Information is slowly leaking out surrounding an incident at the legendary Swiss hill climb event in Hemberg. It seems that the Gran Tour team were filming with the Rimac electric supercar when it caught fire. Sources suggest that Richard Hammond was at the wheel at the time.
The accident happened on a closed race track during training for the Hemberg Hill Climb. The Rimac is said to have come off the road and caught fire. The driver was rescued from the car and was conscious. He was airlifted by REGA to hospital to receive treatment while fire fighters put out the burning Rimac supercar.
The 47-year old Grand Tour host was testing the vehicle, presumably for the new Amazon Prime television series. The extent of his injuries is not currently known. The above information is all we received from the Hemberg press office.
The Rimac Concept_One appears to be the same car from the Geneva Motor Show 2017 earlier this year. When we spoke to Rimac, it appeared as though it was one of the first customer cars. The Concept_One is one of the first all-electric supercars, powered by four permanent magnet electronic motors with one per wheel each located in the centre axle. It is rated to an equivalent 1,224 hp and 1,600 Nm of torque.
Update
The Grand Tour producers released a statement on Twitter stating that Hammond was indeed involved in the Rimac crash, and was able to climb out of the car himself before it burst into flames. Upon medical examinations at the hospital it is reported that Hammond has only suffered a fractured knee, with the cause of the crash now being investigated.
