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After a long absence from PW due to educational commitements... i am back ..... with my own topic to find out or anyone can guess who is Me .. A.K.A Stig
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post ur replies with sources .........
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Origins
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The Stig's name is derived from presenter Jeremy Clarkson's days at
Repton School
where, according to Clarkson, new pupils were always called "Stig". A proposed name for the Stig was originally "
The Gimp
" until protests from
Perry McCarthy
put a stop to the idea. There have been two official Stigs on the show, while various other Stigs have made
cameo appearances
for particular episodes.
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Black Stig
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The first Stig wore black overalls and helmet. It was introduced in the first episode of the current format by Jeremy Clarkson as the resident test driver, as the presenters could not consistently post fast times themselves. Clarkson noted that "we don't know its name, we really don't know its name, nobody knows its name, and we don't wanna know, 'cause it's a racing driver". Clarkson then described the Stig as having a very small brain, worthless opinions, and a disorder described by Clarkson as "
Mansell
Syndrome". Its job description was to "just go out there and drive fast".
Black Stig posted a lap time of 1:46:0 for the
Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car
segment. This Stig was used for the first two series of the show. It was then "killed off" at the start of the third series when he was shown driving a modified
Jaguar XJ-S
off the flight deck of
HMS Invincible
during a stunt and landing in the sea.
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White Stig
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After the Black Stig was "killed off", a new "White Stig" was introduced, wearing white overalls and helmet. White Stig has been featured in the show beyond just the Power Lap segment. His work has included driving cars in other segments of the show, and racing against the hosts. He has also been recruited to undertake other tests. White Stig has also appeared outside Top Gear in some of Clarkson's motoring specials, such as 2005's Heaven and Hell, 2006's The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, 2007's Supercar Showdown, 2008's Thriller and 2009's Duel.
The Stig also collected Top Gear's third award for Best factual programme at the 2008 British
National Television Awards
. The Stig did not speak, but supplied an acceptance letter from the rest of the crew, read out by
Griff Rhys Jones
. The message said that the Top Gear team were in Japan and Jeremy Clarkson wrote: 'If you are reading this, be sure to give the Stig the award in his right hand as his left hand is magnetic, and keep him away from the cast of
Coronation Street
as he believes Northerners are edible'.
White Stig posted the fastest lap time of 1:44.4 around the Top Gear test track for the
Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car
segment.
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Other Stigs
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There have been various cameo appearances by other Stigs on Top Gear.
Series 9 Episode 3 was set in the United States, with the presenters purchasing American cars and driving them across four states whilst on holiday. One of the challenges set for the presenters was for the cars to set a lap time around a racetrack, for which "the Stig's American cousin" was introduced. This Stig was nicknamed "Big Stig" by the presenters because of his obese appearance
and was noted by Clarkson to have a "very relaxed driving style".
Series 10 Episode 4 featured the presenters driving across
Botswana
. To test the performance of the three cars used by the presenters around a dirt rally track, Clarkson introduced "the Stig's African cousin". This incarnation of the Stig was black, wore only Puma racing boots, a loincloth and the iconic white helmet. He set lap times for two of the cars, but walked away from the track when Clarkson's
Lancia Beta
failed to start. The others joked that African Stig was "in a hurry", and decided "not to take your [Jeremy's] car".
Series 12 Episode 1 featured Stig's lorry driving cousin ("Rig Stig," as identified via Jeremy's narration after a remark by Hammond at this Stig's arrival), who was set as a stereotypical lorry driver, with the right hand sleeve of his jump suit tanned brown and an obese appearance. He demonstrated to Clarkson, May and Hammond that it was possible to powerslide a
lorry
cab.
Series 12 Episode 1 included a series preview montage, which mentioned "the Stig's Communist cousin", shown riding a motorbike wearing a red jumpsuit. The footage of Stig's Communist cousin was included in the extra materials of the Top Gear Great Adventures 2 DVD.
In the Belgian award show Flandrien 2009, where the best Belgian cyclist is elected, 'The Stig' appeared in his white costume to test how fast a human can race on a bike. He managed to gain a speed of 134 km/h on his bike by racing behind a car on an airfield. Afterwards it was revealed to be
Geert Steegmans
, a Belgian sprinter.
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International Stigs
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version of the Stig is similarly attired to the UK White Stig, and his identity is likewise kept a secret. Marketing in the lead up to the series had stated he was the Stig's "Australian cousin", but in the first episode he was introduced as just "The Stig". In the first episode of the second series, co-host
Steve Pizzati
clarified that he is an Australian Stig and is not intended to be the same Stig from the UK series. Earlier, Pizzati had suggested that the Stig have an "Australian" name, such as "Stiggo", but the other presenters refused. Top Gear Russia also features their own version of the Stig, nicknamed "Stigushka" by the hosts.
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Records
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The Stig's fastest official lap time around the Top Gear test track was 1 minute 10.7 seconds in a
Ferrari FXX
, although this was later removed as it was revealed that the lap was done on slick tyres, which contravenes the rules. Faster times had previously been posted in a
Renault F1
car (0.59.0), an
Aston Martin DBR9
(1.08.6) and a
Caparo T1
(1:10.6), but the times of these cars were not included on the Lap Board either because they were deemed not to be street-practical because of their being unable to run over a "
sleeping policeman
" safely, or because they could not be purchased by the public. The previous fastest lap prior to the FXX was in a
Gumpert Apollo
(1.17.1).
