Top Gear’s Chris Harris and Eddie Jordan have escaped from a burning Alpine A110 during filming of the show’s latest season.
Last Monday morning, the two presenters were piloting the French sports car on a closed section of the Monte Carlo Rally’s SS17 stage in Moncao.
As Harris was behind the wheel, an engine management light came on, The Daily Mail reports. Shortly after, Harris opened the door and noticed flames coming up his arm. The duo then immediately bailed out of the Alpine before it was engulfed by the flames.
In a statement concerning the incident, Top Gear said the carmaker is investigating the cause of the blaze.
“There was an incident during filming in Monaco last Monday morning with an Alpine that led to a fire taking hold of the main vehicle – which Alpine is now investigating. Thankfully, Chris Harris and passenger Eddie Jordan, both exited the stationary vehicle unhurt.”
It reportedly took just four minutes for the Alpine to be totally destroyed by the fire, much to the dismay of both Harris and Jordan.
“Sadly the car was lost and it always makes me sad to see a beautiful car destroyed,” Harris said.
“Doing a stage of the Monte Carlo Rally was a dream come true for me. The car was stunning – so light on its toes. It was dancing around the mountain and Chris was driving it beautifully. It’s such a shame we didn’t finish the test, but these things happen,” Jordan added.
Alpine says there was a “technical incident” during filming and is continuing to investigate. In the meantime, it announced that it has “frozen all driving activities for pre-production cars.”
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