British Top Gear’s The Stig flew into Australia and put his driving skills to the test.
British Top Gear?s tame racer, The Stig, is the newest fan of V8 Supercar Team Red.
The superstar stunt and speed driver for Top Gear television made a flying visit to Australia last month and put his skills to the test when he jumped into Garth Tander's V8 Supercar.
He was an instant convert to the Holden Racing Team, running hot laps during an open test at Winton in Victoria.
"Having been chewed up and spat out the other side at Winton, I feel a great respect for the cars and the way the drivers race them," says The Stig.
Except . . .
The driver in the racer red Commodore at Winton was officially only Ben Collins, a one-time Formula Three hotshot in Britain.
And his words of praise, published in motorsport bible Autosport, were reported under Collins' name.
But everyone in the motor world knows Collins was outed on January 19 as The Stig by the Daily Telegraph newspaper in England. It reported his work on the top rating television show in a move which lead to the apparent 'death' of The White Stig at the end of the current series of Top Gear.
"We can only say that Garth's car was driven by Ben Collins," says a Holden motorsport spokesman.
Even, so the Collins-Stig's assessment of the VE racer is full of praise - and respect.
"The V8 Supercar is unique: if you step in with your own agenda it will bit your ass!," Collins says.
And the final assessment?
"V8s are, indeed, 'Super' racing cars. Not just for the competitors but the spectators too."
