Longtime fans of The Grand Tour and Top Gear will remember the time Richard Hammond got into a Vampire land-speed record dragster, and nearly died, back in September 2006. Thankfully, Hammond made a full recovery, but in a video with the DriveTribe YouTube channel, they have reunited Hammond with the car that so nearly killed him over 15 years ago. And it's clear to see it was quite an emotional reunion.
Backstory To The Reunion
It's important to provide a bit of backstory to those who are unaware of the accident. Hammond was filming a segment for Top Gear in 2006 in the Vampire dragster, which could top out at 370 mph. This was being filmed at Elvington airfield in Yorkshire, England, and on the last run of the day, one of the tires blew up on the dragster. Hammond veered off the track and rolled over in a huge accident. Hammond suffered a significant brain injury but was remarkably able to recover from the injury, and is still on our screens to this day. Now, onto the DriveTribe video.
A Tongue In Cheek Reunion
The reunion is a little tongue in cheek as DriveTribe look ahead to 2022. One big change for DriveTribe is that due to the pandemic and a drop in advertising, the DriveTribe website will be shutting down. The social channels though, including the YouTube channel, will keep going however, with Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May still very much involved. Hammond then mentions that he will get back into the Vampire dragster, whilst jokingly praying he hopes his workshop show gets recommissioned. He then again mentions getting back into the dragster, once again, before finally heading back towards the car which is stood behind him.
A Very Emotional Looking Hammond
As he walks around the car, whether it is for the camera or not, there are clearly quite a few emotions going on in his head about getting back into this car. He is at least able to crack a joke, saying “you look in better shape the last time I saw you.” When inside the car, Hammond, not looking that happy about being back in the dragster, calls over to DriveTribe presenter Mike Fernie that he can present the segment. And it looks like DriveTribe will be bringing us a full video on the car in the near future, and who knows, maybe Hammond will feature in that as well. To even face that car again, though, has no doubt taken a lot of bravery from Hammond, let alone getting into it again.