Eight drivers play 'The Stig' - report

MAN OF MANY FACES: Up to eight different people play Top Gear's mythical stunt driver The Stig, according to reports.

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The mystery surrounding the identity of Top Gear's mythical test-driver "The Stig" has been shattered - and it may be more shocking then first thought.

British newspaper The Daily Mail reported the BBC employed eight different drivers to play the legendary character for the popular motoring show.

The new revelations come a week after a report claimed to have unearthed the identity of The Stig as Ben Collins, a Bristol-based former American speedway driver and stuntman.

Further investigations by the newspaper revealed the identity of seven of the eight men believed to play the white-racing-suit clad driver.

The names will make surprising reading for fans:

-Heikki Kovalainen, 27, a Finnish Formula One McLaren driver.
-Chris Goodwin, 41, former GT world championship driver.
-Julian Bailey,47, a former Formula One racing driver.
-English stunt driver Terry Grant.
-Stunt driver Russ Swift.
-Former stuntman Ben Collins. 
-Dan Lang, a Swedish snow mobile racing champion.

The eighth driver, who revealed the identities of the numerous Stigs, wished to remain anonymous.

An inside source from Top Gear said The Stig’s multiple identities could be easily spotted if people studied the ever-changing height and build of the character from episode to episode.

"In some he looks a lot taller than others. People have become obsessed with finding who The Stig is but they have not considered that it is possible that it is more than one person.

"The simple fact of the matter is that there are currently a number of Stigs who drive on the test track," he told the Mail.

The source added there was frustration at the repeated attempts to identify the mystery driver.

"We love to have the mystery around who he is. I just wish people would give it a rest, it's like telling people there is no Father Christmas."

A BBC spokesman said: "We never comment on speculation as to whom or what the Stig is."

- © Fairfax NZ News