#Michael che plus tip joke driver#

#Michael che plus tip joke driver#

Ĭlarkson and Wilman wanted to have a professional racing driver as part of the show's cast, but ran into difficulty finding a driver sufficiently adept at speaking on-camera. Clarkson is credited with having come up with the original idea for the Stig. The relaunched show introduced a live studio audience, the Stig, a racetrack, and madcap stunts. The idea for the character was part of former host Jeremy Clarkson and former producer Andy Wilman's concept for the relaunched Top Gear show, bringing a new format to the original version of Top Gear which ceased production in 2001. In series 16, debuting in December 2010, Collins was replaced by a second White Stig, whose identity has so far remained secret. In the hiatus following series 15, racing driver Ben Collins was revealed to be the Stig in a court battle over Collins' impending autobiography, titled The Man in the White Suit. In series 13 episode 1, the show jokingly unmasked the Stig as seven-time world champion F1 driver Michael Schumacher. The black-suited Stig was subsequently 'killed off' that October in the series 3 premiere, and replaced in the following episode by a new White Stig who lasted through to the end of series 15. The identity of the original 'Black' Stig, Perry McCarthy, was exposed by a Sunday newspaper in January 2003, and confirmed by McCarthy later that year. Previously, he would also instruct celebrity guests, off-camera, for the show's ' Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment. The Stig's primary role is setting lap times for cars tested on the show. Created by former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman, the character is a play on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, with the running joke that nobody knows who or what is inside the Stig's racing suit.

The Stig is a character from the British motoring television show Top Gear. Test driver and trainer for celebrity guests The Stig costume on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu