Ben Collins (racing driver)

Collins has appeared on the popular BBC television programme Top Gear as himself,[23] with his company providing drivers and driving services since December 2003.[17] In Series 2 Episode 10, Collins appeared as one member of BBC Top Gear-team in the 24-hour Citroën 2CV racing event. The team finished thirteenth, out of thirty four cars, 24 laps behind the leaders, with Collins setting the fastest lap.

In 2004, Collins made an appearance during the fourth series of Top Gear, alongside parachutist Tim Carter.[24] The stunt involved Carter and an aerial cameraman jumping out of a Cessna light aircraft then landing in the open-topped Mercedes car being driven at a speed by Collins.[25] The open-top car was introduced as belonging to Collins and had earlier been used, driven by The Stig, during a wig test in Series 3 Episode 5.

In 2004, the driver featured during series five, driving a Lancer Evo VII and then a Bowler Wildcat vehicle in a rally race against mountain boarding world champion Tom Kirkman[25][26][27]

At the start of series six, Collins appeared with other British Touring Car Championship racing and stunt drivers for a Five-a-side football game using a fleet of Toyota Aygo cars.[25] Collins played in a team captained by Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. The other drivers were Paul Swift, Tim Harvey and Tom Chilton (blue team); playing against James May, Russ Swift, Matt Neal, Dan Eaves and Rob Huff (red team).

Collins could be seen driving the Honda Civic Type-R against Jeremy Clarkson in Episode 6 of Series 10.[28]

The sixth episode of series seventeen of Top Gear featured a team of amputee soldiers training driving a Bowler Wildcat and being trained by Collins to take part in the Dakar Rally.[29]

Collins also appeared in the Top Gear Special, '50 Years of Bond Cars', on the set of Skyfall. Collins, who worked as a stunt driver on the film was interviewed by Richard Hammond.

On a separate occasion, following an accident involving Richard Hammond in September 2006, the Health & Safety Executive report into the event recorded that Collins had "worked closely with Top Gear as a high-performance driver and consultant" and had prepared a briefing for Richard Hammond preceding the event.[30]

The Stig

On 19 January 2009, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran a story claiming that they had "outed" Collins as being one of the people behind the white-suit incarnation of The Stig, at the same time noting that "Collins, from Bristol, has always denied being the Stig".[3]

The Times, in a follow-up article, stated that the "identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme" which concluded that "a newspaper broke with the convention to out Mr Collins, 33, after following up a story in a Bristol newspaper".[4] Similar allegations were repeated by The Sunday Times during August 2010.

Two Bristol-based local newspapers had published articles a week before The Times in January 2009, on the basis of information leaked from a local art gallery. Collins had previously commissioned a Clifton-based business in September 2008, to produce a limited-edition run of poster prints.[31] Collins had initially portrayed himself as a BBC marketing executive[31] and only confirmed a more detailed connection to the Top Gear show after the signing of confidentiality agreements by the business owners.[31][32] The signed poster image showed a salt flat scene, with The Stig positioned standing on it.[25][32]

However, at the time Top Gear presenter James May claimed that the Stig's identity had not been outed. There had been speculation that there may have been more than one person who plays the Stig.[33]

During August to September 2010 the BBC started legal proceedings against Harper Collins, with the BBC attempting to obtain a High Court injunction to prevent the publishing of a book entitled The Man in The White Suit, apparently authored by Collins. The injunction was quashed by the High Court, allowing the possibility of the book being published on its intended release date of 16 September 2010 in the United Kingdom and 1 October 2010 in Australia.[34]

In an exclusive interview with WitneyTV recorded on 3 September 2010 and broadcast on 7 September 2010, Top Gear-presenter Jeremy Clarkson confirmed that Collins had worked as The Stig, and that Collins was "history as far as we're concerned, he's sacked".[35] On 7/8 September 2010, The Guardian, The Sun and other papers re-reported Clarkson's assertions in the interview that Collins had been fired from his role on the television show.[36]

In the fifteenth series Christmas special, Top Gear presenters referred to the Stig as "The Splitter" and publicly ridiculed the Stig, using the picture of the Stig for drive-by shooting targets.

During Collins' appearance with the military amputees broadcast in July 2011, Collins was introduced and acknowledged by Top Gear-presenter Richard Hammond as "ex-Stig ... Ben Collins".[29] Though Hammond still referred to Collins as a "romantic novelist", he said that "to be honest, [he was] quite glad to see 'the old Splitter' back, and [he does] know how much giving these guys a hand means to him. So this is all right."

In his appearance in the Top Gear Special, '50 Years of Bond Cars', Collins was wearing a T-shirt on which was printed the words, "I AM THE STIG." Richard Hammond, (who interviewed Collins) reacted, saying to him, "Nice T-shirt by the way." Collins admitted that he needs to "update that a bit", pointing to the word "AM", to which Hammond exclaimed, "Was." After hearing about some of what Collins had been doing for the film, Hammond remarked, "You should write a book."

Collins joined the presenting staff of Channel 5's Fifth Gear in Series 18, participating in racing challenges on several occasions. He did not return to the cast for Series 19.

Following his departure from Top Gear, Collins has subsequently appeared on the "Top Gear Live" touring show. He appeared onstage in a show in Poland and also served as a racing driver for at least one pre-recorded clip.[37] Introducing him, Clarkson joked Collins' was "living rough", in a racing track paddock, as Collins was shown to be sleeping on cardboard with a shopping trolley with books and Daniel Craig face cuttouts for his possessions. Collins' role was identical to his previous one as the Stig, except wearing an open face helmet and he was referred to as "The Ben Collins" by Clarkson. He has written a second book, How To Drive: The Ultimate Guide, from the Man Who Was The Stig, published in 2014.

Collins served as a consultant during the development of Project CARS[38] and Project CARS 2.[39]

In 2007 Collins started a career as a stunt driver in the Nicolas Cage movie National Treasure 2. This followed by multiple films for the James Bond franchise[40] and other blockbusters including The Dark Knight Rises, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Jack Ryan, and Mission Impossible. He had a dual role as a stunt driver and actor in Ford v Ferrari / Le Mans '66 in the role of Denny Hulme.[41]