10 months ago
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RICHARD Hammond has wished Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff the “very best” after his horror Top Gear crash.
Freddie, 46, was driving an open-topped three-wheeled car without a helmet when it flipped at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey in December 2022.
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PAThe cricket icon was airlifted to hospital and left with severe facial injuries and broken ribs after the horror 124mph crash.
Top Gear was then “rested” for the “foreseeable future”.
Motoring legend Hammond has since reflected on his own crash on the hit show which left him in a coma for two weeks back in 2006.
The 54-year-old star was caught up in the potentially-deadly collision during a daredevil stunt filmed for the former BBC programme in York.
Speaking to Fi Glover and Jane Garvey on Times Radio this week, Richard said: “I feel for the guy and it sounds like a really traumatic accident and a horrible experience. I only ever wish him all the best from it.
“I had a couple of bad ones, but accidents do happen, you know, we 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.”
Talking about the risks, he continued: “It is fundamental to what we do. I don’t think [cars] 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.
“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.
“I mean for me a tyre delaminated and blew at 320 miles an hour. Nobody can stop that. I mean, you could trace that back to a bug that got in the rubber when they tapped the rubber tree, or, I don’t know, something caused the tire to delaminate.
“That was an accident. But everything that followed from there was great. They have 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?”
Richard hosted Top Gear on the BBC with Jeremy Clarkson and James May before the trio moved to Amazon to front The Grand Tour.
Hammond famously suffered two serious accidents while filming shows with Jeremy and James.
Freddie Flintoff horror crash
FORMER England cricket captain Freddie, 46, was rushed to hospital after the 124mph crash at the Top Gear test track in December 2022.
He was injured in an accident at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
Freddie suffered several broken ribs and severe facial injuries that have left scars on his face.
Filming for the show Flintoff co-presents with Paddy McGuinness and automotive journalist Chris Harris was halted since the horror crash.
Following the crash, the BBC announced at the time that continuing filming would be “inappropriate”, adding there would be a health and safety review.
It was not his first accident, having previously lost control of a motorised trike at 124mph in a race against co-hosts Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness.
Freddie had to wait 45 minutes for an air ambulance.
But judging by the most recent pictures, his scars have healed extremely well.
Since the 2006 incident, which caused him to suffer from a frontal lobe brain injury, Richard has openly spoken about the impact the crash has had on him with it even affecting his family life.
In 2017, Hammond was involved in a second crash and was airlifted to hospital in Switzerland while filming The Grand Tour.
The accident took place in the town of St Gallen in north-east Switzerland.
Richard had to be pulled from the wreckage of a Rimac supercar worth £2million that later burst into flames.
Top Gear has since been shelved and the BBC reached a £9million settlement with Freddie after his own shocking crash.
The payout will come from the commercial arm of the BBC and not from the licence fee.
Freddie has since been spotted returning for work over a year since the horrific incident – landing a number of new roles.
He has been in planning meetings with production company South Shore for the second series of his BBC One cricket show Field of Dreams.
As well as returning to TV, Freddie has also taken up a role as head coach of cricket team Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.
The Superchargers are one of eight teams competing in The Hundred, a franchise tournament launched in 2021.
They opted against renewing James Foster’s contract, with Flintoff set to succeed him as the new men’s head coach in 2024.
He also did some work last year as a consultant coach with the England cricket team.
Flintoff joined England Lions coaching staff for a training camp in the United Arab Emirates.
TV ICON
Hammond presented Top Gear from 2002 to 2015, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May.
In the early days, when the trio took over it was a niche show on BBC Two but over the years it became hugely popular.
The show became one of the BBCs biggest money makers with spin-off shows being sold around the world.
After they were let go from Top Gear the trio became the faces of Amazon‘s motoring show The Grand Tour from 2016 to now with the beloved show set to end this year.
Richard Hammond crashes
RICHARD Hammond is best known for his time on Top Gear but the star has been involved in some horror crashes.
The 54 year old star was caught up in the potentially-deadly collision during a daredevil stunt filmed for the former BBC programme in York.
One of the tyres blew on the Vampire jet car which caused it to spin out of control in 2006.
It resulted in the terrifying crash which landed the star in a coma and caused him to suffer from a frontal lobe brain injury.
Since the incident, Richard has openly spoke about the impact the crash has had on him with it even affecting his family life.
Richard revealed he suffers from ‘lost key syndrome’ and has done for the past 18 years.
It has sparked worry for Richard that he could even be diagnosed with early onset dementia as a result of the trauma to his brain.
As a result of the bleed on his brain, Richard has no recollection to this day of the scary incident.
He left ft TV execs panicked once again when he required hospitalisation for another crash gone wrong in Switzerland seven years ago.
In 2017, Hammond was involved in a second crash and was airlifted to hospital in Switzerland while filming Amazon’s The Grand Tour.
The accident took place in the town of St Gallen in north-east Switzerland.
Richard had to be pulled from the wreckage of a Rimac supercar worth £2m that later burst into flames.
The three presenters also launched DriveTribe on YouTube in 2016.
The show became one of the BBCs biggest money makers with spin-off shows being sold around the world.
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Freddie hosted the show alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris
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