After more than two decades, Jeremy Clarkson finally hung up his driving gloves after the final episode of ‘The Grand Tour’ aired on Amazon Prime. When the show’s finale aired last week, Clarkson hosted a viewing party at his British pub, where he shared a few secrets from the show and its predecessor, ‘Top Gear,’ including the identity of tame racing driver The Stig.
The Stig was a fixture of BBC show ‘Top Gear’ while it was presented by Clarkson alongside James May and Richard Hammond, and also featured in later incarnations with hosts like Matt Leblanc and Chris Harris.
Over the years, the tame racing driver was a personality embodied by several racing drivers, with the first two each revealing themselves while the show was still on air. First, Perry McCarthy donned the black helmet in 2002 and 2003 before his cover was blown by a British tabloid and the character was killed off.
From 2003, the white Stig appeared on our screens with touring car racer Ben Collins playing the man behind the mask for seven years. However, Collins elected to burst his own bubble when he wanted to release a book about his career and time at ‘Top Gear,’ so he was soon kicked off the show.
From 2010, another tame racing driver has filled the shoes of The Stig, covering episodes hosted by Clarkson and co as well as new ‘Top Gear’ hosts Harris, Paddy McGuinness and Freddie Flintoff. Now, Clarkson has revealed the true identity of the third incarnation of The Stig.
While speaking with a crowd at his British pub, Clarkson said “The original Stig was Perry McCarthy, followed by Ben Collins, followed by Phil Keen. There isn’t a current ‘Top Gear’ so there isn’t a current Stig, but the last one was Phil Keen.”
So, there you have it, from 2010 until the show’s last episode in 2022 The Stig was actually British GT racer Phil Keen.
In case that name isn’t familiar to you, let me give you a run through Keen’s credentials. Keen is regarded as the most successful driver in British GT history, having claimed 24 wins, 16 pole positions and a British GT Championship win in 2009.
The British racer has also taken on the European Le Mans Series, driving in the LMGT3 class in which he has so far picked up two top 10 finishes so far this year.
What this revelation means for Keen’s future in the role remains to be seen. However, as the show’s future was thrown into doubt following a serious crash involving host Flintoff in 2022, he may now be known as the final Stig.
