Smug bastard - but he makes me laugh.
Not good though

BBC motoring presenter injured in crash
Thursday Sep 21 06:43 AEST

AP - The host of a BBC television show about automobiles was critically injured when the jet-powered car he was test driving at about 450 kph crashed, the network said.

The accident occurred when Richard Hammond, 36, the host of Top Gear, was racing the car down a runway at an unused Royal Air Force air field near York city in northern England and it overturned, police and the BBC said.

Hammond, who often drives high-performance cars for the show, was rushed in an air ambulance to a hospital in Leeds.

The accident occurred while he was filming for a future show





[ Edited on 23-10-2006 by Bizarre ]

very bad. I like Hammond more than Clarkson.

Top Gear host critical after crash Press Association
Wednesday September 20, 2006 11:18 PM

Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was in a critical condition in hospital after he was involved in a high-speed car crash while filming for the programme.

Hammond, 36, was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary after a "rocket-powered dragster" he was in crashed at Elvington airfield near York.

The editor of Top Gear magazine said he had heard that Hammond may have been travelling at speeds close to 300mph before the crash.

Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "At 5.45pm (on Wednesday) 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 in a "critical" 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 and 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 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.

Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson said one of Hammond's best qualities was that he has "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."

Thats awfull...I really enjoy the great balance of passion and taking too seriously to the point of silliness, that the show takes...hope he pulls through allright

That's a pity. Hope he pulls through. I was only watching my DVD of them last night.

[ Edited on 21-9-2006 by squizy ]

I hope he comes out of it ok as they crack me up everytime I watch top gear. I wonder what the dragster looks like now?

Just saw this on the News.com.au site as well, hope he pulls through okay. The presenters appear to have a good chemistry on Top gear and they don't seem to play favourites with cars either.

Clarkson doesn't hate porsches, he just thinks they are boring and likes ferraris better. But then what do you expect, the ferraris they compare them with are usually double the price. The funny thing is, every time I've seen him drive a porsche, he says it's better engineered and designed per $$$ than most of the other cars. He's just a sucker for brute horsepower and wild styling. For instance, that new 500hp supercharged Mercedes coupe he loves, it's styling makes me want to gag, it's gonna date so fast. Porsches are generally more refined and subtle.

Gee I hope they can get Hammond back. He's probably the only person in the world capable of stopping Clarkson looking like an arrogant pratt 100% of the time.

Hopefully he'll make a full recovery!... I reckon they have a great chemistry the 3 of them together. Just got this off MSN.


'Top Gear' presenter's condition improves to stable
Thursday Sep 21 12:50 AEST
Richard Hammond, a presenter for the BBC's Top Gear automobile television series, has improved to a stable condition after being involved in a car accident which saw him being airlifted to hospital.

The 36-year-old television presenter was filming for the programme at a disused airfield in York, central England, when the accident happened and was airlifted to a hospital in nearby Leeds.

He was involved in a high-speed car crash while filming an apparent attempt to break Britain's land speed record in what was described as a "rocket powered dragster" that travelled at speeds close to 482.8 kilometres per hour.

The current British land speed record is 300.3 miles per hour, held by Colin Fallows, who set the record in 2000.

A former firefighter at the scene said the accident had happened on the last attempt of the day, which saw the car veer to the right, triggering the deployment of one of the parachutes.

The car, however, went onto the grass, and "spun over and over" before eventually resting upside down and "dug in" to the grass, Dave Ogden of Event Fire Services said.

Hammond was cut free, placed in a neck brace and onto a stretcher before an air ambulance arrived to take him to hospital.

9 NEWSWATCH

You cant kill a hampster that easy!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/5366422.stm 

Poor lil guy

he was sicka s aman..


bad shita

!

damn i really liked him too

oh no, he was the nice one

http://www.theage.com.au/news/people/top-gear-host-has-brain-damage/2006/09/22/1158431870176.html

Top Gear host has brain damage
Richard Hammond was aiming to top 480km/h when his jet-powered car suddenly swerved, rolled and crashed.

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.

"He has suffered a significant brain injury," the spokesman said.

"It is still giving cause for concern as it is still early after the injury. However, we are reasonably optimistic that he will make a good recovery."

The 36-year-old presenter was taken by air ambulance to the specialist neurological unit at Leeds General Infirmary after the accident yesterday.

Earlier today, the hospital had said Hammond was in a serious but stable condition after some improvement overnight.

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.

A spokesman for the car's sponsor, Thule, said that although timers were in place to record Hammond's speed, it would not have qualified as an official record attempt.

Health and Safety Executive officials were on site investigating possible causes of the crash.

Co-presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May have both visited their colleague in hospital.

