View Full Version : nigel mansel is the stig?????????
london_chris
04-03-07, 06:01 PM
who do people think the stig from top gear really is? i rekon nigel mansel
General Baxter
04-03-07, 06:05 PM
i think its flashbang lol
flashbang
04-03-07, 06:05 PM
lol yes it could be me thats why it explain i cant get classical music out of my head!
General Baxter
04-03-07, 06:06 PM
could be gaskell, hes the best driver in the world lol
There have been 3 stigs.
Black Stig posted a lap time of 1:46 for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_in_a_Reasonably-Priced_Car_%28Top_Gear%29) segment. This Stig was used for the first two series of the show. He was then "killed off" at the start of the third series when he was shown driving a modified Jaguar XJ-S (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_XJ-S) over the edge of the HMS Invincible (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Invincible_%28R05%29) during a stunt and landing in the sea.
The current Stig wears white overalls and helmet. He was introduced in the second episode of the third Series as a replacement for the Black Stig, who had been "killed off" during a stunt.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-3)
Unlike the Black Stig, the White Stig is more involved in the series. Among some of his work beyond the Power Laps and Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segments have been to drive other cars in various segments of the programme, including finding a winner between the Aston Martin V8 Vantage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Martin_V8_Vantage_%282005%29), BMW M6 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M6) and Porsche 911 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_911) Carrera S on the Isle of Man,[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-4) determining a winner in a dispute between an Austin-Healey Sprite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin-Healey_Sprite) and a modified (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricer) Peugeot 306 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_306)[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-5), acting as a police constable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_constable) in a Vauxhall Astra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall_Astra) police car (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_car) against the hosts in a white van man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_man) challenge,[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-6) and racing against the hosts in a bid to see who would cross the starting line at a race track; White Stig driving a Caterham Seven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham_Seven) kit car (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_car) from Caterham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham), Surrey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrey) to the racetrack in Scotland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland) against the hosts in assembling an identical car from the ground up.[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-7)
White Stig also test drove every hot hatch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_hatch) on sale, including the just-released Honda Civic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic) Type R, for the March 2007 issue of Top Gear Magazine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gear_Magazine).
White Stig has also appeared outside of Top Gear in some of Clarkson's motoring specials, such as The Good, The Bad, The Ugly where Clarkson reviewed and compared American and non-American cars, and Heaven and Hell, where the Stig was used to compare the track times of the Chevrolet Corvette C6 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_C6) and the TVR Sagaris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TVR_Sagaris), and raced Clarkson, in a BMW M5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M5), with a Ferrari F430 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_F430).
The third episode of Series 9 was set in America, with the presenters given the challenge of trying to buy (and subsequently sell) a car for less than the price of renting one during their two week holiday.
One of the challenges given to the presenters was to have the cars set a lap time around a racetrack, for which "The Stig's American cousin" was introduced. Also wearing white overalls, he was dubbed "Big Stig" by the presenters because of his large girth, and acted as a stand-in driver for the episode. Clarkson commented that Big Stig had a "more relaxed" driving style than the regular Stig.
The identity of the first Stig was revealed to be Perry McCarthy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_McCarthy) when his book Flat Out, Flat Broke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Out%2C_Flat_Broke) was published in 2003. McCarthy is a former Formula 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_1) driver and test driver for the Benetton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benetton_Formula), Arrows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrows) and Williams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WilliamsF1) teams, and also tested for BMW F1.
The identity of the new Stig has not been officially revealed. However, rumours abound that several racers take the role of the Stig in various capacities. In a Winter Olympics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Olympics) special episode of Top Gear, the Stig was shown doing a ski jump using a snowmobile. According to the Swedish tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftonbladet), the snowmobile driver performing the ski jump stunt was Dan Lang, a Swedish snowmobile cross driver.[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-9) In January 2006, a Daily Express article reported that Julian Bailey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Bailey) is secretly "The Stig".
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/34/TGIAMTHESTIG.jpg/250px-TGIAMTHESTIG.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TGIAMTHESTIG.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TGIAMTHESTIG.jpg)
Mark Webber with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt presented to him by Jeremy.
