BBC’s “Top Gear” presenter, cutie Richard Hammond, was injured in a car crash while trying to break the land speed record and had to be airlifted to hospital:
A spokesman for the hospital said Mr Hammond was “stable”.
Mr Hammond had been driving a dragster-style car capable of reaching speeds of up to 300mph at the former RAF airfield in Elvington, near York.
The crash will be investigated by the Health and Safety Executive and the BBC.
The BBC said in a statement: “We are looking into all the factors of this accident and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage until we know the full situation.”
The dragster car he was driving was believed to have been travelling at about 300mph when it crashed.
Motoring expert Adam Rayner, of Fast Car magazine, said that at those speeds the driver would experience forces similar to those endured by fighter pilots.
“These cars accelerate at 6G – the force is breathtaking and stopping is a real difficulty,” he said.
Former firefighter Dave Ogden, who runs private firm Event Fire Services, was one of the first people at the scene of the crash.
He said: “We were down there with Top Gear who were filming him trying to break the British land speed record.
“On the previous run, the car had just gone over 300mph but I am not sure if it had broken the record.
“They had just done one more run and were planning to finish when it veered off to the right.
“One of the parachutes had deployed but it went on to the grass and spun over and over before coming to a rest about 100 yards from us.”
He said his crew and an ambulance that was already on the airfield rushed over and found the car upside down and “dug in” to the grass.
Mr Ogden said he felt for a pulse and heard Mr Hammond breathing before the emergency crews worked together to turn the car the right way up and then cut him free.
He added: “He was regaining consciousness at that point and said he had some lower back pain. But he was drifting in and out of consciousness a little bit.”
Top Gear is a weekly car show produced by the BBC that features unique stunts, high-end car reviews, and a three witty guys who never fail to make it highly-watchable and side-splittingly funny. It’s my husband’s favorite show, and I’m not into cars but I love it too. It’s hard to do the show justice in a review because it’s just that good.
It’s surprising that the team had Richard do the stunt, because they also have a professional racecar driver who always wears a helmet and it’s an ongoing joke that they don’t reveal his identity. They take a lot of risks on the show, but they seem to be calculated ones.
Here’s a video of Richard driving a Pagani Zonda on the show.
If you’ve never seen “Top Gear,” there are plenty of clips on YouTube. And here’s a Richard Hammond fan site, which is where we found the pictures.
Best wishes to Richard for a quick and complete recovery.
i hope he pulls through, i love hamster!!lol prayers go out to his family and friends
I’ve never seen the show, because I obviously can’t catch it on normal German cable TV. It sounds great though and I’m pretty sure that I’ve already seen Richard before, I just don’t know on which show.. Anyway, it sounds like a horrible accident, but it’s also obvious that he was extremely lucky, he could have died! I hope he recovers soon, for the sake of his family, friends and fans!
OMG, what I am going to watch next weekend. And there are plenty of old shows that I never get tired of OMG, what I am going to watch next weekend. Well, there are plenty of old shows that I never get tired of watching. Looking back, this tragic accident was inevitable. He got into the mode of doing more and more of those daredevil stunts. Jeremy is too old and to tall to even fit in a dragster. And James prefers to drive the comfy and “reasonable” vehicles. But just the mix of these three characters makes Top Gear one of the best shows ever produced. Just think about it, my wife tells me to drop everything when the show is on because she does not want me to miss a second. And sometimes she even watches it with me.
Let’s hope that Richard recovers fast and completely! My very best wishes go out him!
watching. Looking back this tragic event was
well it is the best car show ever produced no doubt about that , and i hope richard pulls through for the sake of his family , friends and fans and the show off course, if u are into cars even a bit , this is a must see show and celebitchy i never thought i’d be a fan of a celebrity site, but i like yours coz its for real and ur funny and sarcastic loool, kepe up the good work
when is this show on? I get bbc canada and bbca, but it just says cash in the attic for like 50 hours straight, please let me know how i can get this show