James May has defended an idiotic stunt on The Grand Tour which resulted in him smashing into a wall at high speed. Have a listen Typically when you watch a show presented by May Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond it is the latter who is most likely to wind up in a brutal crash with May earning himself the nickname Captain Slow for well obvious reasons.

However their new special The Grand Tour presents A Scandi Flick is quite the departure from this norm.May finds himself in numerous scrapes in the newly-released edition of the show which sees the trio head for the icy wastes of the Scandinavian Arctic Circle at the wheel of their favourite rally cars.Undoubtedly the standout moment comes when May brutally smashes into a wall during a challenge which some viewers have branded idiotic.The 59-year-old sustained a broken rib in the crash and many people watching on at home felt the stunt was a recipe for disaster.

Of course racing cars at high speed is integral to what May and co do however many felt going full pelt down a dark tunnel towards a dead end wasnt the best idea.The aim was to see which of the trio could get their rally car up to the highest speed but evidently keen to beat Clarksons speed May pushed it a little too far eventually slamming on the brakes before hurtling side-on into the wall.Reacting on social media a lot of viewers were shocked by the crash - but not at all shocked that the challenge resulted in a crash with one person labelling it one of the most idiotic ideas theyve ever had.Asked whether in hindsight the challenge was unsafe May told LADbible No... Well nothing is ever completely safe when youre doing competitive car stuff.

But no I dont think it was a particularly unsafe idea. I think I just cocked it up to be honest.Theres no point trying to make any excuses for it. I just ballsed it up in a very uncharacteristic way.Its supposed to be Hammond who crashes - and also Hammond was going third and its better for telly if the third one crashes.Thankfully May told us the crash had no lasting repercussions explaining thatd he broken ribs before and its just boring really.As for whether he had any apprehension about getting back behind the wheel he said No I think just driving too fast down tunnels with no lights is probably what Im apprehensive about - but I dont think Im ever going to do that again.The Grand Tour presents A Scandi Flick launched on Prime Video today (16 September).