Top Gear's Stig 'to be unveiled'

[Cragar]

Top Gear's Stig 'to be unveiled'

The Stig's identity would be "a staggering surprise", Clarkson said

The Stig, the mystery driver who tests high-performance cars on Top Gear, will take his helmet off for the first time later, the BBC has confirmed.

Presenter Jeremy Clarkson, writing in his column in the Sun, revealed the unmasking, saying Stig's identity would be a "staggering surprise" to viewers.

He said the Stig would barge into the studio in Sunday night's pre-recorded BBC Two show before showing his face.

The driver has previously been named by papers as ex-stunt driver Ben Collins.


As Jeremy said, in tonight's Top Gear Stig will remove his helmet for the first time

The BBC has previously refused to confirm or deny whether Collins, who has worked on films including James Bond movie Quantum Of Solace, is the Stig.

Clarkson, 49, said that, while filming the scenes, "hardened, emotionless camera crews said the hair on the back of their neck prickled".

"As a television moment, it's up there with Neil Armstrong walking on the... corpse of JR Ewing," he added.

A BBC spokesman would only say: "As Jeremy said, in tonight's Top Gear Stig will remove his helmet for the first time."

It is not clear if the apparent unveiling is part of a publicity stunt which could mean that Stig's identity remains a mystery.

Perry McCarthy, a former Formula 1 driver, was the original Stig, wearing black overalls for his appearances.

He was replaced with a new Stig, dressed in white, after he had revealed his identity in his 2002 autobiography.

 

[95EagleAWD]

There's no way we'll see his face.

 

[Greg Z]

There's no way we'll see his face.

I agree. This is just a publicly stunt

 

[ANYTIME]

There's no way we'll see his face.

Probably going to leave the head sock on :tongue:

 

[DutchBlackNsx]

Nope, they showed the person.
Pretty good it was indeed. Load cheering crowd. I mean, what else can you come up as being TopGear?

However, i suspect it was a setup for one of the car manufacturers. They had a chat with the 'Stig', not much more then a large commercial for Fiat.
Just before the unveiling they did a run with the Fxx on the TopGear track, which beat the Gumpert with 7 seconds (!!!! 1:10).
There's only one driver who could do that, only one driver who would be allowed by the big F..... the big F who had to make absolutely sure that that Fxx would trash any car ever been on that TopGear track.

You fill in the answer :biggrin:

Or should i say .... "Sie füllen die antwort aus"


Anyway, after this show, you still have no idea who the Stig is.

 

[klaus]

They probably wanted to make sure the car didn't end up trashed. I wonder how many factory guys were there with wrenches and laptops to get that time.

The most funny thing is that much of the media actually bought into MS being the Stig!

Anyway, I doubt the time will be outdone. That car/driver combo is unbeatable.

 

[dablackgoku1234]

spoiler alert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifrtlC4NTys&feature=channel_page

 

[enkrypt3d]

spoiler alert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifrtlC4NTys&feature=channel_page

annnnnnnnnnd who is that?

 

[Mr Payne]

annnnnnnnnnd who is that?

Seriously?

 

[ANYTIME]

annnnnnnnnnd who is that?

Shumi

 

[KooLaid]

Seriously, MS has been driving for the show??? I thought it was supposed to be some rally racer.

If it is MS, then it seems he's saying good bye to the show. Which means.....a new stig will take his place.

 

[Mr Payne]

The Stig has been multiple different drivers. It just happened to be Schumi for this show.

 

[ChopsJazz]

Interesting, but how can we be certain that that's who it is and who it's been?

Clever though.

 

[enkrypt3d]

Seriously?

I didn't recognize him as Michael Schumacher... but I guess I'm not that familiar w/ his face.. :biggrin:

 

[NSXGMS]

The Stig is obviously not Schumacher but that day he was the Stig. He did drive that FXX for the track record. I believe he originally helped tune the Enzo and FXX offering similar input as Senna did for the NSX.

It was a great joke since it was pretty widely known that around the time of last season's final episode the Stig's identity was almost certainly deduced as Ben Collins and there was a lot of buzz around that.

 

[95EagleAWD]

The Stig is without doubt an ex-F1 driver though... no one else can really handle those (Formula One) cars, as demonstrated by Hammond.

 

[NSXGMS]

The Stig is without doubt an ex-F1 driver though... no one else can really handle those (Formula One) cars, as demonstrated by Hammond.

I don't think the Stig ever drove an actual F1 car on the show. And it's almost certain the Stig is Ben Collins, at least as of last season and the past few seasons.

 

[enkrypt3d]

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090622092912.shtml

more info!

 

[95EagleAWD]

I don't think the Stig ever drove an actual F1 car on the show. And it's almost certain the Stig is Ben Collins, at least as of last season and the past few seasons.

The Stig drive a V10 Renault F1 car around the track in 59 seconds on a damp track.

 

[flaminio]

The Stig is not a "person", he's a character. Who portrays him under the white helmet is irrelevant.

For example, even if Ben Collins is The Stig most of the time, he probably wasn't The Stig when he was riding the tube in the race across London. And he wasn't The Stig during the FXX power lap :biggrin:.

 

[akira3d]

I am the Stig (the shirt I am wearing confirms it)

 

[NSXGMS]

The Stig drive a V10 Renault F1 car around the track in 59 seconds on a damp track.

Indeed he did. However you don't need to be an F1 driver to handle an F1 car. Jeff Gordon did quite well in one and certainly a driver of Ben Collins' caliber could do fine as well.