Auto Trader

Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has been involved in a high speed smash less than a year after he miraculously survived a 288mph horror crash, the BBC has confirmed.

The pint-sized presenter skidded off the track while taking part in a 24-hour Le Mans-style race at Silverstone for the hit show.

Hammond, who was left seriously ill after crashing a rocket-powered car on September 20 last year, was not injured and continued the race once the car had been repaired.

A spokesman for the BBC said: "The three presenters and The Stig were racing a car in a 24 race at Silverstone over the weekend. During the race, at night, Richard was driving and another car shunted him off the track.

"Richard wasn't hurt at all but the car was damaged. It was taken back to the pits and repaired before Richard carried on with the race."

Hammond and fellow presenters James May, Jeremy Clarkson and The Stig were taking turns at racing the £100,000 BMW 330 DTi Sport.

It’s not the first time this week Hammond has been in the headlines.

Yesterday we reported how the brave TV star had raced a 253mph Bugatti Veyron against a Typhoon fighter jet.

Filming for the latest series of Top Gear – which starts this autumn – has been headline news on a number of occasions.

In July the team was slammed by ecologists for driving across an African national park, while last month a building which houses the show’s props was destroyed in a suspected arson attack.

Auto Trader links: