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The first-ever images of Richard Hammond's jet car crash are published in the new edition of Top Gear magazine, on sale today.
The images, stills taken from the film of the accident due to be broadcast when Top Gear returns to BBC2 on January 28, show the right front tyre of Hammond's Vampire exploding.
The 288mph blowout instantly causes the jet-powered dragster to take off from the track and crash.
The accident, on September 20 last year, left Richard in a critical condition in the neurological unit of Leeds hospital with what was described as a 'serious brain injury'.
Writing in the February issue of TG magazine, which also features interviews with James May and the rescue team on the scene, Richard describes the events that led up to the accident. However, he admits that he has no memory of the crash itself.
"I know what I must have done, because it will have been the same as every other run in the car," he says. "I will have taken a few deep breaths on the start line as the engine roared and my thumb hovered over the afterburner switch.
"Then I will have hit it and 10,000bhp will have hurled me towards the horizon and up to 280mph. And the rest is, I'm afraid, history."
The magazine's step-by-step reconstruction of the crash, using the Vampire's onboard telemetry, shows that Richard survived a G-force of -6 as the dragster flipped over.
Richard in a positive mood before the crash.
The Vampire's right front tyre blows out at 288mph
The Vampire leaves the runway and begins to roll
The images, stills taken from the film of the accident due to be broadcast when Top Gear returns to BBC2 on January 28, show the right front tyre of Hammond's Vampire exploding.
The 288mph blowout instantly causes the jet-powered dragster to take off from the track and crash.
The accident, on September 20 last year, left Richard in a critical condition in the neurological unit of Leeds hospital with what was described as a 'serious brain injury'.
Writing in the February issue of TG magazine, which also features interviews with James May and the rescue team on the scene, Richard describes the events that led up to the accident. However, he admits that he has no memory of the crash itself.
"I know what I must have done, because it will have been the same as every other run in the car," he says. "I will have taken a few deep breaths on the start line as the engine roared and my thumb hovered over the afterburner switch.
"Then I will have hit it and 10,000bhp will have hurled me towards the horizon and up to 280mph. And the rest is, I'm afraid, history."
The magazine's step-by-step reconstruction of the crash, using the Vampire's onboard telemetry, shows that Richard survived a G-force of -6 as the dragster flipped over.
Richard in a positive mood before the crash.
The Vampire's right front tyre blows out at 288mph
The Vampire leaves the runway and begins to roll
