We know that Ferruccio Lamborghini started out as a tractor maker before building his line of exotic sports cars, but taking an LP640 out to clear a field is just plain silly. Just weeks after Richard Hammond was released from the hospital following his rocket car crash, it is being reported that The Stig lost control of a new Lamborghini and aquaplaned off track and into the grass. Not the first time The Stig has spun out, but after Hamster's nearly disastrous ride, this is another unwanted scare. The Stig has notably spun the Koenigsegg CCX we drove in Vegas, as well as the Porsche Carrera GT, so the Murci is in good company.
While not explicitly naming the Top Gear program or The Stig himself, the BBC did have a few things to say about the incident. The gold Lamborghini Murcielago was being driven by "a professional," who escaped unharmed. The BBC also confirmed that the accident occurred during "a test run on a rain-soaked runway in Dunsfold Park, Surrey."
That location happens to be where Top Gear does most of its testing. A witness related that it appeared as though the driver just lost control in the bad weather, and that the Lambo was "spinning rapidly before skidding off the track and coming to a halt in a field. It looked pretty bashed up."
[Source: The Daily Mirror]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Hondafan @ Nov 18th 2006 1:50PM
hasn't the lp640 had some handling problems in the past as others have crashed????
Proud Japanese @ Nov 18th 2006 2:07PM
I think the problem is called "too much power"
Adam @ Nov 18th 2006 2:12PM
Since when is spinning into grass while trying to get a good time on the track thought of as a risk of life?
I'm seriously sick of everyone's bashing of TopGear for being the show IT CHOOSES TO BE.
Azm @ Nov 18th 2006 2:16PM
For those of you who don't watch the show...spinning out onto the grass is pretty common. They usually show the guest celebs run off the road during their practice runs. Stig has done it quite a few times, no biggie.
Andy @ Nov 18th 2006 2:42PM
Top Gear has too much stupid British humor to be taken seriously. Not stupid cool humor like Monty Python, just stupid-stupid humor.
TD22057 @ Nov 18th 2006 2:48PM
Agreed - are we going to start getting crazy news stories everytime someone spins out on Top Gear? I'd hate to see what the news media will do if celebrity loses a wheel (remember Lionel Richie and someone else?) on the reasonable priced car now.
Js @ Nov 18th 2006 2:55PM
Hmm...don't think it's the Lambo's fault really... I mean if you see how Valentino Balboni drives the LP640 and keeps it under control I think it really doesn't have much to do with the handling of the car. More with bad decisions by the driver....for example taking a 640 hp car out on a "rain soaked runway".... That and driving at great speeds is just a recipe for aquaplaning and loosing control... Kind of dissapointed that the chaps at Top Gear don't take safety first...
Dave @ Nov 18th 2006 3:16PM
They do take safety first - there's plenty of run-off and the dangerous areas are protected. The Stig wears a full helmet and a safety suit. This segment of the show features cars being pushed to their limits. Of course there will be offs. Is it dangerous? Hell no!
vectorbug @ Nov 18th 2006 3:19PM
The stig does not roll or spin a car, he keeps the car perfectly still while the world around him rotates at great speed.
Rémi @ Nov 18th 2006 3:41PM
Nice one vectorbug :-)
Kurt B @ Nov 18th 2006 3:45PM
For those of you who don't watch the show. 90% of the time they test cars on a "rain soaked runway". It's the UK for Pete's sake.
chuck goolsbee @ Nov 18th 2006 4:23PM
I am the Stig.
Oops, not really. Pay no mind to me (whistles and wanders off)
--chuck
Js @ Nov 18th 2006 4:31PM
@Dave : I wasnt only reffering to the safety of the driver but also that of the car itself. Nice to know that something someone has lent you is treated with such care..
Tommy @ Nov 18th 2006 6:33PM
Andy #5... STFU and add something meaningful
if you dont like the show, dont watch it and dont comment on it.
To me, accidents happen, especialy when you push your test vehicle to its limits.
DT @ Nov 18th 2006 8:51PM
Is it me that the new Stig is more sloppy than the old one? Especially this past year he's been cutting the last 2 corners and bouncing off the grass more frequently.
Andy @ Nov 18th 2006 10:18PM
Tommy:
Tough. I can complain about whatever I want. Don't like it, shoot yourself. That way we can all be happy.
Sincerely,
Dad
Bill Maher is an Idiot @ Nov 18th 2006 10:22PM
TOP GEAR = OVERRATED
Steve Parker @ Nov 18th 2006 11:32PM
This habit of attacking driving professionals because they spin or even crash is pretty juvenile. It happens to ALL of us, EVERY ONE of us, as Tiny Tim might say, and if it hasn't happened somewhere along the line, then you're not pushing hard enough ... especially on a race track where your own safety is on the line and usually no one else's. It's happened to me probably 2-3 times over 35 years, never anything which required even a towing, and while there certainly are those to whom it's happened many more times, happening occasionally (or even rarely) is nothing bad at all. For the most part, 95% of the time, the cars we're driving are NOT meant to be race cars anyway. A professional will not expect them to behave as such. The idea at a test drive is NOT to destroy the presenting manufacturer's vehicles, but certainly to PUSH them a bit. About 25-30 years ago I had an on-street crash in the rain in a VW Scirocco. Definitely MY fault, I was following too closely for the conditions. We in the business might snicker now and then when we hear that "Mr. (Blank)" has had ANOTHER shunt, especially at one of the various 'track days' --- But getting on their case about it is poor form. We all also know people who have been hurt terribly (or killed) in test car wrecks on race tracks and on the road, too ... I think of one in particular about someone whom everyone who reads this BLOG certainly knows of and whose work you've all seen and enjoyed ... and you still do to this day. And when it occurred, he was already a trained and respected racing-level driver who had raced competitively, and there wasn't one person in the paddock who wouldn't have gone with him as a passenger. Yes, shit happens. I'll tell you one thing: The guy (or lady) who's involved in the wreck feels badly enough without everyone else piling on. I remember one Porsche/Bridgestone test drive at Japan's Suzuka Raceway where a brand-new staff member of a MAJOR American auto mag spun into the guardrail and disabled the car completely. Pretty bad damage. I saw the spin happening ahead of me and stopped to check on the kid's condition (and he was a kid at the time, about 18 or so years back) and drove him back to the pits. The thing he worried about MOST (apart from hurting the expensive car) was that he knew he'd be the butt of jokes from others in the group ... and he was, for a very short time, but mostly out of relief that he wasn't physically injured, thank goodness. THAT one could have been REAL bad! And people who weren't there really don't have the right to joke about it. Sure, you can do it, but it isn't appropriate.
Bill Maher is an Idiot @ Nov 19th 2006 1:06PM
You have way too much free time, Mr. Parker.
Rocket Punch @ Nov 19th 2006 1:35PM
Not sure about why all this comotion? Its a car show thesting high power cars on a close track by a professional driving it to the limit. Would you like to see a car show where they drive a CCX at 40mph?? I don't thing so. 5h17 happens and thats that.
If incidents like that cause so much uproar by the public and media's coverage. Then all motorsports in the world should be banned.