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Jeremy Clarkson faced the wrath of Argentinians today by driving through the country in a Porsche with the number plate H982 FKL to film for Top Gear.
The BBC presenter sparked a new controversy with the 'provocative' plate - a reference to the 1982 Falklands War - while driving part of the famous Patagonian Highway.
Leading national newspaper Clarin claimed: 'This is highly sensitive for Argentinians and Clarkson could have problems.'
JEREMY Clarkson has cut short his controversial trip to Argentina after being given an ultimatum to leave by outraged Falklands war veterans or “face the consequences
This comes after Argentinian ex-soldiers stopped the presenter's Porsche - whose numberplate seemed to reference the Falklands War - at a roadblock before marching to his luxury hotel to demand he and his Top Gear team abandon the area.
Clarkson is understood to have checked out of his hotel early and fled to Chile after he was blasted for driving a car bearing the "provocative" plate - H982 FKL - to travel part of the famous Patagonian Highway.
Top Gear bosses insisted the plate had not been chosen deliberately and was a pure coincidence.
But as paranoia gripped the southern Argentinian city of Ushuaia, officials upped the ante against Clarkson and his co-producers by accusing them of deliberate provocation.
Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano claimed the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang Mustang Richard Hammond was driving were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war.
He also said the numbers 646 on James May’s Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties.
The Top Gear trio and their film crew are understood to have packed up and left three days ahead of schedule after a tense meeting at the Hotel Arakur in Ushuaia where they were staying.
As they attempted to leave the country the car they were travelling in came under attack from angry Argentinian protestors.
Demonstrators stoned their vehicles at a petrol station as they crossed the town of Tolhuin on their way to the Chilean city of Punta Arenas.
One local paper reported: “There were people injured and police cars damaged.”
Gustavo Melella, mayor of nearby Argentinian city Rio Grande between Tolhuin and the Chilean border, joined a crowd of angry locals who then attempted to stop the Top Gear convoy entering his city after passing Tolhuin.
It has since emerged that production crews abandoned the damaged vehicles and the offending Porsche at a police checkpoint on route to Chile.
Film crews reportedly told officers at the first checkpoint they reached after passing through Tolhuin:"We’re leaving the cars, we don’t want more problems. Burn them if you want but we’re getting out of here."
An Argentinian technician hired for the Top Gear shoot is said to have been injured after a stone thrown by one of the demonstrators hit him in the face.
He reportedly refused medical attention after an ambulance was sent to treat him.
The violence they faced - and news more angry demonstrators were waiting for them a few miles up the road - eventually forced them to abandon plans to continue towards the Chilean border via the Argentinian city of Rio Grande.
Instead they are understood to have diverted to a remote road leading to the Radman or Bellavista Pass to cross into Chile.
Argentinian war veteran association member Osvaldo Hilliar, referring to the Falklands by their Spanish name, said: “Our position from the outset was to demand the withdrawal of the TV team from our province, which includes the Malvinas, by 8pm yesterday, with the warning we’d organise a demonstration to reject their provocation if not.
“What they did was an offence that through no coincidence was committed in the capital of the Malvinas, without any regard to local feeling about this cause.
“They said they didn’t want to upset anyone but we know the British have lied for the last 200 years.
“We told them we couldn’t guarantee their security if they didn’t leave.”
Mariano Plecity, the regional government minister who sat in on the meeting as mediator, announced afterwards: “The British group agreed to leave Tierra del Fuego voluntarily before the deadline was up, with some leaving by air and others by road.”
Top Gear bosses insisted the plate had not been chosen deliberately and was a pure coincidence.
But as paranoia gripped the southern Argentinian city of Ushuaia, officials upped the ante against Clarkson and his co-producers by accusing them of deliberate provocation.
Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano claimed the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang Mustang Richard Hammond was driving were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war.
He also said the numbers 646 on James May’s Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties.
It looks like some Argentinians wanted to be outraged, and were going to find patterns in whatever number plates they had. Saying that numbers 'are close to' one of the many that they could extract from the Falklands war statistics is daft.
H982 FKL certainly looks like the original plate issued to that car, which someone could verify. It should be obvious to people in the US that the plate is actually a dig against the US-Vietnam war, as the digits add to 19, the average age of soldiers sent. It's also cleverly a reference to the British Royal family, as 982 backwards is 289, the cubic inch capacity of a Ford Windsor engine.
H982FLK plate has been on the 928 in question since 25 May 2001.
Getting hold of personalised plates in the UK can be very expensive and a sometimes a minefield of bureaucracy - H928FLK would not be perceived as having any value so would have been cheap to acquire.
It's such a stupid reason to get pissy and the other things they said about the other car's plates like the numbers on them being "close to" the casualties of the war.
10-02-2014, 09:29 PM
