"I hope people will watch it and think 'Wow, that was amazing'," Hammond said of the show. "Because it broke my heart, I don't think I'll be able to watch it." Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May mess around on set. Credit:Ellis O'Brien The last show appears after a tumultuous few months following Clarkson's sacking by the BBC after 13 years fronting the show due to a "fracas" with a producer in March, with Hammond and May also departing in a mark of solidarity with their ousted colleague. TV and radio presenter Chris Evans has since signed a three-year deal to replace Clarkson. The new co-hosts are yet to be confirmed. The final show to feature the original trio will include segments filmed prior to Clarkson's exit but will be linked in the studio by just Hammond and May.

"The studio links were just to get in between the bits of the films that go up to make the show. We felt that we owed it to the audience, we made it for them and they own it, so it had to go out," Hammond said. Richard Hammond is heartbroken by the series finale of Top Gear. Amid rumours that the trio are shortly to announce a new deal for a show with Netflix, Hammond said he couldn't comment on negotiations but added: "We're not dead, we're not over. And by the grace the god, and more importantly for our audience, we'll find a way of carrying on. We've had a great time and we're not ready to stop yet. We'll stop when the audience tells us to stop." Top Gear, which has been airing with Clarkson at the helm since 2002, has consistently rated as one of the world's biggest factual programs, with an audience of 350 million worldwide. It struck a chord with viewers beyond motoring enthusiasts due to the irreverent wit, tomfoolery and often shambolic presenting of its three hosts. Top Gear's Richard Hammond recovered from life-threatening head injuries.

Hammond said he couldn't say what he thought its legacy would be. "Legacy seems like a big word because the whole thing was embarked upon with honesty and sincerity and no more ambition beyond making the best show we could. That was the extent of it. "Every series would come round and we would say, 'well what are we going to do this year, let's just make the best car show we can.' That's all we ever did. Top Gear has been a huge success for more than a decade. "There was no science, there was no cynicism in the creation of it year in, year out, we just did the best we could." He said they knew the show had to end someday and that they would "soldier on".

"It's a shame but we're not dead, there's more life in us yet," he said. The three presenters will be in Australia next month for an arena tour, postponed from April and now rebranded without the Top Gear tag as Clarkson, Hammond and May Live. Hammond said the live show will be themed around The Cr-Ashes, an Australia v England battle featuring the three Brits and Australian hosts Shane Jacobson, Steve Pizzati and Riana Crehan. The two teams will be "locked in horn to horn" in a series of battles such as Sidecar Polo, Car Rugby and V8 Cricket, Hammond says. "There will be genuine competition there, make no bones about it but we're going to try bloody hard because we reckon that the Aussies will understand that, so if we do win, they'll take it on the chin." Top Gear airs on BBC Knowledge on Monday.

Clarkson, Hammond & May Live is at Perth Arena, July 18-19, and Allphones Arena in Sydney, July 25-26, see clarksonhammondandmaylive.com.au.