Top Gear’s The Stig Reveals He Nearly Died in Crash with Freddie Flintoff

‘We were not listened to by the BBC’

Paul Rees, who was The Stig from 2019 until 2022, was in the passenger seat when the accident happened during filming. 

The pair were testing a roofless three-wheeled vehicle at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome in Surrey when it overturned on the track.

The vehicle was reportedly travelling at around 130mph in icy conditions before the crash. 

Although Flintoff had reduced the speed to around 22mph when it flipped, he was not wearing a helmet, meaning his face hit and scraped along the track surface.

The crash left Flintoff with serious injuries, including broken and missing teeth, damage to his upper jaw and fractured ribs.

Speaking about the terrifying moment, Rees said he initially had no idea what had happened and only recalled feeling liquid hitting him before realising it was blood from Flintoff’s injuries.

“I was getting wet and I was like, ‘why am I getting wet?’ because it wasn’t fuel or anything like that. Then my vision went red and I now know that was blood from Fred just spraying me in the face,” he told The Sun.

Rees said he immediately feared the worst, admitting he thought there was no chance Flintoff had survived the impact.

He described seeing Flintoff badly injured and said the scene reminded him of something from a war film. 

Court documents show that Paul Rees is seeking more than £100,000 in damages over injuries linked to the crash.

However, BBC Studios has challenged the claim, saying Rees did not report any injuries at the time of the accident or afterwards.