Fans of the show have speculated that the current Stig is a former or current Formula 1 driver. The show has capitalised on this speculation by hosting several F1 drivers on the programme, ambiguously hinting that any of them may be the Stig without ever revealing his true identity. The Top Gear website also lists The Stig under the F1 drivers section of the Power Lap board.
On the episode of June 26 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_26), 2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005), Damon Hill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damon_Hill) appeared as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. When asked directly by Clarkson if he was the Stig, Hill evaded the question and did not provide an outright denial or confirmation.[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-10) Mark Webber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Webber) was interviewed on July 31 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_31), 2005 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005) and at the conclusion of his lap Clarkson presented him with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt. Webber was then warned not to wear it around the F1 paddock, as "Michael (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher) doesn't always wear red".[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-11)
When former F1 driver Nigel Mansell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Mansell) appeared on the show, Jeremy Clarkson noted that the Stig theorised that the Suzuki Liana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Liana) (the show's "reasonably priced car" at the time) could achieve a 1:44 time on the track.[13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-12) Mansell proved the Stig's theory by lapping in a time of 1:44.6. Clarkson also noted that Mansell's line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_line) through the first corner was the same as the one taken by the Stig.
During the review of Jenson Button (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenson_Button)'s lap, Clarkson commented that he, as did most of the other F1 drivers, took very different racing lines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_line) than the Stig. Button commented that "...obviously, the Stig isn't a Formula One Driver".[14] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig#_note-13)
tom reid
04-03-07, 07:59 PM
IF Draper is'nt the Stig, he should be,a full face helmet would cover his ugly mug quite nicely lol
IF Draper is'nt the Stig, he should be,a full face helmet would cover his ugly mug quite nicely lol
noooooooo my identity has been revealed
is it not the mclaren formula 1 test driver? id love ta see the stig give a nova a blast roung a track!
flashbang
04-03-07, 08:51 PM
write to top gear then
JSeymour
04-03-07, 09:04 PM
dars the stig!
it is julian bailey, there was a massive thing on lancerregister and they got to bottom of it basically unanimous(sp) decision in the end
it is julian bailey, there was a massive thing on lancerregister and they got to bottom of it basically unanimous(sp) decision in the end
oooh! facts and figures please! would like to see how they came to that decision :D lol
Novadex
04-03-07, 11:55 PM
i always thought it was mike hartley?
i always thought it was mike hartley?
who? pmsl
The first(black) stig was Perry Macarthey. Buy his book and it tells all!!! (Flat out, Flat broke.)
I did hear a rumour that the white stig was the same bloke that drove when they tried to catch a free faller in the back of a merc. He also drove the bowler wild cat when they tried to beat a mountain boarder down a hill.
But I can remember his name????
wisewood
05-03-07, 08:39 AM
The original "black stig" who was "killed off" in the top gear jag into the sea was actually former racing driver Perry McCarthy.
http://www.arup.com/dyna/conference/images/mccarthy.jpg
The identity of the current stig is unknown. One thing is certain though, it's highly unlikely to be a CURRENT formula 1 driver, as their team would be unlikely to allow them to partake in something like that for insurance reasons etc.
Nigel Mansell... unlikely - his build is all wrong compared to stig, and as for Mark Webber, no way, he's mahoosively tall.
wisewood
05-03-07, 08:40 AM
i always thought it was mike hartley?
No, his brother, J.R Hartley.
Matt2107
05-03-07, 11:04 AM
tbh who cares....
exactly... his identity should never be known... otherwise they might lose the "stig" section from the show altogether.
the show is losing itself anyway lol.
Matt2107
05-03-07, 11:15 AM
the show is losing itself anyway lol.
The tasks are hilarious but I think they're putting too much emphasis on them and not enough reporting about cars.
I have to laugh, a show with Jeremy Clarkson in and you expected them to report about cars. Jeremy Clarkson programs are about Jeremy Clarkson...unfortunately. Fifth gear is leagues better, shame in the latest series they seam to be going the same way as top gear.
Matt2107
05-03-07, 12:31 PM
I have to laugh, a show with Jeremy Clarkson in and you expected them to report about cars. Jeremy Clarkson programs are about Jeremy Clarkson...unfortunately. Fifth gear is leagues better, shame in the latest series they seam to be going the same way as top gear.
