topgear:

The New York Times interviews Richard Hammond’s new show ‘Crash Course’

Mr. Hammond, 42, is the boyish third of the cast of the BBC’s car-obsessed “Top Gear.” He is here on a blazing September day, wearing a flight suit and learning to operate the Abrams tank for his new TV show, “Richard Hammond’s Crash Course.”

The show, which will make its debut on the BBC America cable channel on April 16, is produced in America for an American audience. That makes it something of a test of how far Mr. Hammond can push the popularity he has earned — but in this case, without the interplay of his “Top Gear” co-hosts, James May and Jeremy Clarkson.

“I travel a lot with work, obviously,” Mr. Hammond said. “Because of the shared language, as far as that sharing goes, America seems in some ways more foreign that many of the other places I go.”

Mr. Hammond is part of an international phenomenon: a TV show about cars that has evolved into a comedy cavalcade of motorized mayhem — and one of Britain’s most beloved cultural exports. It has also become a touchstone for the worldwide automotive culture, and it is widely followed in YouTube clips….

Read the rest: The British Are Coming - Mayhem Sure to Follow - NYTimes.com

Hamster, conquering America. I like it. :)