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Hamilton crashes £42,000 charity kart |
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Lewis Hamilton's flawless start to the race track came to an abrupt end today when he crashed the £42,000 Vodafone Mercedes McLaren kart he had just sold for charity.
Hamilton crashed the kart, which had just been sold in eBay for £42,100, while he was demonstrating how to use it.
The talented 22-year-old has made an instant impact on the grid after becoming the first F1 rookie to finish on the podium in his first three races.
But at the launch of Vodafone mobile internet at Brunswick Square in central London this afternoon, Hamilton crashed his kart into a bollard - just days after an eBay bidding frenzy saw it sold for over £40,000.
The Mclaren kart, designed for Hamilton, was sold to raise money for baby charity Tommy's. But while the Formula One star was demonstrating it today he clipped and spun out of control.
Spectator Phil Madden, 32, described how the smash happened as Hamilton drove the kart around a makeshift track that had been built along the paths and lined with bollards.
He said: "He was doing a lap just to show off in the kart that had been sold on eBay, and he clipped the side of it and spun.
"He did one lap and he was doing his second lap when he crashed. It looked as if he clipped one of the bollards and it spun him through 90 degrees so he was sideways on the course. He just clipped it, it must have been with the axle.
"He was going quickly, he was trying his hardest. He wasn't doddering along or messing about. It was at the narrowest point where he was going around a bend.
"There was quite a lot of laughter but no concern. There was no danger of him injuring himself. There were probably 200 people watching. It was the last time he was ever going to drive it.
"He couldn't drive the kart after that because it was undriveable. He broke it. He had to swap to another kart after that. It was wobbling and it had a dented wheel."
Mr Madden said that Hamilton had laughed the smash off, but said that he did not know the reaction of the buyer, whose eBay identity is garym4598, who was also among the crowds, and who had just paid £42,100 for the kart.
He said: "Lewis laughed about it as well. He wasn't that concerned. It was a very tight circuit. It's about 2 metres wide, so it's not very wide at all. It's understandable that he clipped it.
"He had a mike on so he could talk to the crowd as he went round, and he didn't say anything until that happened, when he just laughed.
"I think the guy that bought it was there but I don't know where he was, or what his reaction was at all. I can't imagine he's bought it to drive, it's probably an investment." See the video on  (Click logo)
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