A racing driver secretly in the car when Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s Top Gear crash left him with serious facial and rib injuries is now suing BBC Studios for up to AU$300,000.
Paul Rees, 41, was in the passenger seat giving Flintoff driving instructions when their open-topped Morgan Super 3 flipped at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome on 13 December 2022, according to court documents.
It was not previously known that anyone else was in the car.
Rees, from Oxfordshire, filed his claim in December 2025. BBC News has seen the claim form but not yet his full claim.
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What the court documents allege
Microphones fitted in the car recorded the moments leading up to the crash, according to BBC Studios’ defence filings.
The documents state Flintoff expressed concern at one point when the car’s front wheel lifted as he took a corner, and was reassured by Rees that the vehicle could not roll over.
Approaching the same corner again, Rees told Flintoff to “now turn right… now full power, full power,” the filings said. “A front wheel lifted, and because of the claimant’s instruction the presenter continued to apply power, the Morgan turned over,” the document stated.
Paul Rees
BBC Studios’ defence
BBC Studios denies it was negligent “as alleged or at all” and says Rees’ “faulty instructions” led to the accident. The company’s defence also states Rees did not complain of any injuries at the time of the crash or afterwards.
“At no time in the period after the accident did the claimant suggest that he had suffered any injury in the accident,” the court document said.
In a statement, BBC Studios said: “We dispute this claim and are defending it. As it’s now before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
‘Thought I was dead’
Flintoff, a former England cricketer turned television personality, was one of three co-hosts of the long-running BBC motoring show at the time of the crash. He has described being dragged face-down underneath the car for about 50 metres, telling a Disney+ documentary last year: “I thought I was dead.”
He has also said he did not leave his house for six months after the crash, except for medical appointments, and reached a compensation settlement with the BBC in 2023.
The BBC subsequently “rested” Top Gear.
According to reports, the broadcaster has been exploring a return of the show.