Richard Hammond, presenter of the flagship BBC motoring show Top Gear, suffered a "significant brain injury" when he crashed at high speed yesterday while trying to unofficially break the British land speed record.
Hammond was in a jet-powered vehicle trying to break the record set six years ago of 300.03mph when he lost control of the car and it turned over several times, trapping him inside.
He had to be cut free and was airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The crash was today being investigated by police and health and safety officials.
Doctors at the hospital said tonight: "Richard Hammond has suffered a significant brain injury. It is still giving cause for concern as it is still early after the injury.
"However we are reasonably optimistic that he will make a good recovery."
The investigation into what went wrong at Elvington airfield near York began with North Yorkshire Police’s Collision Investigation Unit visiting the scene of the crash with HSE inspectors.
The BBC are also holding their own inquiry but they refused to say whether Hammond had taken the role of driver from his co-presenter James May just nine days ago.
The main focus of the inquiry will be on the car and the track and also to make sure that all the health and safety precautions were taken before Hammond set foot in the vehicle.
Keith King, a principal inspector with the HSE, said: "One would expect the BBC to have organisational arrangements and risk assessments for dealing with any production-related activity on a site like this and elsewhere.
"It will include looking at what arrangements they had for dealing with emergencies. It is very unusual and personally I haven’t dealt with one and this is one of the reasons why we are working with the police.
"Our file will consider what action is appropriate baring in mind what evidence comes out of the investigation."
A spokesman for the BBC said: "The circumstances of this accident will be fully investigated by the BBC, and this process began last night.
"We will, of course, be fully co-operating with any investigation by the police and the Health and Safety Executive."
Organisers of the attempt, Primetime Land Speed Engineering, which is jointly run by the current British land speed record holder, Colin Fallows, said they were "deeply shocked" by events.
Malcolm Pittwood, a spokesman, said the vehicle was being operated "to the highest of standards."
"We are co-operating and will continue to co-operate fully with the necessary authorities in every way possible," he said.
As the investigation continued Jeremy Clarkson drove from his home in London to the hospital where he joined his co-presenter James May and Hammond’s family and friends.
Doctors said that Hammond’s condition had shown some improvement overnight and he was in a serious but stable condition.
Clarkson, who affectionately calls Hammond "The Hamster" because of his diminutive height, said: "I would just like to say how heartened Richard will be when I tell him just how many motorists and truck drivers on my way here wound down their windows to say they were rooting for him.
"Obviously at this time both he and his family are the most important concerns we have. It must be devastating for his wife Mindy and his two utterly adorable children.
"Both James and I are looking forward to getting our hamster back."
James May said that he was devastated to learn his "old mate" had been injured.
Hammond, 36, was less than half way along the 1.8 mile runway in a Vampire rocket powered dragster, the vehicle that set the British record, when he veered off the runway on what was the last run of the day.
Initial reports said that as the parachute opened to slow the vehicle down smoke was seen coming from a back tyre.
A former firefighter who was one of the first on the scene said that the presenter was drifting in and out of consciousness and had to be cut free. He said Hammond had been travelling at speeds close to 300mph.
Dave Ogden said: "He was regaining consciousness at that point and said he had some lower back pain. But he was drifting in and out of consciousness a little bit."
Mr Pittwood said if Hammond had broken the record it would not have stood because there were no officials from the Automobile Association present to verify the attempt.
The nose cone of the high-speed car had been completely destroyed in the crash and bits of debris were strewn across the airfield.
Hammond would have been strapped so tightly into his Vampire jet car with a six point safety harness that he could barely move, to protect him from such a disaster, an expert said today. He would also be sitting in a roll cage for his high speed drive.
"The Vampire is a pretty robustly built car, it has a very, very strong rollover structure. You are strapped in so tightly that you almost feel like you can’t move. You want to be as anchored as possible," said David Tremayne, a speed record historian.
"The roll cage would be around his head. His head would have been pretty well protected which is another thing in his favour.
"It is safe to say that, as far as the car is concerned, all the sensible safety procedures would have been taken."
Hammond, who often drives high-performance cars as part of presenting Top Gear, was born in Birmingham but lives just outside Cheltenham with his wife Amanda and two children.
Michael Harvey, the editor of Top Gear magazine, told BBC News 24: "Clearly at those kinds of speeds the tiniest little thing has to go wrong and the speed obviously massively exaggerates the consequences of anything going wrong."
He added: "I know every single precaution will have been taken but something clearly absolutely unaccounted for has gone wrong, and Richard has unfortunately suffered the consequences."
The jet-powered Vampire is Britain’s fastest car and is one of a pair of dragsters built in the late 70s, early 80s with a 10,000 horse power engine.
The world land speed record was set by RAF pilot Andy Green who achieved a speed of 763mph in the Nevada desert in 1997.
