Who is The Top Gear andquot;Stig?andquot; The anonymous Stig s mission is to produce perfect lap times in exotic supercars and execute death-defying stunts with immaculate precision. With BBC s Top Gear returning to our screens this weekend, Auto Trader is kicking off Top Gear week by tackling the biggest mystery in motoring: Who is the Stig? Last week, stunt driver Russ Swift hinted that it could be him - and bookmaker William Hill rank him as 2/1 favourite. Trackside s Keith Collantine surveys the field. What do we know about the Stig? Top Gear appearances suggest the Stig is male and of average build, with eclectic musical tastes. But theories abound there are actually multiple Stigs. Could there be more than one man behind the mask? Let s find out. Russ Swift Pros: If there are two Stigs, then Russ Swift must be one of them. No-one is better equipped to pull off the Stig s dangerous tricks than this holder of multiple stunt driving records. We put the question to him last week and his response was: No comment. What we... (laughs) what Top Gear like about the Stig is the fact that nobody knows who it is. It is not one person. Cons: He spends a lot of time out of the country making international motor show appearances. But that hasn t stopped him working for Top Gear in the past - he taught three grannies how to do doughnuts... Ellen MacArthur Pros: The fastest celebrity to lap the Top Gear track in the old Suzuki Liana. Cons: Although MacArthur clearly lacks nothing in driving skills or mental fortitude, her physical stature (female, short) and the Stig s (male, tall) don t match up. Plus, given the enormous amount of time she spent circumnavigating the globe in a dolled-up dinghy, it s doubtful that she could have met the filming commitments. New and Used Car News and Reviews - Auto Trader UK