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Ben Collins (racing driver)

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Ben Collins driving the #84 car in the 2003 European SCSA championship

Ben Collins (born 13 February 1975[1]) is a former racing car driver from Bristol, England. He started his motorsport career in 1994, competing in Formula First and Formula Vauxhall Junior on his way to International Formula 3. He found success in Motor Sport in several branches ranging from Formula Three and Le Mans Sportscars to GT and NASCAR.

Collins was placed second in the Marlboro Masters world class Formula 3 championship event in 2000. He set the pace at the 2001 Le Mans 24 hours race in his first season for approximately four hours during the rain at night. After winning the European Stock Car Championship in 2003 ASCAR stock 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.

Racing

  • 1995 - Formula Vauxhall Jr: 3rd overall. 2 wins, 8 podiums. Collins was nominated for the BRDC Autosport driver of the year award.
  • 1995 - Formula Opel Winter Series: placed 2nd 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".
  • 1996 - 2000 Formula Three: 7 Wins, 2nd Marlboro Masters, 7th Macau Grand Prix. Indy Lights: 5 top Six finishes in Championship (2nd at Fontana by 0.001 sec). Formula Opel: 2nd opening round. Team mates included Takuma Sato, Scott Dixon, Brian Smith and Shingo Tachi. Teams included Fortec Motorsport, Carlin and Intersport.
  • 2001 - FIA World Sportscar Championship with Ascari (LMP1): 3rd overall - 1 Win, 3 Podiums - Fastest driver at Le Mans 2001 for four hours in rain. Team mate was Werner Lupberger.
  • 2002 – ALMS LMP1 (Ascari), Daytona 24 Hrs, 6th Sebring 12 Hrs. Ascar race: 3rd.
  • 2003 - ASCAR European Oval Champion with Ray Mallock Racing - Led every race to the pit-stop, 6 Wins, 3 Podiums, 6 Poles, 2 Laps Records at Rockingham and Lausitz Speedways (still standing), Nine Fastest Laps. Collins' points tally was a series record.
  • 2004 - Ascar Series with Team Turn Four: placed 4th overall (Missed 2 Rounds). 1 Win, 2 Pole Positions, 2 Fastest Laps. ASA Series round at Charlotte. British GT Round: 2nd (Corvette GT2)
  • 2005 - FIA/British GT Series with Embassy Racing: 3rd overall in Porsche RSR GT2 with 2 Wins, 4 Podiums. FIA GT 24-Hours of Spa: 5th overall. FIA GT Zuhai: Nissan GT2 (mechanicalDNF). Team mate was Neil Cunningham.
  • 2006 - FIA GT3 with Ascari: Led every race until driver change, Pole Position Mugello (by over 1 second). 3rd in FIA GT round at Silverstone. Competed in Le Mans Endurance Series in LMP1 category with Reynard (Nurburg) and carried out LMP1 testing duties for Zytek motorsport in addition to Formula One Testing with Ascari.
  • 2007 – FIA GT3 (Ascari): Pole Position at Romania where Collins was injured during an accident in Qualifying caused by a spinning car. Collins tested a Nascar Nextel Cup car at Lakeland Speedway with Red Bull Racing. Placed 1st & 3rd at Silverstone and conducted Testing in an LMP2 Radical
  • 2008 - American Le Mans Series with Eco Racing in an LMP1 radical with a diesel engine. The car failed to start at Sebring and was only seen again in racing form towards the latter part of the season.

Work

Collins has been a test driver for racing manufacturer Ascari during Ascari A10 development[2].

