Richard Hammond says ‘well-controlled risk is excusable’ after Flintoff Top Gear crash

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Richard Hammond has stated he thinks a “well-controlled risk” is “excusable” for motoring exhibits like Top Gear.

Hammond, 54, was addressing Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff’s critical crash on Top Gear final November.

The long-running present was taken off air for the “foreseeable future” following the accident on the Top Gear take a look at monitor at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, which noticed the previous England cricket captain maintain critical accidents.

Hammond, who used to current the present alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May, was concerned in a critical accident of his personal in 2006 when he crashed a jet-powered dragster at almost 320mph.

He was left in a coma for 2 weeks and suffered critical head accidents. In 2022, he acquired again behind the wheel of the exact same automotive.

Speaking about Flintoff’s accident, Hammond advised Times Radio: “I feel for the guy, it sounds like a really traumatic accident and a horrible experience. I’ve only ever wished him all the best from it.”

Reflecting on his personal experiences, he added: “I’ve had a couple of big ones but accidents do happen.

“They went through our systems and protocols very closely and we weren’t found wanting because the fact of the matter is, sometimes, things do go wrong.

“What matters then, in terms of corporate responsibility and responsibility on the part of those running the show and asking us to do these things, is that everything is in place to mitigate the effects should things go wrong.”

Hammond defined that his crash was attributable to a tyre delaminating which he feels “nobody” might have stopped taking place.

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He continued: “But everything that followed from there was great. They had the right contacts in place. They did things in the right order. They got an air ambulance there. Everything was done properly. And that’s all you can ultimately do, isn’t it?”

The presenter argued the enchantment of vehicles and transport won’t “ever diminish” as he feels it “connects with something fundamental to us as creatures” because it permits us to succeed in essential sources like meals and water faster.

He added: “The fact that it is visceral and real and physical and we engage with it. It’s not digital. It is fundamental to what we do.

“I don’t think its appeal will ever diminish and therefore taking a well mitigated, a well-controlled risk, I think, is excusable and in the knowledge that sometimes it’s going to go wrong.”

Hammond can at the moment be seen with Clarkson and May within the penultimate episode of The Grand Tour, titled Sand Job, which was not too long ago launched on Prime Video.

Last week, Clarkson appeared to confess to calling former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a “silly c***” through the filming of Top Gear in 2009.

Meanwhile, May revealed that he believes the rationale the trio have been profitable collectively for therefore lengthy is because of “mutual loathing.”

In his three-star evaluation of The Grand Tour for The Independent, TV critic Nick Hilton referred to as the collection an “enjoyably” “blokey pantomime”.

Additional reporting by Press Association