The Grand Tour: One For The Road - Official trailer
Richard Hammond revealed he briefly thought he was “going to die” while filming the final outing of The Grand Tour.
For the very last episode of the former Top Gear trio’s exploits on Prime Video, they head to Zimbabwe for one more trek in classic cars.
The touching final ride features plenty of scrapes and breakdowns as Richard, Jeremy Clarkson and James May make their way towards the finish line in Botswana, the site of their very first special the trio filmed for BBC’s Top Gear.
During the finale’s launch in London this week, Richard shared his emotional reaction to the conclusion of the Grand Tour, revealing he was “taking memories” to bring home with him once filming had finished.
However, despite Zimbabwe proving to be one of the most picturesque locations the presenters have driven through there were some rather hair-raising moments in the feature-length special.
At one stage of the journey, a mishap with the map means Jeremy, Richard and James are forced to sail across Lake Kariba, the largest man-made lake in the world at well over 100 miles long.
After purchasing some nearby boats from the locals, the journey takes well over 18 hours and the team doesn’t make it to the other side until the following morning.
They also face the risk of coming into contact with the hundreds of thousands of “man-eating” Nile crocodiles that live in Lake Kariba.
Just as they’re about to reach the bank, Richard is gripped by panic when his boat starts sinking with his car still on board.
“Oh my God, I thought I was going to die!” he shared at the show’s premiere.
“I was quite close to him when it happened, I thought ‘Ooh’...”, Jeremy added, to which Richard replied: “It was quite alarming.”
Thankfully, the trio escaped the jaws of the crocodiles and there won’t be any more on-camera near-fatal experiences for them any time soon.
“I hope I never have to sit in another sinking car,” he said. “How many times have we done it now? I think I’ve done it four times.”
Richard has famously dodged death in two serious accidents which left him hospitalised and the presenters joked he no longer knows how to take off his own trousers.
“I've been cut out of my trousers [by paramedics] so many times I've forgotten how to dress myself,” Richard quipped. “I don't know how I'm going to cope [now it's over]!”
The iconic presenters will surely be back on TV soon enough, including in the upcoming fourth series of Clarkson’s Farm.
In the meantime, James especially revealed he’s looking forward to being able to go on holiday without a camera crew or his long-suffering colleagues.
The Grand Tour: One For the Road will be released Friday, September 13 on Prime Video.
