London - Jeremy Clarkson’s claim to have fled Argentina in fear of his life was rubbished yesterday by the country’s ambassador to Britain.
The Top Gear presenter says he was attacked by mobs of locals because the Porsche he was driving had a registration plate they saw as a reference to the Falklands conflict.
But Alicia Castro said Clarkson had exaggerated what had happened while he was filming in Argentina and had portrayed its people as ‘savages in a horror story’.
And she said he had made a mockery of those who lost their lives in the fighting in 1982. She wrote: ‘The presenter – in his column entitled “Make no mistake, lives were at risk” – fabricates an exaggerated story.
‘He describes being ambushed by a mob branding pickaxes.
‘Clarkson [then] claims that a mob was trying to burn the crew’s cars – which I understand did not actually happen – and he goes so far as to affirm that “one said they were going to barbecue us and eat the meat”.’
She said the crew were given safe passage across the border into Chile by Argentine authorities when local anger threatened to boil over.
PROVOCATIVE BEHAVIOUR?
Miss Castro suggested Clarkson’s troubles were caused by his ‘provocative behaviour’ and not because he was English, as he has claimed.
Following the furore, Clarkson said the Top Gear team’s use of the H982FKL plate was coincidental.
Yesterday his TV colleague Richard Hammond also insisted they had not deliberately used the H982FKL number plate and said he felt a ‘real chill’ when they realised the offence it might cause.
‘We wouldn’t joke about soldiers,’ he told the BBC. ‘The idea that we planned that is pretty much impossible and certainly isn’t true.
‘We didn’t look at the plates. I’ve never looked at a number plate that we’ve used on a car for a special. Not with that kind of cynical outlook. You just get the car you want.
‘There were only two of those 928 GTs for sale in the UK at the time – one of which was the one we got.’
In August, an investigation into Top Gear began after footage was leaked of Clarkson saying ‘******’ in an out-take.
The 54-year-old was given a final warning after bosses ordered a review of the show’s culture and practices, citing ‘some significant issues’ on the programme. Staff were asked whether they believed the show was in any way racist.
Daily Mail