Richard Hammond on Top Gear return after 2006 crash

Summarised from 2 outlets · 3 reports · Updated 31 Oct, 22:32 · Archive

Richard Hammond has discussed his return to Top Gear following a serious brain injury sustained in a jet-powered dragster crash in 2006.

Richard Hammond crashed a jet-powered dragster called Vampire at nearly 320mph whilst filming for Top Gear at the former RAF Elvington airbase in York in 2006. The incident left him with serious head injuries, but he recovered and returned to the show in early 2007.

In a video for the High Performance podcast, Hammond said his return to the show featured him walking down a staircase with dancing women. He explained that he and his co-presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May had agreed to deal with his return in a way that was important to them. 'It was important that we dealt with it in our way, we didn't make a fuss – it had to be funny,' Hammond said. 'I didn't want it to be all serious and worthy. It was a celebration – I was better, I didn't die.'

Hammond noted that the effects of his injury remain with him. He said: 'It's still with me now, of course it is, and will be for the rest of my life. But I didn't need to be all sombre about it.' In 2022, Hammond got back in the reconstructed dragster as part of a video for the DriveTribe YouTube channel, which he co-founded with Clarkson and James May, and described the experience as 'genuinely weird'.

How it is being reported

• ‘It had to be funny’ – Richard Hammond on returning to Top Gear after brain injuryFormer Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has said his return to the show “had to be funny” after his brain injury sustained in a crash in York.Gazette & Herald (Malton) · 31 Oct, 16:00
• ‘It had to be funny’ – Richard Hammond on returning to Top Gear after brain injuryFormer Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has said his return to the show “had to be funny” after his brain injury sustained in a crash in York.The Press (York) · 31 Oct, 16:00
• Richard Hammond reveals advice he would have given himself when starting Top GearFormer Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has revealed the advice he would have given his younger self when starting out on the show.Gazette & Herald (Malton) · 30 Oct, 16:00

In this story: Richard Hammond · Jeremy Clarkson · James May · Top Gear · RAF Elvington · York · DriveTribe

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