The Stig

Since the re-release of 70s car show Top Gear back in 2002, they've had a tame racing driver who's job it is to take a car on test and throw it around the track (at Dunsfold Park in Surrey) in the quickest possible time. They called this person 'The Stig' and he was shrouded in mystery. In the first series he became known as black stig, because of his black overalls, originally portrayed by Perry McCarthy, the ex F1 driver. They killed him off by throwing him in a Jaguar from the launch deck of an aircraft carrier(!). Then the appearance of White Stig came about, and it is well known that he is more then one driver. The current concensus is he's most commonly Ben Collins, former Formula 3 and Formula First driver. Other people claimed to have been the Stig include F1 Champion Damon Hill, top stunt driver Russ Swift and most recently, Michael Schumacher



Now, on Sunday night, reeling from the revelation that the Stig isn't even British, John and I sat riveted. We both agreed it can't be the most successful driver in F1 history, because he just wouldn't have had the time. I said how he'd probably been drafted in to drive the new Ferrari supercar, the FXX. A car that costs £1 million, and has to stay at Ferrari, meaning you ask if you can borrow your car. I suspect that Ferrari had insisted that the German champion was only one of a handful of drivers they were prepared to race the car around the track. It is also probably the reason that the BBC have a Stig in the first place. The problem is, singularly visioned people would still insist it's always him, so the BBC had to throw doubt on his credentials. And, in true style, they got him to race the Suzuki Liana (a dreadful car, they use for gauging the success of all drivers). The outcome was predictable, and contrary to Bertie's opinion, hysterical.

Enjoy