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Identity
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The Stig's true identity has never been revealed on the show. In order to maintain the secrecy, all shots show him wearing full
Alpinestars
racing
coveralls
and matching
Simpson
helmet
. All that can be seen from the gap between his helmet and jumpsuit is that he is a white male with dark hair. It is also known that he wears Size 10 racing boots as discovered by the
Sunday Times
and a well-timed camera flash managed to show The Stig's eyes by
Auto Trader
. Although the Stig does talk with celebrities while preparing them for their "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" lap times, he is almost never shown talking on screen, and in both the programme and
Top Gear magazine
articles he is portrayed as being unable or unwilling to talk. Clarkson has written that the Stig is not permitted to talk on screen because "any opinion he might voice on cars would be rubbish", though he has been caught speaking on camera.
The identity of Black Stig was revealed to be
Perry McCarthy
when his book Flat Out, Flat Broke was published in 2002. McCarthy is a former
Formula One
driver and test driver for the
Benetton
,
Arrows
, and
Williams
teams and also tested for
BMW F1
.
The identity of White Stig has not been officially revealed and is regarded as a carefully guarded secret by the
BBC
. Racing drivers ranging from
Julian Bailey
,
Ben Collins
,
Chris Goodwin
,
Damon Hill
,
Heikki Kovalainen
,
Tim Schrick
, ,
Michael Schumacher
, and
Russ Swift
have been speculated as being the Stig at one point or another by the press, other racing drivers, and fans of the show.
Perry McCarthy, Russ Swift, and an unnamed former Stig have claimed that there is more than one driver who plays the role of the Stig. James May claims that there is a clause in the Stig's contract that should his identity be exposed either through his own willingness or via a member of the Top Gear staff (including the hosts of Top Gear), he has to be fired. Black Stig was let go via this clause; the same clause would apply also to White Stig under the same circumstances.
Specialist drivers and stuntmen have also been hinted at playing the role of the Stig; Stuntmen Terry Grant and Russ Swift have been hinted as donning the Stig's trademark racing suit. The
Winter Olympics special
episode of Top Gear showed the Stig doing a
ski jump
using a
snowmobile
; the driver performing the ski jump stunt was claimed to be Dan Lang, a Swedish snowmobile cross driver. "Rig Stig" seen in Series 12 Episode 1 drove British
Truck racing
champion
Stuart Oliver
's truck on the show, indicating a truck racing driver was used in the segment .
There has been some criticism of efforts to identify the Stig. The Times criticized the outing of Ben Collins by the Daily Telegraph in an article which asserted that the "identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an
open secret
within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme."
The BBC and Top Gear has varied their responses to the Stig's true identity. One official BBC response to such speculation is "We never comment on speculation as to who or what the Stig is." However, comical and joke responses to Stig's true identity are sometimes presented as well. In one example, after The Stig drove an all-black
Ferrari FXX
around the Top Gear Test Track, he was brought into the studio, and "revealed" as Michael Schumacher. Clarkson then stated at the end of the show "I'm not sure if Michael Schumacher is the Stig" after showing a comedy clip of Schumacher (dressed up as the Stig) supposedly struggling to drive the Suzuki Liana.
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Star in a Reasonably Priced Car
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Mark Webber
with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt presented to him by Jeremy
The show has alluded to The Stig with
Formula One
drivers that visit the show.
Damon Hill
appeared as a "
Star in a Reasonably Priced Car
" and when asked directly by Clarkson if he was The Stig, Hill played on the fact that he may be The Stig, but then denied it.
Mark Webber
's appearance on the show was marked at the conclusion of his lap with Clarkson presenting him with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt.
When former
F1
driver
Nigel Mansell
appeared on the show, Jeremy Clarkson noted that The Stig theorised that the
Suzuki Liana
(the show's "reasonably priced car" at the time) could achieve a 1:44 time on the track. Mansell proved the Stig's theory by lapping in a time of 1:44.6; the Stig subsequently posted a lap time of 1:44.4 in the Liana. During the review of
Jenson Button
's lap, Clarkson commented that he, as did most of the other F1 drivers, took very different racing lines from the Stig's. Button commented that "...obviously, the Stig isn't a Formula One Driver, then." During
Lewis Hamilton
's visit to the show, Clarkson mentioned that he took the same line around the track as The Stig.
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Listening habits
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Another source of entertainment for the presenters is the music the Stig listens to whilst doing Power Laps around the Top Gear track. Often a specific genre will be chosen for one or more series. These have included
power ballads
,
one-hit wonders
,
easy listening
,
country and western
,
progressive rock
,
baroque
,
advertising jingles
,
foreign language tapes
,
romantic novels
, salesman techniques, the hits of
Elton John
, the speeches of
Margaret Thatcher
,
self-help
tapes,
Morse Code
, and, most recently,
pipe band
music.
So can u guys guess who is stig?