Trackside - Who is the Stig?

With BBC’s Top Gear returning to our screens this weekend, Auto Trader is kicking off Top Gear week by tackling the biggest mystery in motoring: Who is the Stig?

Last week, stunt driver Russ Swift hinted that it could be him – and bookmaker William Hill rank him as 2/1 favourite. Trackside’s Keith Collantine surveys the field.

What do we know about the Stig?

Top Gear appearances suggest the Stig is male and of average build, with eclectic musical tastes.

But theories abound there are actually multiple Stigs. Could there be more than one man behind the mask? Let’s find out.

Russ Swift

Pros: If there are two Stigs, then Russ Swift must be one of them. No-one is better equipped to pull off the Stig’s dangerous tricks than this holder of multiple stunt driving records.

We put the question to him last week and his response was: “No comment. What we... (laughs) what Top Gear like about the Stig is the fact that nobody knows who it is. It is not one person.”

Cons: He spends a lot of time out of the country making international motor show appearances.

But that hasn’t stopped him working for Top Gear in the past – he taught three grannies how to do doughnuts…

William Hill odds: 2/1

Damon Hill

Pros: Russ Swift said last week, “A lot of people think the Stig is Damon Hill.” Indeed only two weeks ago a fan asked Hill whether he was the Stig at the Autosport International show.

Hill cryptically replied: "I am not the Stig. But then, only the true Messiah denies his divinity."

Cons: Devious word-play aside, Hill is surely too busy to be the Stig.

As President of the British Racing Drivers Club, Hill is preoccupied with a struggle against F1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone to keep the British Grand Prix on the F1 calendar. Plus he runs a supercar rental business.

But none of that has stopped him being one of the most popular picks as the real Stig.

William Hill odds: 4/1

Ben Collins

Pros: The first Stig was a relatively little-known racing driver so the current Stig probably is as well.

Ben Collins is one of those talented and under-rated racers and a particularly gifted wet-weather driver. His appearance on Top Gear as part of a parachuting stunt led to feverish speculation on the Internet that Collins is the real Stig.

Cons: At 1.87m in height (over six feet) he could be too tall for the Stig’s racing suit.

William Hill odds: 8/1

Jeremy Clarkson

Pros: It would be the ultimate conspiracy theory if the Stig were, in fact, Top Gear talisman Jeremy Clarkson.

Cons: Clarkson may be a speedophile par excellence, but his driving skills are more attuned to wild, tyre-smoking burnouts than the strict discipline of performance driving.

William Hill odds: 10/1

Tiff Needell

Pros: Like ex-Stig Perry McCarthy, Tiff Needell is a former racing driver.

He’s also a long-term member of the Top Gear stable - he presented on the original show in the ‘80s and ‘90s. And he appears alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond at the live MPH shows.

Cons: However, the Stig has also appeared at MPH at the same time as Needell. So they can’t be the same person – unless there really is more than one Stig…

William Hill odds: 14/1

Ellen MacArthur

Pros: The fastest celebrity to lap the Top Gear track in the old Suzuki Liana.

Cons: Although MacArthur clearly lacks nothing in driving skills or mental fortitude, her physical stature (female, short) and the Stig’s (male, tall) don’t match up.

Plus, given the enormous amount of time she spent circumnavigating the globe in a dolled-up dinghy, it’s doubtful that she could have met the filming commitments.

William Hill odds: 100/1

Do you know who the Stig is? If you have a theory about the man behind the mask, send it in to us!

Racing round-up

Germany's Nico Hulkenburg won both rounds of the A1 Grand Prix event in Taupo, New Zealand, extending their championship lead. Britain’s Robbie Kerr finished eighth in the sprint race but retired from the feature with mechanical failure.

Sebastien Loeb got his World Rally Championship title defence off to the best possible start in Monte Carlo. He won the rally on the debut of the new Citroen C4.

Stephane Peterhansel completed his ninth win in the Dakar rally, in a Mitsubishi Pajero. But the rally was struck by tragedy again this year as two motorcycle riders died in separate incidents.