Rowan Atkinson prangs the McLaren – again

Rowan Atkinson in his McLaren F1

We don’t usually do accidents and supercars on Cars UK. To us, it seems horribly ghoulish and somehow perverse to seek enjoyment, not just from the misery of others, but from the destruction of beautiful cars. But this is Rowan Atkinson and his beloved McLaren F1.

The reports we’ve seen are stupidly sensationalist and factually barking mad. The facts seem to be that Rowan lost control in damp conditions on the A605 near Peterborough some time after 7pm last night. The car appears to have spun and hit a tree and a road sign. Some reports say there was a small fire.

Rowan managed to extract himself from the Mac – not an easy job even with something as minor as a broken fingernail, never mid the busted shoulder he appears to have  - so we hope, and expect, that in addition he has nothing more than a few bruises and severely dented pride.

As far as we know the McLaren F1 – which for the benefit of the mainstream press is probably worth around £3.25 million – did not ‘Burst in to Flames’ any more than it ‘Ploughed’ through anything or ‘Smashed’ in to anything else.

The F1′s top speed seems immaterial, although most of the reports we’ve seen mention it, unless the newspapers are suggesting Rowan was doing 240mph when he left the road. Rowan had a mishap on a damp road in an expensive car. There may have been a few flames. Probably end of story.

That said, it’s the second time Rowan has pranged his Big Mac, the first being 12 years ago when he ran in to the back of a Metro in Lancashire. But if you’re going to have a prang in a car a Mac is a sensible car to do it in, with its central seating position and carbon fibre monocoque there are few safer places to be when the back of the car passes the front and something hard looms in the side window.

We hope Rowan and his Mac make a swift recovery.

(28 photos – click any thumbnail for full gallery)

By Cars UK