Richard Hammond Pays Hilarious Tribute To Long Way ‘Round

If you know Richard Hammond, you probably remember him as the Crashy McCrashface host of the original Top Gear, alongside the knowledgeable, Prius-driving James May, and the abrasive, sandwich-throwing Jeremy Clarkson.  

The trio has since left the BBC and moved on to other projects. Top Gear has lost most of its appeal, something not even the Stig can make up for, while the three boomers carried their magic formula over to Amazon and continue to do what they used to do best in the underwhelmingly successful Grand Tour.  

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Along with the web series, the polarizing trio also started the DriveTribe website and YouTube channel that allows the guys and their contributors to continue sharing their knowledge of cars and dish sass where it’s needed. With everyone on lockdown, Richard Hammond decided to tackle and document his very own Long Way ‘Round tribute to Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s worldly adventure.  

What started out as a curious premise turned into a hilarious bit as Hammond introduces his motorcycle trip idea, swapping the whole “traveling around the world” concept for a lockdown-mandated “traveling around his yard”. The bike he chose for this epic is the (not so) road-trip-friendly 1929 BMW R52, inspired of course by McGregor and Boorman’s GSs.  

The ride around the courtyard turns into a trip back in time as he conveniently “finds” a 1969 Porsche 911T and a late 1920s Sunbeam along the way. Combine the silliness of it all with Hammond’s comedic struggle with the engine’s kickstarter, his daughter’s behind-the-camera giggles, the yelling-over-the-engine-noise because there’s no mic, and a crash into a barn door, and there you have it. The recipe for a seven minute well spent.