I'VE LEFT THE GRAND TOUR ... BUT I AM STILL IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT

Star opens up on ex-colleagues May & Clarkson & why despite 2 crashes, he doesn't see himself as risk-taker

- BY FRAN WINSTON

HE SPENT two decades in one of broadcasting's most iconic trios, so when Richard Hammond says flying solo on screen is "taking some getting used to", he means it.

Since 2003 his name has been inextricably linked to Jeremy Clarkson and James May as the presenters of motoring show Top Gear and, later, The Grand Tour.

Their thrilling mix of adrenaline-filled challenges, motoring chat and irreverent banter - the barbs they exchanged were just as funny as the old bangers they drove across the world - supercharged the show's popularity and won them global fandom.

It was inevitable, therefore, that after their BBC exit in 2015, TV bosses immediately snapped them up for a similar offering on Prime Video's The Grand Tour.

Following another nine years of mayhem, that show ended last September with the three men parting professional ways amicably, of course.

Clarkson, 65, is still firmly in the TV spotlight with his wildly popular Clarkson's Farm as well as presenting ITV's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Meanwhile May, 62, has James May's Shed Load Of Ideas, airing on Quest this autumn. It follows previous shows such as James May & The Dull Men and James May's Great Explorers.

As for Hammond, 55, the trio's youngest and slightest member, he's stayed in the driving seat with his classic car restoration business, aptly named The Smallest Cog.

Yet such was the pull of the Clarkson-May-Hammond partnership that fans are still coming to terms with its loss. So how does Richard himself feel about it?

"It took some getting used to," he admits. "It was a massive feature in all of our lives. I've been doing radio and television for 37 years now but nothing on the scale of that - and I never shall do again."

He confesses: "And I don't know that I'd want to. I've done it."

What does he mean?