US stunt driver and YouTube sensation Ken Block says Top Gear clip was ‘respectable’ despite public outrage over the £100,000 BBC Cenotaph stunt
THE man behind the wheel of the controversial Cenotaph Top Gear stunt has finally broken his silence.
The ill-fated film - which cost a reported £100,000 - was shot near the war memorial and sparked a row between Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc.
Just a few months later and Evans, who had replaced Jeremy Clarkson, stepped down as a presenter on the revamped BBC show.
Now YouTube rally star Ken Block has told The Sun his stunt car - dubbed The Hoonicorn - was kept a ‘respectable distance’ from the war memorial and blames the media for ‘blowing something up’.
Less than a fortnight after Remembrance Sunday, Block said: "From my perspective, The Top Gear staff were allowed to be were they were.
"They were given permits. I was told that that particular thing needed respect, and it was.
"I drove by it [the Cenotaph] in both directions - that people do every day. And I was 150m away when we were sliding.
"I don’t know what a respectable distance would have to be? 500m, Half a K away? To me 150m was a totally respectable distance."
Block, whose internet stunt videos have racked up millions of views, was talking to The Sun at the Monster Gymkhana Grid competition in South Africa.
“To me it was typical media trying to blow something up, because Top Gear is something people like .. especially controversy. And somehow I got caught up in the middle of all that," added Block.
“Luckily it was more about Top Gear and Matt LeBlanc than me and my name.
"I was just an American there doing what a British crew told me to do. And I didn’t really think there was anything wrong with what we’d done."
Block is more used to defying death in his souped-up cars, than battling media controversy.
“I’m getting old - handling the fear is getting more and more difficult.
"In the past year I’ve done two of the most dangerous things I’ve done, which is sliding at the edge of a cliff at Pike’s Peak for Climbkhana and sliding the car with part of the wheel off the edge of a dock for Gymkhana 9.
“It takes a lot of nerve to do this stuff, especially when you’re dealing with a big car and placing it within inches, it can be quite difficult sometimes.
"It’s part of what makes this such a big thrill for me. I started it because it really was a dream come true."
