Richard Hammond - the face of Telecom's XT network when it launched in May last year - pulled out of the New Zealand leg of the Top Gear Live show now playing in Auckland.But if Telecom was hoping The Hamster's absence would take spotlight away from its m
Richard Hammond - the face of Telecom’s XT network when it launched in May last year - pulled out of the New Zealand leg of the Top Gear Live show now playing in Auckland.
But if Telecom was hoping The Hamster’s absence would take spotlight away from its mobile network troubles, it was wrong.
Fellow Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May ribbed XT mercilessly during the show's opening night..
Mr Hammond - who “tested” the network pre-launch with a series of benchmarks that seemed to involve watching race cars and jets filmed in black-and-white - should be embarrassed, said the duo.
And when a "live" video link to Mr Hammond in the UK went down, the pair immediately said that XT had crashed.
If the Top Gear team's reputation for irreverence and editorial independence took a dip with a certain promotional campaign last year, it's now been reclaimed in spades.
Top Gear Live runs through until Sunday.
