Stroud News

'The Stig should have remained a mystery'

12:10pm Thursday 2nd September 2010

Sean Jarrett, 15, who is on work experience with the SNJ, is an avid Top Gear fan and is among those who are annoyed over the decision to reveal the identity of the Stig.

I HAVE been watching Top Gear for around four years, and believe that the Stig’s secret identify is a vital part to the show.

I strongly believe that Ben Collins should have kept his identity on the show a secret, as it keeps everyone guessing who the tame racing driver is.

It allows Jeremy Clarkson to make funny ideas about his identity: ‘some say he appears on Japanese bank notes and he naturally faces magnetic north, all we know is he’s called the Stig’.

The BBC sacked Collins, former Formula 3 driver, after he revealed that he was the Stig, much to my disappointment.

Collins’ white Stig replaced Perry McCarthy’s black Stig, rumoured to be his father back in 2003.

The publication would reveal the identity of the mysterious driver, who takes celebrities around the Top Gear test track, in the reasonably priced car.

Star in the Reasonably Priced car is one of my favourite parts due to the sheer comedy involved as every celebrity says they aren’t nervous but are literally sat on the edge of their seat when Clarkson is about to slowly reveal their lap time.

The fastest celebrity in the current reasonably priced car is Hollywood’s Tom Cruise; I thoroughly enjoyed the interview, as it was funny the car stunts Cruise can do without needing a stunt double Ben Collins was born in Bristol, but lived in California for the first ten years of his life.

Collins started racing at the age of 18 when he won a record time for his debut lap he then turned this into a career racing and stunt driving for movies such as Quantum of Solace.

Collins also was in the SAS and his regiment knew about his being the Stig, saying his identity was ‘it was a standing joke within the regiment’.

He used his knowledge to show his regiment how to do high-speed escapes and how to evade capture successfully.

Collins’ company Collins Autosport provides precision and stunt driving services for Top Gear, which are always fantastic.

Along with Collins’ regiment only a hand few of others knew who the Stig was – including the show’s hosts James ‘Captain Slow’ May, Jeremy ‘Jezza’ Clarkson and Richard ‘Hamster’ Hammond.

I strongly believed that it was better the way it was, keeping everyone guessing.

I can’t help but think they will find a new coloured Stig but this means they will lose the great spaceman style suit.

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