[apatN]

Turns out it was Schumi! Or maybe not?

Quote:

The Stig, a mystery driver who tests high-performance cars on Top Gear, has been "revealed" as Michael Schumacher. The seven-times Formula 1 champion dressed as the show's famous driver and removed his helmet during an interview with presenter Jeremy Clarkson. However, an appalling driving performance by Schumacher at the end of the show cast doubt on the "revelation". Clarkson told viewers: "I don't think Michael Schumacher is the Stig". The presenter had earlier revealed in his column in the Sun that Stig's identity would be a "staggering surprise" to viewers. "As a television moment, it's up there with Neil Armstrong walking on the... corpse of JR Ewing," he added. Earlier, a BBC spokesman said: "As Jeremy said, in tonight's Top Gear Stig will remove his helmet for the first time." After the show a BBC spokeswoman could not confirm whether or not Schumacher was the genuine Stig, or a stunt to mark the first episode of a new series of Top Gear. But she added: "You have to bear in mind that Top Gear is an entertainment programme." Perry McCarthy, a former Formula 1 driver, was the original Stig, wearing black overalls for his appearances. He was replaced with a new Stig, dressed in white, after he had revealed his identity in his 2002 autobiography.

Unfortunately I haven't seen the whole show yet. Clearly, Michael Schumacher is sitting there revealing himself as the Stig but it might be just a publicity stunt. Anyone seen it already?

Anyway, if Schumi really is the Stig... Could this be the end of the 'white' Stig? It is possible that there is going to be a new Stig....

 

[nsx_23]

I don't think Schumacher is the stig. Clarkson hinted that at the end of the show.

 

[KONAKONA]

The stig is obviously multiple people, wasen't schumacher still doing F1 back when they killed off black stig?

Plus there is that dutch video of the stig having a british accent.

In any case, the FXX better be removed next week or I want to see a F50 GT go around there and put the FXX in it's place.

 

[J-Pak]

The question remains, who is Big Stig?

 

[Rhinosaur]

I don't think Schumacher is the actual Stig, I'm pretty sure it was a joke. I wonder if it was him driving the FXX though - I wouldn't be surprised if Ferrari didn't trust anyone who didn't work for Ferrari to take their £1m car around the track. His track in the Liana was funny, but I wish he'd done it properly, it would have been interesting to see how he did.

 

[4heckssake]

Elvis maybe?

 

[tot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhinosaur /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wonder if it was him driving the FXX though

I am pretty sure he was there to drive the FXX. They have done similar things before, like Kovalainen being the Stig when Renault F1 was on the track.

 

[nsx_23]

The FXX can only driven by the people who actually paid the money and signed a contract with Ferrari. The car is kept at the factory, and they will bring it to a track when you want to drive it but otherwise you don't really "keep" it as such.

That black FXX is Schumacher's own car. His is the only one in black without racing stripes and a matte finish on the exhaust amongst other things. They had to have him drive it as Ferrari will not lend it to anyone else.

 

[krmathis]

I really do not think so!
Pretty sure this is just a stunt against all those rumors who have been running around the last years.

 

[SleepyOne]

Technically they are correct, he is 'The Stig' - as he drove his FXX for the show - but just one of many.

 

[fordgtlover]

The identity of the Stig has been out for a few years now... but only for those who want to know

****Spoiler alert**** (highlight the text below for the name and the proof).
Ben Collins is the Stig. He was named in the UK's Health & Safety Executive (HSE) 2007 report into Richard Hammond's crash as someone "who worked closely with Top Gear as "a high performance driver and consultant". Here's a link to the report - www.hse.gov.uk/foi/releases/richardhammond.pdf

 

[crazyjeeper]

The Stig is whoever they need to perform the task. They have a regular Stig which is mentioned above. When they drove the Renault F1 car, they had one of their drivers dressed as the Stig, same deal with the Snowmobile jump at the winter Olympics.

 

[omegaman]

I've also read that the Ferrari was Shu'is personal car. At £1m I'm pretty sure he would not lend it to any other stig !!!!!!!!

Here is the unavailing

+ YouTube Video​

ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.

and the AMAZING lap

+ YouTube Video​

ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordgtlover /img/forum/go_quote.gif The identity of the Stig has been out for a few years now... but only for those who want to know

Yeah, but again the logical conclusion is that there are many drivers who are the stig, each brought on for a particular stunt, so the particular stig present at the time of the accident is not necessarily "the main" stig that they use for regular hot laps.

Nice to see so many other TG fans on here though

 

[stewtheking]

The thing that got me about the episode (ignoring all of the stig-wise hilarity) was that the hot lap in the FXX should clearly NOT have gone on the hot lap board. If the caparo t1 had to come off for not being able to clear a sleeping policeman, then the FXX should also.

Ho hum, maybe they just didn't want to upset Schumacher.