Top Gear - Richard Hammond crashes again

11 September 2007 - Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has been involved in another car crash, almost a year after he nearly died during a jet-powered record attempt.

The Hamster, as he is affectionately known, was taking it in turns to race a £100,000 BMW 330 DTi Sport with fellow presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May when the accident happened.

They were apparently taking part in a 24-hour Le Mans-style race at Silverstone on Saturday.

But Hammond played it down as "a bit of a collision".

"Reports of my shunt this weekend have been greatly exaggerated," he added.

"During one of my driving stints, a much faster car tried to overtake and there was a bit of a collision. It was nobody's fault.

"I managed to limp the car to the side of the track and wait for a truck to take me back to the pits, where it was quickly fixed."

It is just weeks from the anniversary of Hammond's near-fatal 300mph crash, after which he was airlifted to hospital to be treated for swelling to the brain and bruising, but eventually made a complete recovery.

A BBC spokesman added that this latest incident was not comparable to last year's accident.

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Image (C) BBC