74 replies to this topic

[HP]

There are reports that say Richard Hammonds has been injured in a hill climb race in Hemberg, Switzerland.

 

The car has been on fire, someone was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

 

http://www.tagesanze.../story/31784147

 

https://www.blick.ch...-id6815651.html

 

Hopefully nothing too serious, speedy recovery.

Edited by HP, 10 June 2017 - 15:07.

[kissTheApex]

Shoot. Hoping for confirmed news

[GrumpyYoungMan]

Not good! 😥

Wonder if that was part of the Grand Tour new series?

[Pete_f1]

Hope he's going to be OK

[thuGG]

Hoping he's allright.

[LeClerc]

He already had on accident with closed head injury. One would have thought that he had learned from that experience.

 

Speedy recovery. And maybe some self-reflection.

[weston]

As far as I understand Richard never lost consciousness and he is relatively "OK" (whatever it means). Source: Twitter DM from a local

[johnmhinds]

http://www.mirror.co...-crash-10599134

Edited by johnmhinds, 10 June 2017 - 15:40.

[Marklar]

As far as I understand Richard never lost consciousness and he is relatively "OK" (whatever it means). Source: Twitter DM from a local

Yes, that's what the tagesanzeiger article mentions more or less as well ("Die Person sei jederzeit ansprechbar gewesen")

[HP]

Yes I read that too, that he was always concious, What concerns me is a new image that showed the entire car engulfed in flames.

[HP]

From the tires one can clearly see the car ending up sideways

 

https://f2.blick.ch/...06-10-at-15.jpg

[Hati]

Bit misleading title perhaps, Hammond is a presenter, not driver. I thought that some former Stig had accident by looking title. But, to the point. Is it verified already that it was Hammond who was send to hospital, I got the impression with later link (through Google Translate) that James May have (also?) been driving the crashed car.

[FLB]

That's his second big one, isn't it?

[P123]

Wasn't he also in a motorbike crash a few months back whilst also filming the show? Maybe the producers need to have a look at the levels of risk they are taking.

[HP]

Some witnesses claim the car was on fire before arriving at the finish line

Bit misleading title perhaps, Hammond is a presenter, not driver. I thought that some former Stig had accident by looking title. But, to the point. Is it verified already that it was Hammond who was send to hospital, I got the impression with later link (through Google Translate) that James May have (also?) been driving the crashed car.

You're correct about the title. I just translated one initial headline, which has since been changed to moderator as well.. So how do I change the topic title?

Edited by HP, 10 June 2017 - 16:04.

[ConsiderAndGo]

Reading a few rumblings on Twitter he's in a critical condition...

Hopefully it's false.

Looked awful. Hope he recovers quickly!

[Disgrace]

Bit misleading title perhaps, Hammond is a presenter, not driver. I thought that some former Stig had accident by looking title. But, to the point. Is it verified already that it was Hammond who was send to hospital, I got the impression with later link (through Google Translate) that James May have (also?) been driving the crashed car.

 

It's not in any of the more reputable Swiss outlets but 20minutes.ch is reporting that it is Hammond involved.

[HP]

Since the car is a Rimac Electro-Coupe, how can it be engulfed in fire? Are these batteries that volatile?

[RandomG]

And just after this as well....

 

https://drivetribe.c...aQre2dUj6S5V6UA

[Marklar]

It's not in any of the more reputable Swiss outlets but 20minutes.ch is reporting that it is Hammond involved.

Actually they say that two sources are claiming it to be Hammond and one other says that May was the last one to be on the wheel.

 

http://www.20min.ch/...nfallt-14658774

 

Same is reported by a Blick reader (link in the OP)

Edited by Marklar, 10 June 2017 - 16:22.

[GrumpyYoungMan]

Since the car is a Rimac Electro-Coupe, how can it be engulfed in fire? Are these batteries that volatile?

Electrical short? Turn the car into a great big electric element heater?

[Disgrace]

Actually they say that two sources are claiming it to be Hammond and one other says that May was the last one to be on the wheel.

 

http://www.20min.ch/...nfallt-14658774

 

Yeah, the French language version doesn't have that level of detail. As I said, not especially reputable. 

[ConsiderAndGo]

The Grand Tour have released a statement stating he's okay, but with a fractured knee.

He got out of the car before it burst into flames.

https://twitter.com/...576371179708419

Edited by ConsiderAndGo, 10 June 2017 - 16:26.

[messy]

Grand Tour twitter says he's ok. Something about a fracture though.

His wife must despair.

[shotcaller]

Grand Tour twitter says ok but fractured knee.

https://twitter.com/...576371179708419

[ConsiderAndGo]

Jezza comment:

https://twitter.com/...577127043637248

[Lipp]

I am afraid They use the term "verunfallt" and that sounds more like...

 

thank god I was wrong....

Edited by Lipp, 10 June 2017 - 16:29.

[HP]

Grand Tour twitter says ok but fractured knee.

https://twitter.com/...576371179708419

Phew,

[TomNokoe]

He's always getting into bother!

Get well soon Hamster

[steferrari]

He's a tough little man.

Get well soon Richard!