Jeremy Clarkson does report about cars... in the way the public want to hear it. If you really want a proper report with real statistics then go take a test drive.
wisewood
05-03-07, 12:33 PM
They dont review anywhere near enough cars anymore. Comparing a batch of hatchbacks and saloons etc a couple of times per series would be a big help - they could even do it with silly tests to make it entertaining. Just saying ooooh this super car is slower than that hyper car each week is boring me now.
It's certainly changed a lot, though now i'm never sure if i'm watching Top Gear or Scrapheap Challenge.
wisewood
05-03-07, 01:27 PM
lollol
The original "black stig" who was "killed off" in the top gear jag into the sea was actually former racing driver Perry McCarthy.
http://www.arup.com/dyna/conference/images/mccarthy.jpg
The identity of the current stig is unknown. One thing is certain though, it's highly unlikely to be a CURRENT formula 1 driver, as their team would be unlikely to allow them to partake in something like that for insurance reasons etc.
Nigel Mansell... unlikely - his build is all wrong compared to stig, and as for Mark Webber, no way, he's mahoosively tall.
yep yep i agree i was just going to do a post on the stig LOL
look on wikipedia there a bit of info on the stigs apparently there have being a few stand ins
i think its cartoon head from ideal
This isn't much to go on really but my mum was watching daytime TV during a lunch breack last week and she saw an interview with the current Stig. Unfortunately she she ca't remember his name but apparantly he is well into his 60s.
apparantly he is well into his 60s.
and ive never seen clarkson and the stig in the same room at the same ime ???
You'll probably find there's more than one person who plays the Stig at any one time, especially if they use currently active racing drivers. Part of the reason why they keep his identity a mystery is so they can chop and change the driver depending on who's available at the time.
Its also likely that some manufacturers will only let Top Gear take a car round the track on the condition that one of the manufacturer's own testers drives it.
wisewood
06-03-07, 09:58 AM
RJ has a point. By donning the stig uniform they can have anyone driving that car around the track, and give the impression of fairness because its the same track being driven by the same driver - only variable different is the car, therefor its an accurate record of how that car compares to others.
It's a simple fact that if you watch the "power laps" that the stig does, the line taken into the corners is not always the same, and i'm sure the same driver would always try and stick as close to his preferred line as possible.
Sick_Grave
06-03-07, 04:54 PM
who do people think the stig from top gear really is? i rekon nigel mansel
Yer Mansell might be the Stig, The BIG Stig! He's waaaaaaay to porkey now-a-days didn't they have to widen his single seater in the Grand Prix Masters series!? lol
I agree with Razorjack as the car tested is more than often different to the one in the studio, i.e testing times when the manufacturer's own test driver is avalible!?
Yer Mansell might be the Stig, The BIG Stig! He's waaaaaaay to porkey now-a-days didn't they have to widen his single seater in the Grand Prix Masters series!? lol
I agree with Razorjack as the car tested is more than often different to the one in the studio, i.e testing times when the manufacturer's own test driver is avalible!?
U usually have a test car (for te track) and a display car (for the studio). Test car might be rough to look at and well run in, display car is brand new, probably delivered on a transporter..
When they test drove the Golf GTI and the R32,, The cars that Clarkson/stig managed to beat the manufacturers 0-60 were both over-20,000 mile run-in "press fleet" cars that also have no spare wheel or tool kits,less sound deadening and about ?3 worth of fuel in them when on the track!!!!
They dont review anywhere near enough cars anymore. Comparing a batch of hatchbacks and saloons etc a couple of times per series would be a big help - they could even do it with silly tests to make it entertaining. Just saying ooooh this super car is slower than that hyper car each week is boring me now.
I wouldn't take ay notice of anyone elses opinions when buying a car anyway (Obviously-who'd recommend a NOVA!??!!) so reviewing attainable cars is pretty pointless. I only watch it for the cars I don't have access to like Porsche 911 and ferrari etc.
kronk10
07-03-07, 08:53 PM
is it not the mclaren formula 1 test driver? id love ta see the stig give a nova a blast roung a track!
They wouldnt do it mainly because jeremy clarkson hates novas he really really cant stand them:mad:. Woudlnt be him driving it though so a really well done nova would be cool round the track:thumb:
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