There are a few great mysteries in this world: how did Mesolithic man build Stonehenge, what the heck happened to flight MH370 and who the hell played The Stig on Top Gear? Thankfully, that third one is much easier to answer and won’t lead you down a conspiracy theory nightmare full of aliens, monsters and government cover ups.
The Stig was a staple on “Top Gear” for most of its 20-year run on our screens. In that time, the Tame Racing Driver put in all kinds of incredible laps around the show’s test tracks in everything from a Koenigsegg CCX and a Ford Focus RS to an actual Formula One car.
By now, we know that it wasn’t the same Stig that set all of those lap times, most notably because there was Black Stig for the first two years and then a White Stig replaced it. But, did you know the iconic race suit was actually worn by three different drivers over The Stig’s 20-year sting on our televisions?
The first incarnation of The Stig appeared on our screens in 2002 and 2003. The Black Stig, as it’s known, was portrayed by British racing driver Perry McCarthy, who previously raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 1996 and 2003.
McCarthy donned the black race suit for two series of the hit show, but his cover as the Tame Racing Driver was blown by a British tabloid and his character was killed off. Black Stig was then replaced by the first White Stig, which was played by touring car racer Ben Collins.
Collins donned the suit for seven years, from 2003 up until 2010. During that time, there was even an episode where “Top Gear” promised to reveal the character’s true identity, but when the helmet was taken off it was seven-time Formula 1 world champion, Michael Schumacher.
Schumacher sadly wasn’t ever really the show’s Tame Racing Driver and after completing a lap of the “Top Gear” track, Clarkson even told the audience “I don’t think Michael Schumacher is The Stig.”
Fans didn’t have to wait long to find out who was actually under the mask, however, as the real identity of the character was revealed in 2010 when Collins elected to burst his own bubble. The racing driver wanted to release a book about his career, which identified him as The Stig, and this meant he was soon kicked off the show.
Collins was replaced by a second White Stig, and the identity of this driver remained secret for more than a decade.
Clarkson revealed the name of the third and final Tame Racing Driver during a Q&A at the British pub that he owns just last year. When asked about the identity of The Stig, Clarkson said: “The original Stig was Perry McCarthy, followed by Ben Collins, followed by Phil Keen. There isn’t a current ‘Top Gear’ so there isn’t a current Stig, but the last one was Phil Keen.”
Keen is yet another British racing driver, and he cut his teeth driving in series like British GT and the European Le Mans series. During his career, he won the British GT Championship in 2009 and picked up 24 race wins. Still, he might not be any quicker than Rubens Barrichello so does all that silverware really matter?
So, there you have it, The Stig was once Perry McCarthy, Ben Collins and Phil Keen. It was never really Michael Schumacher.