The Stig
Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Stig
The Stig is the mysterious "tame racing driver" of the popular BBC motoring show Top Gear. His name derives from presenter Jeremy Clarkson's schooldays at Repton School: "New boys at Repton were always called Stig".[Jeremy on Andy] Times Online All shots of the Stig show the same racing overalls (black in the first two series, white from series 3 and onward) and a helmet (of matching colour), but never reveal his identity. On 2005's Revved Up DVD, Richard Hammond is shown in the "Top Gear Bunker" opening a cupboard where they supposedly "keep" the Stig. A dead looking figure in the Stig's racing overalls is shown lying in the cupboard. Similarly, when the hosts went to the Isle of Man to test out the Porsche 911, the BMW M6, and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage (2005), Jeremy Clarkson was dispatched to the airport to "pick up a special delivery" where the Stig is shown arriving on the baggage claim conveyor belt before being pushed out on a trolley by Clarkson.
The Stig's primary function on the show is to serve as an unbiased standard on which to test cars. His major role is driving various cars around the Top Gear test circuit. The times he sets with these cars are kept on a scoreboard that keeps track of the fastest cars that have been tested. The easy listening, prog rock and baroque music the Stig supposedly listens to in the car is a perennial source of amusement to the presenters — in Series 8, the Stig also listens to language tapes. His second duty is the training of whoever is the show's "Star In A Reasonably-Priced Car" (originally a Suzuki Liana, now a Chevrolet Lacetti) that week. Although he never speaks, The Stig is credited as a presenter on the show. He is presented as not quite human and jokes are made that he has special powers.
Facts and rumours
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.
Rumours that the Stig was former F1 driver 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.Jeremy Clarkson: Surely God in disguise [SamizData.net]. Final Paragraph. Retrieved 10 July 2006 Many racing drivers are often asked if they are the Stig by the public.
On July 31, 2005, Season 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.() [Aftonbladet Article] 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.
In May 2006, the Stig lost control of the £415,000 Koenigsegg CCX and ploughed through a tyre wall, marking the first recorded instance of the Stig being involved in an accident. After a suggestion by the Stig to add a spoiler for downforce, Koenigsegg did accept that the car suffered from a lack of rear downforce, and took the car back to Sweden to retrofit a rear wing, in an attempt to rectify the problem. Koenigsegg later sent back the car with its new rear spoiler, and the Stig made the fastest ever power lap in it (1 minute 17.6 seconds). Jeremy Clarkson closed the show by jokingly saying that Top Gear doesn't just test cars, they design them.
In the same month, the Stig beat all other drivers (Including F1 drivers) in the Suzuki Liana "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" challenge with a time of 1:44.4.
\"Known\" information about the Stig
The other presenters of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, like to jest about the Stig as if he were some kind of special creature, rather than a human, and mention a few "facts" before each of his appearances. They always lead with "Some say..." and finish with "All we know is, he's called the Stig". (e.g., "Some say the outline of his left nipple is exactly the same shape as the Nürburgring, and if you give him a really important job to do, he'll skive off and play croquet"). In earlier episodes, the Stig is introduced with various ad-libbed lines from the presenters. (e.g., "Please welcome, his Holiness, the Stig!")A collection is available on .
During the current series, the Stig is supposedly doing a tape-recorded course in Italian and Greek, which plays in the car while he is driving. This is to imply that while he is driving a challenging course, he is still able to concentrate on learning Italian. In previous series, he would listen to Classical music or Rock ballads.
The truth is out
Comedian Jimmy Carr finally told all during his 'Off the telly' tour. At the London event, he was asked by a member of the audience who the Stig was, and without hesitation said, "Well, it used to be Damon Hill, now it's some rally driver." This received an "Oooooh" from the audience, after which he said, "Yeah, I signed a contract with BBC not to release that information, but so what, I've also got a contract with Channel 4."#redirectReferences
External links
| Top Gear | ||
| Presenters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Clarkson - Richard Hammond - James May - The Stig | ||
| Episodes and Broadcasters | ||
| Top Gear Episodes - Top Gear Broadcasters and Video Releases | ||
| Related articles | ||
| Top Gear Magazine - Toybota - Dampervan | ||
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.