{"id":4019,"date":"2017-06-10T14:51:38","date_gmt":"2017-06-10T22:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/?p=4019"},"modified":"2017-06-10T14:51:38","modified_gmt":"2017-06-10T22:51:38","slug":"ex-top-gear-host-richard-hammond-cheats-death-fiery-grand-tour-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/06\/ex-top-gear-host-richard-hammond-cheats-death-fiery-grand-tour-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-‘Top Gear’ Host Richard Hammond Cheats Death in Fiery ‘Grand Tour’ Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"Richard-Hammond-crash-Grand-Tour-Top-Gear\"$ <\/a>Writer, auto enthusiast and TV host Richard Hammond cheats death \u2014 again \u2014 in a fiery auto crash during filming on season two of his Amazon Prime show \u201cThe Grand Tour.\u201d<\/a> He didn\u2019t walk away unscathed, but looking at photos from the accident (supplied by Amazon Studios), this is one very lucky man.<\/p>\n

$\"Richard-Hammond-Grand-Tour-Crash-1\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

$\"Richard-Hammond-Grand-Tour-Crash-2\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

The former host of the BBC\u2019s \u201cTop Gear\u201d \u2014 who, along with James May, followed fellow host Jeremy Clarkson out of that show and into \u201cThe Grand Tour\u201d \u2014 was filming for the auto-centric Amazon Studios production in St. Gallen in northeast Switzerland.<\/p>\n

$\"Jeremy-Clarkson-Richard-Hammond-James-May-Top-Gear-Amazon-P\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

While driving a Rimac supercar worth roughly\u00a0$2.5M, Hammond <\/a>apparently lost control of the car in a corner. The video below shows the last few seconds before the crash.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/oOQL7hyFXtc<\/p>\n

Amazingly, the 47-year-old was able to exit the car before it burst into flames.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a statement from Amazon:<\/p>\n

\u201cRichard Hammond was involved in a serious crash after completing the Hemburg Hill Climb in Switzerland in a Rimac Concept One, an electric super car built in Croatia, during filming for The Grand Tour<\/i> season two on Amazon Prime Video, but very fortunately suffered no serious injury.\u00a0 Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames. He was flown by Air Ambulance to hospital in St. Gallen to be checked over revealing a fracture to his knee.\u00a0Nobody else was in the car or involved in the accident, and we\u2019d like to thank the paramedics on site for their swift response. The cause of the crash is unknown and is being investigated.<\/span>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This follows another incident, less than three months ago, when Hammond (nicknamed \u201cHamster\u201d) fell off a motorbike while filming in Mozambique.<\/p>\n
From the U.K. Guardian<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n
The presenter later posted on the DriveTribe<\/a>\u00a0website: \u201cYes I fell off but yes, I\u2019m fine. Sorry \u2026 Thanks for inquiries re my slight shunt whilst filming for GT. I can confirm that yes, I fell off a bike, many times, in fact and yes, I banged my head and everything else. But life goes on.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The latest crash is eerily similar to an incident in 2006, when Hammond suffered life-threatening head injuries and brain damage after crashing a jet-powered Vampire dragster at 288 mph.<\/p>\n
From the U.K. Daily Mail<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n
\n
In 2006 Hammond nearly died after crashing a jet powered car at 288 mph and slipped into a coma during an attempt to break the British land speed record for the BBC show.<\/p>\n
He was driving a jet-powered Vampire dragster when the front-right tyre burst leading the vehicle to spin out of control during a stunt at Elvington airfield near York.<\/p>\n
Hammond suffered serious head injuries and he was in hospital for five weeks before returning home to his wife Mindy and their two daughters, Isabella and Willow.<\/p>\n
The TV presenter, nicknamed \u2018Hamster\u2019, later told how he struggled \u2018mortally with depression\u2019 and spoke regularly to a psychiatrist following the incident.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Earlier today (Jun 10), Clarkson tweeted about the latest crash:<\/p>\n
$\"Jeremy-Clarkson-Tweet\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n
Like \u201cTop Gear,\u201d \u201cThe Grand Tour\u201d sends the trio on motor-related adventures around the world, but the injection of cash from Amazon has raised the new series to levels unheard-of on the BBC show.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to tell just how much of the on-screen perils are authentic and how much is exaggerated for effect, but one thing\u2019s for sure, when the guys are behind the wheel, the dangers are very real.<\/p>\n
Hammond is also a helicopter pilot, as he told me in 2012 <\/a>while visiting a Torrance, California, helicopter plant for a series ironically called \u201cRichard Hammond\u2019s Crash Course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
Hammond bought his own helicopter so that he could leave locations for \u201cTop Gear\u201d and other projects and get home quickly to his wife and two daughters. It was also useful for impressing his \u201cTop Gear\u201d colleagues, Jeremy Clarkson<\/b> and James May<\/b>.<\/div>\n\u201cJames flies fixed-wing,\u201d Hammond says, \u201cso he\u2019s very snobby about helicopters. Jeremy doesn\u2019t fly anything, so he\u2019s sniffy about flying in general. But we were over the east coast in the U.K., and it\u2019s a long drive home. I\u2019d flown in, and they\u2019d both driven.<\/div>\n
\u201cI dropped James off in London and Jeremy off in his garden. That shut them up. They haven\u2019t gone on about it since. They realized, that\u2019s it. It\u2019s quite useful.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
You can debate whether a father of two should be risking his life in this way, but it appears the Almighty isn\u2019t quite finished with Hammond yet.
\nImages: Courtesy Amazon Studios<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
Don\u2019t miss a thing: head over to my other home, as Social Media Manager at\u00a0Family Theater Productions<\/a>; and check out FTP\u2019s Faith & Family Media Blog<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n