styrofoam. Klyne and Robert are the second pair; Klyne completes the course with no major issues, but Robert only uses his wing mirrors to guide him, and gets stuck on a set of rims, after which he gives up. Flora and Azim are next, and Flora has an initially good run, but, like Robert, she gets her car wedged on a rim at the halfway point and becomes stuck. Azim also does well for the first half of the course, but becomes flustered and gives up after being unable to effectively make a reverse turn at the bottom of the track. Diane and Dallas are the final pair, and Diane's run is good for the most part, but she goes too fast near the end and takes out a significant number of styrofoam obstacles. Dallas is another driver who insists on only using her wing mirrors, and while she does eventually complete the course, she demolishes a significant portion of it.
The Trough: In one of the show's classic challenges, the drivers are asked to drive a Suzuki Sidekick through a concrete trough, in a test of their ability to tell where their wheels are. If the drivers fall off the trough at any point, they are required to start over. In a new addition to the challenge, a "wooden bridge" was incorporated into the course (technically a section of corduroy road made with railway ties), giving drivers a chance to realign their wheels between sections. Azim is the first to attempt the challenge and nearly passes it at the first time of asking, only to fall off on the final turn; this leads to his stress problems kicking in, and he never gets past the bridge on his subsequent runs. Diane fares better, and despite difficulties on the final turn, completes the course on one go. Robert shows signs of improvement after some horrible initial runs, but runs out of time before he can finish the challenge. Flora initially seems to do well, but after Andrew spots that Frank is micromanaging her steering, he reprimands Frank and makes Flora start over. She does relatively well on her subsequent runs, but falls just short of finishing each time. Klyne keeps falling off due to making turns that are too tight, which results in Maureen giving him lengthy coaching during the run; he eventually completes it, but is deemed to have failed due to Maureen making all the decisions. Margherita performs dismally, never even making it past the first turn. Dallas gets overwhelmed after falling off halfway through her initial run and gives up. Kevin is the last to take the challenge and, like Margherita, never even gets past the first turn.
Mustang Challenge: Shoulder Check Challenge: This challenge, in which drivers must accelerate to 70 km/h and then correctly perform a shoulder check to determine on which side of an obstacle it is safe to turn in order to avoid it, has a new twist in that the drivers have two runs and will always be told to stop before the obstacle on the first run, thus also making this a test of their braking and speed control. Dallas drives too fast in her first run and her hair gets in the way of her eyes, resulting in her taking the right turn rather than stopping. After resetting (and putting in a hair clip) for her second run, she passes without difficulty. Diane has a similarly poor initial run, speeding and turning the wheel as she turns her head; on her second run, she correctly identifies the lane she needs to go into, but turns too early and takes out some of the lane markers, though is felt to have understood the lesson, despite failing it. Klyne correctly identifies that he's meant to stop on his first run, but drives far too fast and hits the central obstacle before he can stop. Keeping his speed under control, he passes with no trouble on the second run. Azim drives too fast and with only one hand on the wheel in his first run, meaning he can't stop or fully avoid the central obstacle; on his second run he repeats the same mistake and even turns into the wrong lane, clearly failing the challenge. Due to a misunderstanding of the rules, Flora takes the right-hand exit on her first run instead of stopping, but passes the challenge without any trouble on the second run. Margherita drives at over 90 km/h in her initial run and doesn't even have time to check both shoulders before plowing into the lane markers, only narrowly avoiding the obstacle. On her second run, she speeds again, turns into the wrong lane and smashes the passenger side wing mirror when she clips the central obstacle. Since Kevin has an inherent disadvantage with only one eye, Andrew tells him ahead of time that he will be required to stop on his first run, only for Kevin to brake too late and hit the obstacle. On his second run, Kevin attempts to cheat by only checking over his left shoulder and reasoning that due to the red signal on that side he must be required to turn to his right; while he does this successfully, he fails for not understanding the challenge. Robert is the last to take the challenge, after Andrew gives him a lesson in driving at high speeds, and ironically ends up driving too fast and completely demolishing the central obstacle on his first run. His second run goes more successfully, and he completes the challenge.
While there are three obvious candidates to be the season's first graduate (Klyne, who passed all the challenges, and Flora and Robert, who generally did well despite only passing one challenge each), Robert is the only driver who actually wants to graduate. Cam and Shyamala both vote that Robert should graduate, as they feel that his major issue of being too slow and lacking in confidence has been addressed, and are unconvinced that Klyne's attitude has sufficiently improved. Andrew and Philippe want Klyne to graduate, for doing better in the challenges. Tim's first vote as a judge ends up being the casting one, and he votes in favour of Robert, who becomes the season's first graduate.
