Top Gear: Who do you think is the Stig?

[Jojo]

Just found all this:

The Stig's true identity has never been revealed by the Top Gear presenters. The intent is that he functions as an unbiased "standard" that can be used to test cars fairly. However, once Perry McCarthy's book, Flat Out, Flat Broke, was published in 2003, it became clear that he was the original Stig (from 2002 to 2003). McCarthy was a former Formula 1 driver and test driver for the Benetton, Arrows and Williams teams and also tested for BMW F1.

In the first episode of the third series, the original Stig (McCarthy) was "killed off", with some spoof footage of the Stig supposedly driving off the end of the British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible after failing to brake in time. Some believe this was due to the uncovering of his identity, when while scheduled to appear in the 2003 Le Mans 24hr Race he was shown in an episode supposedly shot the same weekend helping the Top Gear team as the Stig in a Citroen 2CV 24hr race. This prompted a change of dress and music, and the "white Stig" was introduced in the second episode of series 3, on November 2, 2003. All that anyone can tell about the Stig is that he is a white male, as can be seen from the gap between his helmet and jumpsuit and that he wears size 10 racing boots as discovered by the Sunday Times when the Driving section wrote an article about the show.

Rumours that the Stig was former F1 world champion Damon Hill were supposedly confounded when Hill appeared on Top Gear on June 26, 2005. He did the lap and got 1.46.3. However, when asked if he was the Stig, he didn't actually deny this, and some took his apparently rapid availability to appear on the show in another guest's absence to indicate further evidence that he was the Stig. Many racing drivers are often asked if they are the Stig by the public.

On July 31, 2005, Series 6 Episode 10, a current F1 driver, Mark Webber appeared on Top Gear. He did the lap in the Suzuki Liana in 1.47.1 on a wet track. There is no reference that he is the Stig. Jeremy Clarkson even says that Webber took the same line around the first corner as Damon Hill, and that the Stig's is different. However, at the conclusion of his lap, Clarkson presents Webber with a t-shirt that reads "I AM THE STIG" on it. This is probably unlikely, as he was a current F1 driver at the time.

Rumours abound that other racers assume the mantle of the Stig in various capacities. In a Winter Olympics special episode of Top Gear, the Stig was shown doing a ski jump using a snowmobile, which was almost certainly not the "regular" Stig (if indeed there is one) as this is an extremely dangerous stunt. According to the Swedish tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet, the snowmobile driver performing the ski jump stunt was Dan Lang, a Swedish snowmobile cross driver. In January 2006, the Daily Express claimed that the identity of The Stig is former Formula 1 driver Julian Bailey. The article does not specify which episodes Bailey was supposedly the driver or provide sources for this claim.

I've also read somewhere that when Damon Hill drove the reasonably priced car, he was in fact a stand in for Davina Mcall who had to pull out at the last minute, and he was able to fill her shoes at short notice, because he is The Stig.

(not that I'm sad and have been doing a few searches online of course )

What do we all think?? I haven't a clue what to think really except the ID of the original Stig is revealed

[Dutchgirl]

It makes nice reading though. I thought the first Stig was killed of whilst crashing a car from an aircraft carrier?

[Jojo]

It makes nice reading though. I thought the first Stig was killed of whilst crashing a car from an aircraft carrier?

He was :

In the first episode of the third series, the original Stig (McCarthy) was "killed off", with some spoof footage of the Stig supposedly driving off the end of the British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible after failing to brake in time. Some believe this was due to the uncovering of his identity, when while scheduled to appear in the 2003 Le Mans 24hr Race he was shown in an episode supposedly shot the same weekend helping the Top Gear team as the Stig in a Citroen 2CV 24hr race. This prompted a change of dress and music, and the "white Stig" was introduced in the second episode of series 3, on November 2, 2003. All that anyone can tell about the Stig is that he is a white male, as can be seen from the gap between his helmet and jumpsuit and that he wears size 10 racing boots as discovered by the Sunday Times when the Driving section wrote an article about the show

And then the new one (Damon, Ben whoever they may be) arrived..

[Dutchgirl]

Ah well the reading bit, I might have overlooked that part.

[Pinkbanana]

Oh well all this has blown my theory out of the water, that of the Stig being Maureen from Driving School!!

Er.... part from that, I have no idea who the stig is! Will we ever find out?

Note: Maureen was the welsh woman who drove a lada erractically, whilst shouting at her poor hen pecked hubby who was doing his best to try to teach her to drive.

[Perdita]

Top Gear driver The Stig is reportedly played by four different men.

For years the identity of the cult figure, who test drives cars wearing a white suit and a white crash helmet, has remained a mystery.

However, according to the Daily Mail, the iconic figure is actually portrayed by four separate drivers.

"Since the Stig first drove on the show, it has never been practical to have one single driver taking care of all the Stig's many commitments," said a show insider.

"'Look at the pictures of the Stigs from show to show. If you look at the height of Stig in different pictures, that tells its own story."

Earlier this week, a newspaper claimed to have identified Stig as former American speedway driver Ben Collins after he reportedly outed himself.

However, the show insider insisted that people should stop trying to unmask the racer, saying: "We love to have the mystery around who he is. I just wish people would give it a rest, it's like telling people there is no Father Christmas."

A BBC spokesperson said: "We never comment on speculation as to whom or what the Stig is."

Last year, 'Who is the Stig?' was revealed to be one of the most frequently searched internet queries.

[Dutchgirl]

Ah well it keeps folks of the streets. Hahaha I love the mystery.

[Perdita]

A video which shows Top Gear's black Stig wading out of the sea has sparked rumours that the character may make a comeback.

Viewers saw the masked driver's demise in 2003 when he drove a Jaguar XJS off the end of an aircraft carrier and into the sea.

The YouTube clip, which shows a figure dressed from head to toe in black, suggests that the character survived the crash and is heading back to the racing track, says The Sun.

Last month, it was claimed that multiple drivers are used to portray white Stig on the BBC Two show.

The identity of the men or women behind the mask remains an enigma, with the question "Who is The Stig?" becoming one of the top ten queries made by users on search engine Ask.com last year.

[Perdita]

Jeremy Clarkson has claimed that his Top Gear co-star The Stig will finally be unmasked in tonight's episode.

The identity of the test driver, who wears a white racing suit and white crash helmet, has remained a mystery for years, prompting several theories about who is really under the mask.

Writing in The Sun, host Clarkson said: "Stig barges into the studio and in an atmosphere that you could cut with a knife removes his helmet.

"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 J.R. Ewing."

Reports had previously suggested that The Stig was actually portrayed by four different individuals, while others have claimed that he is a Norwegian or French racing driver.

Last year, the query 'Who is The Stig?' was revealed to be one of the most frequently searched questions on the internet.

[Hannelene]

Why are they unmasking him? I never wanted to know!