He began a role in Film Making as a precision-driver in the Nicholas Cage movie National Treasure 2 where he doubled for the actor and drove in some of the high speed sequences in London. As a precision-driver in the 2008 film Quantum of Solace, Collins drove James Bond's Aston Martin DBS as a stunt double for Daniel Craig in the title role.[3][4] He also holds a World Record for the maximum distance of driving a car on two wheels (a maneuver called "skiing").[4]

He is a regular writer for Autosport Magazine testing the latest Racing Cars, has written for The Sunday Times, fronted Sky Sports' televised NASCAR coverage, along with appearances on the British car-focused television programmes Top Gear (BBC Two), Pulling Power (ITV1) and driven (Channel 4).[4]

Collins presented television programme Xtreme Teen Drivers,[4] 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.

Top Gear appearances

Collins has appeared on the popular BBC television programme Top Gear.

In 2004, Ben Collins made an appearance during the fourth season of BBC Top Gear, alongside parachutist Tim Carter[5]. The stunt involved Carter and an aerial cameraman jumping out of a Cessna light aircraft then landing in the open-topped Mercedes car being driven at a speed by Collins.

In 2005, the driver featured during series five, driving a Lancer Evo VII and then a Bowler Wildcat vehicle in a rally race against mountain boarding world champion Tom Kirkman[6][7].

At the start of series six, Collins appeared with other British Touring Car Championship racing and stunt drivers for a Five-a-side football game using a fleet of Toyota Aygo cars. Collins played in a team captained by Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. The other drivers were Paul Swift, Tim Harvey and Tom Chilton (blue); playing against James May, Russ Swift, Matt Neal, Dan Eaves and Rob Huff (red).

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.[8]

Allegations of being "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-suited incarnation of the Stig, at the same time noting that "Collins, from Bristol, has always denied being The Stig".[3]

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".[9]

Two Bristol-based local newspapers had published articles a week earlier, on the basis of information leaked from a local art-gallery. Collins had previously commissioned a Clifton-based father and son business in September 2008, to produce a limited-edition run of 450 poster prints to be sold on at a price of £318 each.[10]. Collins had initially portrayed himself as a BBC marketing executive[10] and only confirmed a more detailed connection to the Top Gear character after the signing of confidentiality agreements by the business owners. [10] [11] The signed poster image showed a salt flat scene, with The Stig positioned standing on it.[11]

However, Top Gear presenter James May claimed that the Stig's identity has not been outed and there has been speculation that there may be more than one person to be the Stig.[12]

It was confirmed on 21 June 2009, that the Stig would reveal his self on the first episode of the new series of Top Gear to be aired the same night. However, presenter Jeremy Clarkson said it would be a "staggering surprise" to viewers.[13]

References

  1. ^ Speedsport Magazine, Race Driver Database: Ben Collins, retrieved 2008-03-15.
  2. ^ Surface Transforms Plc, Case Study: Ascari A10, retrieved 2008-06-12.
  3. ^ a b "Who is the Stig? The answer". The Daily Telegraph. 2009-01-19. Retrieved 2009-01-19. Top Gear test driver the Stig has been unmasked as professional stuntman and Le Mans racer Ben Collins. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d "Ben Collins - Motivational Speaker". City Speakers International. Retrieved 2009-01-19. He will limber up for this year's racing season by doubling as James Bond...
  5. ^ Crash.net, Reigning champion stars on BBC Top Gear, 2004-07-27.
  6. ^ "Calstock's own World champion". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  7. ^ "Top Gear: Skater". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
  8. ^ Investigation into the accident of Richard Hammond on 20 September 2006 at Elvington airfield, nr. York, Information released: 22 June 2007, Health & Safety Executive
  9. ^ Foster, Patrick (2009-01-19). "Identity of Top Gear's The Stig revealed as Ben Collins". The Times. Retrieved 2009-01-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ a b c "Top Gear's The Stig reveals identity to Bristol gallery owners". Western Daily Press. 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2009-01-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ a b "Top Gear's The Stig revealed to Bristol firm". Bristol News. 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2009-01-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "The Stig's true identity is still a mystery, claims Top Gear's James May". Daily Telegraph. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-01-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ "Top Gear's Stig 'to be unveiled'". 2009-06-21. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accesdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |publiser= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
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