There are many great mysteries in life.
Why does the Universe exist? How will it end, if it will end at all? Is time travel really possible? What happened to the Princes in the Tower?
But the most important question of all is: Who (or even what) is the Stig?
The Stig is one of the stars of the cult BBC motoring show Top Gear, alongside Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. But we never see Stig's face as it is always hidden behind a racing helmet. He never even speaks! In fact, his identity his such a closely-guarded secret that the BBC is even taking legal action to prevent him from publishing his autobiography.
But now his identity may have been revealed: 35-year-old Ben Collins from Bristol.
The accounts of Collins Autosport, the driver's company, show he established an important commercial relationship with Top Gear at the same time as the new white-clad Stig appeared on our screens, replacing the original 'black' Stig.
Top Gear previously had a black Stig until November 2003, when he was replaced by the current white Stig.
The Stig's duties on the show are to post Power Lap times in various cars around the Top Gear Test Track in Dunsfold Park, Surrey and to train each week's celebrity guest in setting a lap time in the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" feature on the show.
Top Gear is one of the BBC's most popular shows and has a worldwide audience of 350 million. There have been 641 episodes since it first appeared on screens in 1977 (with a hiatus between 2001 and 2002).
The Stig unmasked... by his own company accounts
By Sophie Freeman
22nd August 2010
Daily Mail
The true identity of The Stig has been a closely-guarded secret for the last seven years - so much so that the BBC is currently taking legal action to prevent the Top Gear star publishing his autobiography.
But the Corporation's defensive bid to silence The Stig - as revealed by The Mail last week - appears to have intensified attempts to unmask him once and for all.
New evidence has been unearthed which appears to prove that the TV racing driver is in fact Ben Collins, a 35-year-old from Bristol.
Although Mr Collins' name has been suggested before, it is only now that company documents have been unearthed which link him to the TV role.
Unmasked: Top Gear star The Stig earlier this month with special guests Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise, who appeared on the show's "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" hours before they attended the premiere of their new movie Knight and Day in London's Leicester Square. The Stig's true identity has been revealed as Ben Collins
The accounts of Collins Autosport, the driver's company, show he established an important commercial relationship with Top Gear at the same time as the new white-clad Stig appeared on our screens, replacing the original 'black' Stig.
According to The Sunday Times, the accounts reveal that in December 2003, a month after the new Stig's first appearance, the firm recorded a 'cornerstone year'.
Out of character: Ben Collins, as he looks without his helmet and visor
This was partly down to 'driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear programme', according to the report.
Tellingly, the directors indicated that the work consisted of more than just the occasional stunt, reporting that it 'offers good long-term prospects for continuing income'.
When contacted by the newspaper, Mr Collins evaded the question of him being the true Stig.
'I can't speak to you, I'm going into a tunnel,' he said.
The Stig's name is derived from the nickname "Stig" given to new boys at Repton School in Derbyshire where presenter Jeremy Clarkson attended with Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman. A proposed name for The Stig was originally "The Gimp" until protests from former Formula 1 star Perry McCarthy (the first Stig) put a stop to the idea.
Later calls were diverted to an answerphone.
The Daily Mail revealed last week that the BBC is so desperate to stop The Stig revealing his identity that it has called in the lawyers.
They have warned him that publication would breach his 'contractual' and 'confidentiality' obligations to the programme.
It is understood that publishers representing the racing driver have hit back with their own legal letters, raising the prospect of an embarrassing court battle.
Insiders fear the Corporation will end up axing the driver over the dispute, which has said to have deeply upset the show's frontman Jeremy Clarkson.
Team: The Stig with Top Gear presenters, from left, Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson. The BBC is trying to stop The Stig revealing his true identity in an autobiography
Others have suggested The Stig may quit over the stand-off.
A BBC spokesman told Mail Online: 'It's no surprise that Ben Collins' company accounts show that he was driving for Top Gear as he has appeared on the programme as himself, for example in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge.
'Ben supplies his services as a driver himself and his company also supplies other drivers.
'There is nothing to be read into in these company documents.
