Source, http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=721771
The Stig is up.
Fans of the original UK version of Top Gear will be excited to learn that the identity of the program's mysterious and anonymous "tame racing driver" has been revealed.
International racer and Quantum of Solace stunt driver Ben Collins has been outed as The Stig after reportedly admitting his secret identity while commissioning a series of photographic portraits, the Daily Telegraph reports .
Collins, 33, has raced in F3, Le Mans, NASCAR and the GT series as well as reportedly coming close to an F1 drive but it was while arranging a set of signed limited edition prints of The Stig to be marketed to car dealerships that the cat was let out of the bag.
Simon Whitehead, co-owner of Gallery 2C in the English seaside town of Bristol, said a man who worked on Top Gear and held copyright over images of The Stig dropped the bombshell after discussing the proposed job.
"I was absolutely amazed when he said he was The Stig, it was quite a big thing in a weird way," he was quoted by thisisbristol.co.uk as saying.
While Whitehead refused to identify Collins by name, the UK press was able to piece together other clues to confirm it was Collins behind the famous white helmet with mirrored visor.
It has been previously established that The Stig speaks with a Bristol accent — like Collins — and that Collins works as a high performance driver and consultant to Top Gear after he was named in the accident report for presenter Richard Hammond's near-fatal crash.
A builder also reported coming across The Stig's outfit while working on Collins's home.
Collins has long been one of the names connected to the role since the original (black) Stig, Perry McCarthy, was sacked in 2002 after outing himself as the mystery speedster in an autobiography.
The identity of The Stig on the Australian version of Top Gear has not yet been confirmed but there is strong speculation that co-presenter and professional racing driver Steve Pizzatti fulfils dual roles on the show.
Displaying 1 to 11 of 11 replies
There have been 11 replies to this Discussion Topic:
stiggie 11:03 pm January 20th 2009
i think the best thing about UK stig is he can actually drive very very very well.
another thing linking collins to the role is his testing with spyker on the show, ben collins is a spyker test driver!!! [not F1 the road cars]
BAC-013 9:36 am January 21st 2009
it was only a matter of time before the whole world knew
the ben collins Identity has been around for ages but its only now the press have worked it out
dont exist anymore 12:17 pm January 21st 2009
So, if this is true, how long to we give it before this Stig is replaced?
Cait 12:37 pm January 21st 2009
I was quite disapppointed when I found out that the Stig had been revealed. There goes all the mystery that surrounds the Stig.
BAC-013 12:59 pm January 21st 2009
‘So, if this is true, how long to we give it before this Stig is replaced?’
they used many stigs but the main one is ben collins
nokia88 2:45 pm January 21st 2009
and he lives in a 60000$ home
..::COREY::.. 7:44 pm January 21st 2009
sixty thousand dollar home well i live in a 600000 dollar home do you mean that aswell buddy
Muz 10:42 am January 22nd 2009
Shame he has been outed…once again curiosity will ruin the mystery of a good show.
Emma-Belle 6:16 pm January 22nd 2009
so they killed off the black stig and he came back white. what colour will he be next if he get’s killed off now? I think silver!
jamiefan25 12:39 am January 24th 2009
wicked
SMITHY(Tipping Admin) 8:50 pm January 24th 2009
" what colour will he be next "
Hahahahahaha
He'll go in Team Vodafone colours
But Alex's 1st post is right…