I must admit, I have never felt more anxious watching an episode of The Grand Tour or Top Gear than I did when witnessing the opening episode of The Grand Tour Series 2. My heart was in my mouth as I saw Richard Hammond racing up the hill in the all-electric Rimac, carrying the pride of Croatia on his shoulders.
The accident was as shocking as expected, but unfortunately, no cameras were present at the crash site to capture the incident. Many questions were left unanswered. What exactly caused the crash? Was Hammond or the Rimac at fault?
Back in July, Hammond sat down with Rimac CEO Mate Rimac to discuss the incident on DRIVETRIBE. However, the video felt more like an advertisement for Rimac, perhaps something the manufacturer deserved after losing one of their US$980,000 Concept One supercars to the flames.
According to Hammond, “The last run of the day, at the top just over the finishing line… [the back end] got away from me and I went over the edge. There’s a slight right and a left, and as I went ’round the left, the back end stepped away.”
But what caused the back end to lose control as Hammond navigated the left-hand turn? And why did this happen quite a distance after the finish line? To investigate further, let’s take a closer look at the course map of the Bergrennen Hemberg hill climb.
The Bergrennen Hemberg Hill Climb Course
The 1,758-meter course starts at the bottom of the valley and winds its way up the hill, with the finish line a few hundred meters from the town. Importantly, the finish line is positioned along a relatively straight section of road, providing ample space for racers to slow down upon completing the course.
Nevertheless, Hammond’s Rimac veered off the road approximately 200 meters after the finish line, immediately following the right and left turns visible on the map. The vehicle left the road sideways, traveling at around 130 km/h (80 mph).
Rimac suggested to Hammond that he was running out of road, going too fast, and attempting to navigate the corner regardless. According to Rimac, when turning the steering wheel left, the car will rotate more than the tires can handle if there isn’t enough road.
Here’s what we observed: After crossing the finish line, Hammond’s Rimac appears to continue accelerating (or at least not slowing down dramatically) until it approaches the right turn. As it enters the right turn, the rear end loses grip, and the car starts to over-steer and slide to the right. Hammond likely counter-steered into the slide, but as the car regained traction, it abruptly snapped to the left and left the road sideways.
Interestingly, Hammond never mentioned the rear end slipping as he entered the first right turn, but the tire marks on the road clearly indicate it happened. So, what caused this mishap?
For some reason, whether due to a lapse in judgment or poor decision-making, Hammond seemed to maintain race-pace after crossing the finish line and only lifted off the accelerator as he approached the entry to the right-hand turn. This sudden realization unsettled the car, inadvertently inducing a state of lift-off over-steer caused by the forward weight transfer.
At this point, Hammond must have panicked (possibly evident in his exclamation of “CRAP!” during the episode), attempting to steer left and counteract the slide to stay on the road. However, the Rimac was still traveling too fast, causing the car to stop over-steering, regain traction, and abruptly veer to the left, exiting the track sideways.
Had he succeeded, Hammond would have unintentionally executed a maneuver remarkably similar to a “Scandinavian flick” or an “Inertia drift.” However, he entered the turn at an excessive speed, making it virtually impossible to regain control. The forward weight transfer unsettled the rear end, causing the otherwise under-steering Rimac to bite hard.
Despite all the visual evidence, Hammond never admitted to going too fast or forgetting to slow down after crossing the finish line. However, James May indirectly hinted at this in the second episode of The Grand Tour Series 2. May mentioned that they missed a train in the New York to Niagara Falls challenge because Hammond “doesn’t know how to slow down when it says ‘finish’ across the road.” Yikes.
The evidence against Hammond becomes even more damning when considering that the Rimac only requires a braking distance of 31.5 meters to come to a complete stop from 100 km/h. So, how fast was Hammond going to need more than 200 meters to stop or at least slow down enough to take those turns safely?
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below.
