harvey Report This Comment Date: September 22, 2006 12:34AM
smh.com.au
"Presenter of British motoring program Top Gear Richard Hammond suffered a
significant brain injury in a high-speed crash in a jet-powered car while
filming for the program, a hospital spokesman said today.
The presenter had been filming at a former Royal Air Force base near York, in
what media reports said was an attempt to break the British land speed record of
300.3mph (483.18km/h), when the accident happened yesterday afternoon."
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: September 22, 2006 11:37AM
do you think he's the stig..
etx125 Report This Comment Date: September 22, 2006 12:32PM
no richard hammond is not the stig
DAVO Report This Comment Date: September 22, 2006 01:46PM
He passed away this evening
He was also in Brainiac
harvey Report This Comment Date: September 22, 2006 11:30PM
My bet is on Damon Hill as the Stig.
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: September 23, 2006 02:50AM
Richard Hammond has not "passed away" accordind to
The Times on line
[
www.timesonline.co.uk]
The Times September 23, 2006
Was I driving like an idiot, Hammond asks
By Marcus Leroux
Just 30 hours after his 300mph crash, the Top Gear presenter spoke to his
colleague Jeremy Clarkson
THE moment that Richard Hammond opened his eyes, spoke and took the first steps
since his 300mph car crash was described by his Top Gear co-presenter Jeremy
Clarkson last night.
“In the wee small hours [late on Thursday night] Richard Hammond suddenly sat
up in bed, opened his eyes and asked what had happened,” Clarkson said. He had
replied: “You’ve been in a car accident.” Hammond asked whether he had
been driving stupidly “before getting out of bed and walking, shakily, to the
lavatory”, Clarkson writes in today’s Sun.
Yesterday another co-presenter, James May, visited Hammond, 36, in hospital and
had a brief conversation with him. “I’m not a doctor but I am his mate and I
believe that deep inside the Hammond I know is perfectly intact,” May
said.
The plan had been for May to drive the dragster on Wednesday, when the crash had
happened, but he was replaced by Hammond because he had another commitment.
The accident took place during an attempt to break the British land-speed record
in a jet-powered car at Elvington airfield, near York.
Yesterday Leeds General Infirmary said: “Richard Hammond is making
satisfactory progress.” His status has been downgraded to “stable” from
“serious but stable” and he has been moved from intensive care to a
high-dependency unit.
Clarkson also writes in the newspaper of the immediate aftermath of the crash.
After a few minutes of unconsciousness Hammond said: “I want to do a piece to
camera.” Hammond began fighting with the ambulancemen who tried to prevent
him, Clarkson writes.
The BBC announced yesterday that it was postponing the new series of The Best of
Top Gear, which was to have started tomorrow week as a precursor to the series
for which Hammond was filming.
Police and Health and Safety Executive inspectors were continuing to investigate
the crash to discover what went wrong and who, if anybody, is to blame. The BBC
could be prosecuted and given an unlimited fine if it is found not to have taken
the necessary steps to ensure Mr Hammond’s safety.
The Health and Safety Executive said that inspectors were looking at the BBC’s
planning and preparation of the record attempt and that the police were
examining Vampire, the dragster that Hammond had been driving. It would be weeks
before the investigation was concluded, a spokesman said.The inspectors will
call on experts to help them to determine whether mechanical failure was an
element in the crash.
The spokesman said that the inspectors’ decision on whether to prosecute would
depend on whether they believed that the BBC did not take adequate steps to
prevent the accident and, if adequate steps were not taken, on the level of
negligence.
A group of motoring enthusiasts have raised almost £55,000 in donations and
gift aid for the helicopter ambulance that took Hammond to hospital. Wellwishers
on the internet forum pistonheads.com set up a webpage
(www.justgiving.com/phrichardhammond ) so that contributions could be made to
the Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity. They had hoped to cover the cost of
Hammond’s flight to hospital, but the fundraising target has now been updated
to the equivalent of 151 flights.
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: September 23, 2006 01:38PM
Perry McCarthy is the Stig.
sparky Report This Comment Date: September 26, 2006 12:34AM
Was that info from a reliable hammond sauce(er i mean source)