"Obviously, at this time both he and his family are the most important concerns we have," they said in a statement.

"It must be devastating for his wife Mindy and his two utterly adorable children. Both James and I are looking forward to getting our hamster back."

Hammond is affectionately known as "The Hamster" by his legion of fans and is the butt of good-natured ribbing about his diminutive height by Clarkson and May.

He had to be cut from the wreckage of the vehicle which had veered off the track and rolled over, the BBC quoted one of the rescuers as saying.

"We were down there with Top Gear who were filming him trying to break the British land speed record," Dave Ogden, one of those involved in the rescue, told the BBC.

"On the previous run, the car had just gone over 300 mph 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."

Hammond had been able to talk to but was in distress, he added.

"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," Ogden said.

The Top Gear show, which tests and reviews cars, enjoys cult status and is broadcast to millions of people worldwide on BBC World.

Quentin Willson, one of the show's former hosts, said of Hammond: "He is a wonderful, unique and distinctive Top Gear presenter.

"He has brought an awful lot to the program 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."

Reuters


--

Get well soon!
Its always the cute ones!

LONDON - Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond suffered a significant brain injury in a high-speed crash in a jet-powered car while filming for the programme, a hospital spokesman has said

Not good.

Sad day

Doctors' concern for TV presenter

Richard Hammond remains seriously ill following the crash
Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is continuing to give doctors concern after crashing a jet-powered car at speeds of up to 300mph.
The 36-year-old suffered a "significant brain injury" during filming.

Doctors at Leeds General Infirmary have said they were "reasonably optimistic" that he would make a good recovery.

The BBC, which is likely to face close scrutiny, has begun an inquiry. The police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are also investigating.

Event organisers insisted that proper safety precautions were taken.

Hammond's wife Mindy was at his bedside in the Leeds hospital and he was also visited by Top Gear co-hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James May.

Clarkson told The Sun newspaper that Hammond had smiled when Clarkson had insulted his driving skills.

He also said the presenter had no visible injuries following the ordeal he had been through other than a black eye.

The presenter had been driving a jet-powered dragster similar to the Vampire - used by Colin Fallows to set the British land speed record of 300.3mph.

Hammond had to be cut free from the car after eyewitnesses at the Elvington airfield near York described how he "veered off to the right" and the car's parachutes were deployed.

Primetime Land Speed Engineering, which is jointly run by Fallows, organised the event.

A spokesman for the firm said the vehicle Hammond was driving on Wednesday "had been prepared and was being operated to the highest of standards".

The BBC said in a statement that it had begun an investigation into the accident and promised full co-operation with the HSE.

"We continue to be concerned about [Hammond's] condition and we are keeping in touch with his family," the statement said.

Top Gear has courted controversy in the past over its big-budget car stunts, and in 1999 a group of MPs criticised the series for being "obsessed with acceleration and speed".




Keep an eye on the BBC site... they are updating every few hours!

http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?tab=ns&q=top%20gear&recipe=...

[ Edited on 22-9-2006 by fekkinell ]

This totally bites!!!... I hope he cames out of it Ok eventually... and it would be nice if he were able to return to Top Gear.

COuld be a long way off tho... :cry

WOW.... this is the beast!

Vampire
Estimated top speed: 370mph
Acceleration: 0 to 272mph in 6 seconds
Engine: Rolls Royce Orpheus
Fuel economy: 7-10 gallons per mile
Weight: 2,200 lbs (998kg)
Length: 30 feet (9.14m)

But the good news is Richard Hammond is making "very good progress"

Any one heard more news??

heard it was a tyre blowout that caused it (makes sense at those speeds! :o

Just watchin BBC he is up and walking around and out of hospital, he should make a good recovery from all reports.

cool, I like Hamster

He is currently reported to be sitting up and laughing at jokes.

But if he's laughing at Jeremy's jokes then he deifnately has some sort of damage ...

Good to hear he is getting better, and I hope they do a special on it.

Cool - hope he makes a full recovery

Wonder if he will ever drive fast again??

looks like the little bugger is going to make a full recovery :thumb

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=147192 


The 36-year-old spent time in intensive care and is expected to make a full recovery.

He is recuperating in the care of wife Mindy, 35, and daughters Izzy, six, and Willow, three.

The only obvious signs of his ordeal are a bloodshot left eye and a chipped tooth, leading him to joke that he had no scars to show off at the pub.

"There are people who fall off their trikes at the age of four who've got better injuries than me," he said.

good news

good on you hammond

Someone should write to the BBC and say,

DON'T CANCEL TOP GEAR!!! :cry

Piece on local TV news this morning. The Hamster is going to make a full recovery acording to all reports.

Good news for a change!!