'We won't be saying who, or what, The Stig is.'
dailymail.co.uk
Why does the Universe exist? How will it end, if it will end at all? Is time travel really possible? What happened to the Princes in the Tower?
But the most important question of all is: Who (or even what) is the Stig?
The Stig is one of the stars of the cult BBC motoring show Top Gear, alongside Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. But we never see Stig's face as it is always hidden behind a racing helmet. He never even speaks! In fact, his identity his such a closely-guarded secret that the BBC is even taking legal action to prevent him from publishing his autobiography.
But now his identity may have been revealed: 35-year-old Ben Collins from Bristol.
The accounts of Collins Autosport, the driver's company, show he established an important commercial relationship with Top Gear at the same time as the new white-clad Stig appeared on our screens, replacing the original 'black' Stig.
Top Gear previously had a black Stig until November 2003, when he was replaced by the current white Stig.
The Stig's duties on the show are to post Power Lap times in various cars around the Top Gear Test Track in Dunsfold Park, Surrey and to train each week's celebrity guest in setting a lap time in the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" feature on the show.
Top Gear is one of the BBC's most popular shows and has a worldwide audience of 350 million. There have been 641 episodes since it first appeared on screens in 1977 (with a hiatus between 2001 and 2002).
The Stig unmasked... by his own company accounts
By Sophie Freeman
22nd August 2010
Daily Mail
The true identity of The Stig has been a closely-guarded secret for the last seven years - so much so that the BBC is currently taking legal action to prevent the Top Gear star publishing his autobiography.
But the Corporation's defensive bid to silence The Stig - as revealed by The Mail last week - appears to have intensified attempts to unmask him once and for all.
New evidence has been unearthed which appears to prove that the TV racing driver is in fact Ben Collins, a 35-year-old from Bristol.
Although Mr Collins' name has been suggested before, it is only now that company documents have been unearthed which link him to the TV role.
Unmasked: Top Gear star The Stig earlier this month with special guests Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise, who appeared on the show's "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" hours before they attended the premiere of their new movie Knight and Day in London's Leicester Square. The Stig's true identity has been revealed as Ben Collins
The accounts of Collins Autosport, the driver's company, show he established an important commercial relationship with Top Gear at the same time as the new white-clad Stig appeared on our screens, replacing the original 'black' Stig.
According to The Sunday Times, the accounts reveal that in December 2003, a month after the new Stig's first appearance, the firm recorded a 'cornerstone year'.
Out of character: Ben Collins, as he looks without his helmet and visor
This was partly down to 'driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear programme', according to the report.
Tellingly, the directors indicated that the work consisted of more than just the occasional stunt, reporting that it 'offers good long-term prospects for continuing income'.
When contacted by the newspaper, Mr Collins evaded the question of him being the true Stig.
'I can't speak to you, I'm going into a tunnel,' he said.
The Stig's name is derived from the nickname "Stig" given to new boys at Repton School in Derbyshire where presenter Jeremy Clarkson attended with Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman. A proposed name for The Stig was originally "The Gimp" until protests from former Formula 1 star Perry McCarthy (the first Stig) put a stop to the idea.
Later calls were diverted to an answerphone.
The Daily Mail revealed last week that the BBC is so desperate to stop The Stig revealing his identity that it has called in the lawyers.
They have warned him that publication would breach his 'contractual' and 'confidentiality' obligations to the programme.
It is understood that publishers representing the racing driver have hit back with their own legal letters, raising the prospect of an embarrassing court battle.
Insiders fear the Corporation will end up axing the driver over the dispute, which has said to have deeply upset the show's frontman Jeremy Clarkson.
Team: The Stig with Top Gear presenters, from left, Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson. The BBC is trying to stop The Stig revealing his true identity in an autobiography
Others have suggested The Stig may quit over the stand-off.
A BBC spokesman told Mail Online: 'It's no surprise that Ben Collins' company accounts show that he was driving for Top Gear as he has appeared on the programme as himself, for example in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge.
'Ben supplies his services as a driver himself and his company also supplies other drivers.
'There is nothing to be read into in these company documents.
'We won't be saying who, or what, The Stig is.'
dailymail.co.uk
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