Former Top Gear star James May in high-speed crash while filming show

Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May were filming a stunt for their show The Grand Tour at the time of the accident. Photo / Getty Images

Former Top Gear presenter James May has been rushed to a Norwegian hospital after he smashed his car into a wall while filming for his new show.

The Sun reports the 59-year-old star was working on the popular Amazon Prime Video series The Grand Tour when he crashed his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 at 120km/h.

May was filming a drag-style race with his co-stars, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, at a Norwegian naval base at the time.

The trio were steering rally cars through a tunnel towards a rock wall. The Sun reports the men only had seconds to react in the tunnel before hitting a wall. May crashed into the wall after failing to hit the brakes in time.

He broke a rib in the accident and was taken to hospital for X-rays and a brain scan. Although he was later given the all-clear, he had to abandon filming on the show's Arctic Circle trip.

The trio were steering rally cars through a tunnel towards a rock wall - and May failed to hit the brakes in time. Photo / Supplied

A source told The Sun May's accident "looked extremely worrying at first".

"James smashed his head quite hard in the impact and was bloodied by it. He was complaining about pain in his back and neck. He was only able to join [the others] once given the all-clear a day or so later."

It's not the first time the former Top Gear presenters have put themselves in harm's way while filming.

Hammond was in a coma for two weeks in 2006 after crashing a jet-powered car at 460km/h. He eventually made a full recovery.