[Jordan44]

Does that mean he's not coming on then?

[einis]

Jezza comment:

https://twitter.com/...577127043637248

When Jezza says something like that, you know it was serious.

Anyway, glad Hamster's mostly okay. Though this is his second crash in what, half a year? I do fear for his luck running out if such accidents continue.

[ANF]

Jezza comment:

https://twitter.com/...577127043637248

The comment:

So he "climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames."

[prty]

Video of the crash, he's lucky indeed:

 

Edited by prty, 10 June 2017 - 18:36.

[ANF]

I guess the most important thing is that he was a lot faster into that corner than Captain Slow.

[Swck81]

I hope is going to be OK.

 

I have never seen this car he was driving before. Seems like a serious machine and it's electric. Rimac Concept Car. With a total output of 811 kW (1,088 hp) and 1,600 N·m (1,200 lbf·ft) of torque, the Concept One will accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–60 mph) in 2.8 seconds and will have an electronically limited top speed of 305 km/h (190 mph)

Edited by Swck81, 10 June 2017 - 22:01.

[redreni]

Glad he's okay.

 

Weird that he seems to have got sideways (judging by photographs) and crashed after the finish line (according to the official statement by his employer). Part of me hopes he wasn't showboating, but then again, we don't know that and even if he was, that's hardly outwith his job description. He does seem to be very accident-prone, though...

[Ricardo F1]

Glad he's fine.  Total driver error though.

[PedroDiCasttro]

Glad he's fine.  Total driver error though.

Yeah. Carried too much speed into the corner.

[ANF]

Glad he's okay.
 
Weird that he seems to have got sideways (judging by photographs) and crashed after the finish line (according to the official statement by his employer). Part of me hopes he wasn't showboating, but then again, we don't know that and even if he was, that's hardly outwith his job description. He does seem to be very accident-prone, though...

In the video there's a scoreboard on driver's left just before the right-hander that he seems to have forgotten to turn into/slow down for. So maybe that was the finish line right there?

[Tenmantaylor]

He's always getting into bother!

Get well soon Hamster

 

Havn't you heard? He's not a real Hamster.

 

[Tenmantaylor]

From Rimac's website: http://www.rimac-aut...mb-switzerland/

 

Rimac Automobili can confirm that the Concept_One, tested by the crew of The Grand Tour against two other supercars in Switzerland this week, was involved in an accident. The filming in Switzerland was ongoing from June 5th and involved various tests – including a hill climb race on June 10th.

Following the accident, the driver – Richard Hammond - was assessed at a local hospital. The Grand Tour team assures he has not suffered any severe injuries.

A spokesperson for The Grand Tour said:

"Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames. He was flown by Air Ambulance to hospital in St Gallen to be checked over revealing a fracture to his knee.

"Nobody else was in the car or involved in the accident, and we'd like to thank the paramedics on site for their swift response. The cause of the crash is unknown and is being investigated."

Rimac Automobili wishes Richard a quick recovery.

 

I can hazard a guess that a huge of amount of power combined with a lot of mass and not much downforce combined with someone who probably could barely see over the steering wheel trying to drive it extremely fast on an extremely narrow and unsuitable road might have had something to do with it.

 

Oh, and not driving the version with more rear downforce:

 

 

[V8 Fireworks]

There are reports that say Richard Hammonds has been injured in a hill climb race in Hemberg, Switzerland.

 

In a hill climb race? 

 

Not one of those public road ones with cliffs and armco barriers by any chance? 

[PiperPa42]

In a hill climb race? 
 
Not one of those public road ones with cliffs and armco barriers by any chance? 

Are there any closed circuit hill climbs around? And there was no armco where he left the road.

[SPBHM]

it looked strange how fast he went into that corner, I guess it being so overpowered and electric made it more difficult to judge, glad to hear that he is in far better shape than this burning car makes you believe he could be.

[prty]

it looked strange how fast he went into that corner, I guess it being so overpowered and electric made it more difficult to judge, glad to hear that he is in far better shape than this burning car makes you believe he could be.

I think he got oversteer during braking, as the braking zone was not a straight line. So he couldn't slow the car down.

[Mandzipop]

That man is a cat, he's got nine lives (thank goodness).

[johnmhinds]

I hope is going to be OK.

I have never seen this car he was driving before. Seems like a serious machine and it's electric. Rimac Concept Car. With a total output of 811 kW (1,088 hp) and 1,600 N·m (1,200 lbf·ft) of torque, the Concept One will accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–60 mph) in 2.8 seconds and will have an electronically limited top speed of 305 km/h (190 mph)

There are going to need to be some limits on the power of some of these electric cars. Having a lot of 1000hp+ cars out on the road in inexperienced hands just seems like we’re asking for trouble.

Edited by johnmhinds, 11 June 2017 - 07:03.

[midgrid]

This is the full course, and the section after the finish line does appear to match the area where the crash took place.

[Jovanotti]

Good to know that these dangerous hill climbs are possible in Switzerland, but closed circuit racing is still forbidden...

Edited by Jovanotti, 11 June 2017 - 09:24.