German Car Zone

Hammond crashes again, unhurt this time


Much hay is being made of a crash Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond sustained Saturday while participating in a 24-hour endurance race at Silverstone in England. Uninjured, Hammond continued the race once his BMW 330 DTi was repaired, BBC reports.
A faster car was in the midst of overtaking Hammond when the two collided, causing Hammond to have to pull the injured car off the track. Once a safety truck had pulled the car back to the pits and repairs were complete, the Hamster resumed racing, sharing duties with fellow presenters James May and Jeremy Clarkson along with The Stig, the show’s tamed, sometimes-bionic, (almost) always anonymous, race driver. Hammond’s co-drivers seem to consider the crash a racing incident.
Just under a year ago, Hammond was nearly killed in a bit of “agricultural driving” that occurred after a front tire blew out while he was driving a jet-powered car at 288mph. For a selection of Hammond-related - and frequently crash-related - stories, see here.

He sure loves to put his arse on the line, doesn't he?

Mind you, in the next Top Gear series he will be racing a Bugatti Veyron vs a Typhoon Eurofighter.

It's been nice knowing Mr. Hammond!

More details emerge on Mr. Hammonds most recent crash..


Our favorite rodent host of Top Gear, Richard "The Hamster" Hammond, was involved in an on-track collision last Saturday during an endurance race at Silverstone behind the wheel of a BMW 330 DTi Sport. Hammond, of course, was almost killed last September when he lost control of a jet-powered dragster at 288 MPH. This time Hammond merely collided with a car that was trying to overtake him. Reportedly traveling around 100 MPH at the time, he was able to limp the BMW off the track and wait for a tow to the pits where the car was repaired so he could continue racing. Fellow hosts Jeremy Clarkson and Jay Mays, as well as their mystery driver, the Stig, were also taking turns with the BMW last weekend.

The one-year anniversary of Hammond's near death experience in a jet car is September 20th. While his most recent incident is hardly newsworthy in and of itself, the fact it's his first since the jet car accident and comes almost exactly one year later makes it an interesting piece of news. Hammond, however, doesn't think there's much to report here, saying ""Reports of my shunt this weekend have been greatly exaggerated." Regardless, no one can say that Richard Hammond doesn't lay it on the line for his craft, that's for sure.