Top Gear star stable after 300mph dragster crash

Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was in a stable condition in hospital today after being involved in a high-speed car crash while filming an apparent attempt to break the British land speed record.

Hammond, 36, was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary after the “rocket powered dragster” he was in crashed at Elvington airfield near York yesterday.

A former firefighter who was one of the first on the scene following the crash said Hammond had been travelling at speeds close to 300mph before the accident.

Dave Ogden, who runs private firm Event Fire Services, said the crash had happened on the last “run” of the day.

Mr Ogden was helping to provide emergency cover at the airfield in case of an accident when he saw 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 Hammond, who was unconscious, breathing before the emergency crews worked together to turn the car the right way up.

They cut Hammond free, placed him in a neck brace and on a stretcher before the air ambulance arrived.

“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,” Mr Ogden said.

The current British land speed record is held by Colin Fallows, from Northampton, in his dragster Vampire, which reached 300.3mph in 2000.

It was not clear whether Hammond had been using Vampire to make his attempt at the record today.

Inspector Mike Thompson of North Yorkshire Police said last night: “At 5.45pm this evening we received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in what was described as an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield.

“The male occupant has received serious injuries and has been airlifted to hospital at Leeds.”

A hospital spokesman said Hammond, who is being treated in a neurological unit, was now in a “stable” condition.

Hammond, who often drives high-performance cars as part of presenting Top Gear, was born in Birmingham but lives just outside Cheltenham with his wife Amanda and two children.

He first appeared on British television screens on cable and satellite channels presenting motoring programmes before switching to the BBC’s Top Gear in 2002.

A BBC spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that an accident has happened while filming an edition of Top Gear at an airfield near York.

“The presenter Richard Hammond has been taken to hospital.

“The incident happened quite recently and the focus of our attention is on Richard at this stage.”

Top Gear magazine editor Michael Harvey told BBC News 24: “I’ve heard stories Richard was touching speeds closer to 300mph then 200mph, and clearly at those kinds of speeds the tiniest little thing has to go wrong and the speed obviously massively exaggerates the consequences of anything going wrong.

“This wasn’t a high performance car, this wasn’t a road car, this was a rocket-powered dragster which bears absolutely no relation to the kind of cars which are the main fodder of the Top Gear programme – this was a car that clearly contained its own risks.”

He added: “I know every single precaution will have been taken but something clearly absolutely unaccounted for has gone wrong, and Richard has unfortunately suffered the consequences.”

James May, who co-presents the popular motor show with Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson, said he was devastated to learn his “old mate” had been injured.

His agent, Annie Sweetbaum, said: “James is absolutely devastated, he’s heard the news but doesn’t know how bad he is.

“He’s really shocked, his words to me tonight were ‘He’s such a good mate, I’m so upset’.

“He said as soon as he’s allowed, he wants to go and see Richard.”

Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson said one of Hammond’s best qualities was that he had “no fear”.

He told BBC News 24: “It does sound very serious. It is a huge, huge tragedy. He is a wonderful, unique and distinctive Top Gear presenter.

“He has brought an awful lot to the programme and his indefatigable energy, the fact that he tries absolutely anything once, may have been the reason that he has overstepped the mark a bit.

“He is irreplaceable. He has turned Top Gear into a gang show with Jeremy and James and the three of them have wowed audiences all over the world and he is an international personality.”

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said an inspector would be visiting the airfield today to make initial inquiries over the crash.