The incident occurred when Rees was employed, as part of the BBC’s Top Gear programme to film a “power test” of the Morgan Super 3 versus the Toyota GR86 at the Dunsfold Airfield in Surrey between 13th and 15th December 2022.
Rees is a racing driver and has experience as a stunt driver for TV shows, but the particulars of his claim said he had never driven a Morgan Super 3 before.
The incident that injured Rees and Flintoff involved an attempt to drift the three-wheeled car around the airfield’s “Chicago” bend, the document states.
“At no time no time did the Defendant [BBC Studios] indicate that such manoeuvres would be dangerous. Indeed, a slide or a skid was intended, forming part of the script written by the Defendant,” the particulars of the claim said.
“About 50 minutes after starting driving, the employee entered the “Chicago” corner and accelerated whilst turning the steering wheel on leaving it. As he did so, the vehicle turned upside down, causing injury to both the Claimant [Rees] and the employee [Flintoff]”, it adds.
Rees’s legal case argues that BBC Studios failed to inform the driver and Flintoff not to attempt to drift the car, or the risk of rolling the vehicle, as well as the “soft signs” that this might happen in three-wheeled cars.
In a statement released before Rees’s particulars of claim was made public, BBC Studios said: “We dispute this claim and are defending it. As it’s now before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
