A great deal has been made of the accident (and subsequent minor injuries) suffered by James May in the filming of the latest The Grand Tour Special, A Scandi Flick. But now everyone can finally watch the incident.
The accident occurred during the filming of a scene in which the hosts were challenged to see how quickly they could drive down a narrow tunnel. In the video, Jeremy Clarkson goes first in an Audi RS4.
Although he completes the run without incident, the anxiety caused by driving down a dark tunnel whose end cannot be seen is clear on his face. Following his drive, he’s asked over the walkie-talkie how it was. “You’re not going to enjoy that,” he responds.
Read More: James May And Richard Hammond Give The Crashed Mitsubishi EVO From ‘A Scandi Flick’ A Post-Mortem
James May then takes off in a yellow Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII. From the get-go, co-host Richard Hammond comments on how briskly he takes off. Indeed, in a video filmed after the completion of this special, May admitted that he got lured into going too quickly because he really wanted to win this challenge.
And, inevitably, we must watch May leave his braking point a little too late, and he winds up crashing into the wall. The car’s front right quarter panel appears to hit first, spinning it around, and leaving it facing the opposite direction it arrived in.
The in-car footage shows just how violent the accident was, as May’s head can be seen flying towards the window and sundry items in the cabin can be seen smacking into him. Shots of the car following the crash also paint a grim picture, as the front, right-side wheel is completely collapsed and damage to much of that side of the car is clear.
Fortunately, as we now know, May escaped with only minor injuries, despite the heavy impact. The car was even repaired enough to continue filming, though, it has now been revealed that the car is technically a write-off.
It may not come as a surprise, then, that Richard Hammond chose not to try to win this competition, and drove his Subaru WRX down the tunnel at a snail’s pace.
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