The Swiss Hillclimb Championship starts this weekend with the Bergrennen Hemberg. Today, Saturday, the competitors were participating in practise before the actual race begins tomorrow.
Surprise special guests at this edition were the members of “The Grand Tour” television show. Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond were there to film a piece about electric sportscars. They did not participate in the actual competition but drove in between practise sessions. As they drove the track it all went wrong for Richard Hammond. For unknown reasons he and his Rimac Concept One Sportscar missed a corner and went off the track. As it happened a 100 metres behind the finishline there were no barriers. For that reason the car rolled down the slope, luckily without hitting anything. Hammond climbed out of the car on his own account before the car burst into flames. The presenter was airlifted to hospital but it appears that he has no more injuries than a fractured knee.
The race will continue tomorrow as planned. A race report and the complete results will be posted here as soon as possible.
-Updated with video-
Richard Hammond’s a truly lucky person! The Rimac, however, certainly didn’t fair as well. I am just thankful that all people who were there are all right. I’m sure he’ll be hugging his family tightly.