Posted on 09/01/2010 9:43:09 PM PDT by Stoat
EXCLUSIVE
Stig was SAS Hero
Ben trained SAS heroes in daring "escape and evade" driving skills while serving with the regiment, The Sun can reveal. RACING driver Ben Collins, unmasked yesterday as Top Gear mystery man The Stig, is a former member of the SAS.
No more mystery nice guy ... Ben Collins aka The Stig
Millions of viewers have seen the race ace coaching celebrities on how to achieve the fastest time around a TV circuit in Top Gear's reasonably-priced car. But sources close to the special forces unit - motto Who Dares Wins - last night told how he also passed on his expertise to British troops. And they revealed they had known his secret identity as The Stig ever since he landed the job on the BBC's flagship motoring show in 2003 - even though fans were in the dark.
Winning driver ... Ben Collins leaves court
Collins, 35, whose face was hidden from viewers by his race helmet's tinted visor, trained in hand-to-hand combat with the SAS before passing on his driving skills. He was axed from his TV role last night after winning a legal bid to reveal his identity by publishing his memoirs. Beeb bosses had claimed the stunt driver was bound by a confidentiality agreement and that revealing The Stig's true identity would ruin viewers' fun.
Behind you! ... Stig with Top Gear trio
But after a two-day private hearing at London's High Court, Mr Justice Morgan refused to grant an injunction which would stop publishers HarperCollins releasing The Man In The White Suit in two weeks. Insiders said sports car ace Collins, from Bristol, would be given the push when the series returns for its 16th series later this year. One said: "Bosses are livid. There's no way they'll welcome him back. "He's not a full-time employee, just contracted on a per-series basis, so it'll be easy not to renew his deal.
Badge of honour ... SAS emblem
Producers are still deciding whether to axe The Stig entirely or bring him back as someone else."
Collins, who replaced black-clad Stig Perry McCarthy, rushed from court at one point to visit wife Georgina who had just given birth to their third child Cassius. And with his TV identity finally made public last night, The Sun can detail his proud military past. Collins served as a member of the renowned 23 SAS, the regiment of highly-trained reservists. There, chiefs quickly began using him to pass on his driving skills.
There, chiefs quickly began using him to pass on his driving skills. One fellow SAS member said: "We've known he was The Stig all along - it has been a standing joke within the regiment. He worked as a course instructor in Hereford. "On the driving tracks he helped pass on his knowledge of high-speed escape and evade tactics." Sun security expert and former SAS legend Andy McNab said: "Having the best driving skills are a vital part of SAS training. They need to know how to use a vehicle as a form of escape and also a weapon. Weapon
Star pals ... Stig with Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise
"The SAS also need to know how to drive safely at high speeds, and that's where The Stig would come in handy. Anyone within the Regiment with the skills he has would have been seized on straight away." Only a handful of people on Top Gear knew the identity of The Stig - including hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Last night HarperCollins called the court ruling "a victory for freedom of speech", while a BBC spokeswoman said the Corporation had not ruled out pushing for damages.
Critics blasted the Beeb for spending tens of thousands of pounds of licence fee-payers' cash on the case.
MP Phillip Davies, a member of the House of Commons culture select committee, said: "I fully expected the BBC to lose the case. "Pursuing a case they have virtually no chance of winning is completely futile because his name was out there."
A Stig's Life
Ben Collins was born in Bristol but spent his first ten years in California where his dad worked.
He became a junior Olympic standard swimmer by the age of nine but at 18 launched his driving career in Formula Ford.
On his debut as Silverstone he clocked up a record time on his first lap.
Within four years he was in Formula 3.
Former World champ Sir Jackie Stewart tipped him as a future star.
In 2001 he raced at the Le Mans 24-hour classic - and for four hours, in the rain, was fastest in his class.
He has also driven in British ASCAR oval racing and in 2003 won six of 12 rounds.
In 2009 Ben became a driver for an Australian V8 Supercars team.
He was also a stuntman driving in 2008 Bond movie Quantum Of Solace.
2002 - BLACK-clad Stig starts on Top Gear. Under helmet is driver Perry McCarthy.
2003 - PERRY outs himself and black Stig is "killed off". White Stig replaces him.
2005 - RUMOURS over F1's Mark Webber after Clarkson gives him I Am Stig T-shirt.
2006 - EX-world F1 champ Damon Hill appears on show and jokes he may be Stig.
2008 - STIG collects Top Gear's National TV Award for best factual programme.
2009 - F1 star Michael Schumacher is "revealed" as Stig in a stunt by Clarkson.
2010 - THE Stig greets show's biggest ever guests - Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.
Rise of secret Top Gear racer
I saw that, but I don’t think that you can watch the show there.
It’s a copyrighted show and so I don’t believe that there’s ‘any’ online site where you can legally watch the entire show episodes for free, only snippets.
That being said, ‘some’ of the YouTube snippets are really quite lengthy and cover quite a bit of the show. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it might give you enough of a taste for what it’s all about to help you decide whether you might want to rent complete episodes from Netflix or from your neighborhood video store. :-)
I watch Top Gear on 'Dish.' My brother watches it on YouTube. I like the supercar road tests best of all. Some of those wacky contests are lame.
I watch Top Gear on 'Dish.' My brother watches it on YouTube. I like the supercar road tests best of all. Some of those wacky contests are lame.
Well, I'm an idiot and it looks like I've been proven wrong again. No, I hadn't Google'd it and one of the sites that appears among the top of the search using your suggested keywords certainly 'looks' legal and has complete episodes.
I'm not going to post a link to it here because I'm unsure of it's legality and posting a link to an illegal site will get a FR poster banned. It sure looks legit though....
duh @ me ;-)
No you're not. You're to hard on yourself. I actually meant to post to the thread, not you personally. I was trying to remind people how to use google. Not a shot at you at all. Please accept my appologies.
nice one thank you
I have heard about google, now where on youtube did you find the series for free?
No apology is necessary, no offense taken :-) I worded my response haphazardly and conveyed the wrong sentiments.
No worries :-)
You're quite welcome, and I'm delighted that you've found it to be worthwhile :-)
Clarkson is married with three kids. Richard Hammond is married with two kids. James May is unmarried, no kids, but is living with a long term “partner”.
Maybe, but last night on BBC America he got to go up in the second seat of a U2 out of Edwards AFB....:^)
Don't know how the BBC swung that one...
Don’t get me wrong, I love James May. I think all four presenters are great. Pity we are going to lose the Stig...
“James is not married, but has been dating the music journalist and dance critic Sarah Frater since 2000. He lives in a house without any stair carpet in Hammersmith, west London. His cat Fusker, was a gift from Richard Hammond’s wife, Mindy”
Jmaes May has had the same girlfriend for the past 9 years. I like Hammond but he is a bit too animated. Clarkson is insufferable. He is however a Manx man - from the Isle of Man like The Bee Gees and Dan Quayle’s family.
But that’s the point. The three have very different personalities, but they all have a love of internal combustion. I must admit I empathise with James May more than I do with Clarkson and definitiely more than I do with Hammond. But its the contrast with the other two that enables the character of each to be shown so much more fully. The way they bounce off each other is the reason for the show’s success.
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