Benjamin Lievesley Immi Collins (born 13 February 1975)[1][2] is a British racing driver from Bristol. He has competed in motor racing since 1994 in many categories, from Formula Three and Indy Lights to sportscars, GT racing and stock cars.
Collins was placed second in the Marlboro Masters Formula 3 championship event in 2000. He was the fastest driver at the 2001 Le Mans 24 hours race for approximately four hours during the rain at night in his debut at the event.[3] After winning the European Stock Car Championship in 2003 ASCARstock car racing he was signed by PDM Racing to do selected rounds of the 2004 Indy Racing League, but the car never appeared. In 2005, he competed in the British GT Championship in a Porsche 996 GT3, winning races on the way before moving up to the FIA GT Series with Ascari where he led races and scored several pole positions.
In August 2010, The Sunday Times alleged that Collins may be one of the identities of the Stig—an otherwise unidentified presenter on the Top Gear show—on the basis of financial filing made by the Collins Autosport company.[6] On 1 September 2010 the BBC was refused a court injunction preventing Collins from publishing an autobiography revealing himself to be the Stig.[7] On 1 October 2010, it was announced that Collins would join Fifth Gear as a presenter.[8] In 2012 Collins joined as co-presenter of Polish TVN's Automaniak.[9] In February 2014, he was added to the 'Drivers Club' of the newly formed Formula E series, but did not compete in the inaugural 2014–15 season.[10]
Personal life
Collins was born in Bristol, but spent the first ten years of his life in California in the US, where his father worked for a distribution company. Collins attended Blundell's School and after studying law at the University of Exeter, he spent around four years serving in the British Army, serving some of his time as a Special Forces driving instructor.[11][12] His racing career started in 1994.[11] He worked for Hornby as brand manager of the Scalextric model slot car division.[11][13]As of 2010[update] Collins continued to live in Bristol.[14] Collins is a talented pipe organist and plays at Cairns Road Baptist church Bristol.[citation needed]
Racing
Ben Collins driving the No.84 car in the 2003 European SCSA
Collins has competed in motorsport since 1994.[15] In 1995 he competed in Formula Vauxhall Junior, finishing third overall with two wins and eight podiums. He also competed in the Formula Opel Winter Series, placing second overall driving for Sir Jackie Stewart who commented in Autosport Magazine, "When you see the likes of Ben Collins in Formula One, remember you saw them here first".[16] The following season he competed briefly in Formula Vauxhall for Martin Donnelly, scoring a 2nd-place finish in the opening round at Donington Park - Martin remarked that "Ben is an aggressive driver with phenomenal natural speed."
In 2003, Collins raced in the ASCAR European Oval racing series with RML, winning six races on his way to being crowned champion. He continued racing in the series in 2004.
Collins competed in the final meeting of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, driving a BMW for the Motorbase Performance team. He finished his first race in 14th and bettered that with a 12th in his second. However he retired in the third and he never returned the following season.
In 2021, Collins once again found himself behind a racing wheel as he took part in the Britcar Praga Championship alongside ex-SAS and Who Dares Wins star Jay Morton and Angus Fender. The pair drive the 85 car, nicknamed Blade. They're currently P7 in the championship on 114 points as of the cancelled meet at Brands Hatch in July.
In 2022, Collins took part in the inaugural season of the Praga Cup.
He also holds a World Record for the maximum distance of driving a car on two wheels (a manoeuvre called "skiing").[13]
Collins presented television programme Xtreme Teen Drivers,[13] shown on BBC Three on 15 December 2007; as an advanced driving instructor within the programme, he was trying to teach a young boy racer to drive more safely.
Collins has appeared on the BBC television programme Top Gear as himself,[25] with his company providing drivers and driving services since December 2003.[19] In Series2 Episode10, 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.[26] The stunt involved Carter and an aerial cameraman jumping out of a Cessna light aircraft then landing in the open-toppedMercedes car being driven at a speed by Collins.[27] The open-top car was introduced as belonging to Collins and had earlier been used, driven by The Stig, during a wig test in Series3 Episode5.
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.[31]
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.[32]
The Stig
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".[4]
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".[5] 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.[33] Collins had initially portrayed himself as a BBC marketing executive[33] and only confirmed a more detailed connection to the Top Gear show after the signing of confidentiality agreements by the business owners.[33][34] The signed poster image showed a salt flat scene, with The Stig positioned standing on it.[27][34]
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.[35]
During August to September 2010, the BBC started legal proceedings against Harper Collins, with the BBC attempting to obtain a High Courtinjunction 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.[36]
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".[37] On 7/8 September 2010, The Guardian and other papers re-reported Clarkson's assertions in the interview that Collins had been fired from his role on the television show.[38]
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".[31] 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."
Fifth Gear
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.
Other work
Following his departure from Top Gear, Collins has subsequently appeared in the "Clarkson, Hammond & May Live" touring show, where he served as a racing driver in a pre-recorded segment[39] 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.
Since 2022, Collins currently serves as co-host of the DriveTribe YouTube channel, alongside main hosts Mike Fernie, Richard Hammond, and his daughter, Izzy Hammond.[44]
He also runs 2 YouTube channels of his own, Ben Collins Drives and Ben Collins Gaming, with the former being an automotive channel, and the latter being a channel focused on sim racing.[45][46]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position– 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap– 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap– 1 point given all races)
† Collins was not given a final championship position.
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1 2 3 "Who is the Stig? The answer". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 19 January 2009. Archived from the original on 21 January 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009. Top Gear test driver the Stig has been unmasked as professional stuntman and Le Mans racer Ben Collins.
↑ ""National Treasure 2" AKA "National Treasure: Book of Secrets"". Wild about Movies. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009. a contraption actually mounted on the roof of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicle which allowed famed British driver Ben Collins the ability to do the actual driving, while Turteltaub and cinematographer John Schwartzman shot Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger and Justin Bartha inside of the vehicle
↑ "Terms and Conditions". Nissan Motor GB Ltd and BBC Magazines Limited Joint Promotion. BBC Magazines Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010. 21. Ben Collins Auto-sport has third party and public liability insurance cover for all of its operation
↑ "HarperCollins in Top Gear Stig legal wrangle". BBC News. 23 August 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010. appeared numerous times on the programme and he often supplied other drivers for both the programme and Top Gear Live.
↑ "Jeremy Clarkson interview". WitneyTV (Video interview). Series 01. Episode 17. 7 September 2010. 26:56–29:10 minutes in. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. he's history as far as we're concerned, he's sacked
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