Look at Final Gear; it's actually a more informative show than Top Gear, but almost nobody knows about it.
Sorry to see Jezza go, but the BBC did the right thing.
I think you mean fifth gear, not final gear.
Final gear is a fan website that posted links to the torrents of all top gear/ fifth gear episodes and after several years of providing links got a nasty C+D letter from BBC or a BBC surrogate organization.
Otherwise, you are 100% right, copies of TGUK that try to be TGUK fail, because what TGUK is (WAS) wasn't the result of them trying to be that way, that's just the way they were.
If we go back and watch the show starting at season 2 up to the current season we see that the show evolved into what it is known for, and it took years to get there. For several seasons it wasn't just about 3 middle aged blokes falling down and cocking about.
My personal take is that the BBC had no choice but to sack Clarkson, it truly is his fault. The only question is whether he (to some extent, or subconsciously) wanted to be forced to stop doing the show because otherwise there was no way he could bring himself to stop.
I foresee the three to do some work together on their own or under some other organization.