Dave McQuillingBen Collins, who is best known as The Stig” from Top Gear, has spent a disproportionate amount of his life behind the wheel of a car. So unsurprisingly, that’s exactly where he was when I interviewed him. The veteran racing driver was heading down some motorway or other in the UK as part of his busy schedule, having recently set another record lap time on the Top Gear Test Track in a Praga Bohemia.
“The line is a bit intermittent, it’s just because I’m on the move,” Collins warns. After a couple of ice-breaking formalities, themselves broken by the Man in the White Suit’s proximity to some power lines, I tried to get the actual interview rolling with a pretty safe question. “Who was your favorite ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ to teach?”
“I suppose the most rewarding a lot of the time were the sports people. Partly because they were the ones who learned the fastest. So it wasn’t a surprise that people like Ellen MacArthur and Usain Bolt took to it very quickly. But the outright fastest was probably (professional snooker player) Ronnie O’Sullivan.
A lot of these guys and girls are self taught, that really helps. And it was pretty entertaining. To be honest, I was pretty blown away early on when I first started. I think the first big Hollywood star was Christian Slater. Which was really great fun. I think the ultimate I would say was Tom Cruise. It was my last guest on the show, and Cameron Diaz. It was amazing to meet Tom and see the fighter pilot go to work really. His attention to detail was off the charts.”
Cruise set the record celebrity time with his lap, and when reminded of that, Collins replied with a bit of behind-the-scenes insight saying:
“Yes, the BBC were shitting themselves and there were a lot of nervous looks when he was doing his stuff. When he cut the corner he almost took the car over, so it was quite exciting.”
Despite Cruise’s near-mishap, the Mission: Impossible star was not the craziest driver Collins encountered during his time at Top Gear. Actors in general didn’t even top the craziness category, lagging behind another type of entertainer:
“I think the most crazy were the comedians. So Jimmy Carr is topping the list of complete madness. [He had] no sense of self-preservation at all. The car could be spinning backwards at 100 MPH and he wouldn’t think to press the brake pedal.
They’re really bonkers personalities and you never really knew what they were going to do next or how much information was being retained. That kept me on my toes.”
Ben Collins on Racing Royalty
Celebrities weren’t the only drivers Ben Collins tutored on the Top Gear track. Professional racing drivers, including some F1 megastars, made appearances on the show and even had their own separate leaderboard. Because, as fast as Tom Cruise and Usain Bolt are, expecting them to keep up with Lewis Hamilton (on four wheels anyway) is a bit unfair. So naturally the conversation drifted to the stars of motorsport Collins encountered on the job and how showing experienced professional drivers around the track compared:
“So you never know really,” Collins mused. “I didn’t assume that anybody wanted any tuition at all so I just said ‘what would you like me to do?’ Some of them were happy to drive, others would sit in as a passenger. Naturally, with racing drivers, there’s going to be some ego and exchanging. So yeah, some let me drive, which I thought was quite a smart move because obviously I knew the place well.
If it had been me, I would have been happy as a passenger. Others weren’t so keen on that, and I sat in the passenger seat, or we didn’t share the car at all. The first big name we had was Nigel Mansell. He was great and I….”
The next line arrived through the phone as a scrambled mess of letters and sounds as Collins hit a dead zone on the motorway.
“Brakes… all those things… like… pours… … Balls. Sorry, am I”
“Yeah, I think you cut out after ‘Nigel Mansell’” I replied. From what I can gather the response was: “Have… Stuff here so I might just call you back,” and I agreed that probably worked best. Another couple of attempts were made, and each time the line started to suffer as soon as Mansell was mentioned. I can only conclude the former F1 World Champion’s moustache is so dense that the mere thought of it can interfere with international phone calls to this day. Eventually, Collins made it to a rest stop, and the interview continued with: “So, Nigel Mansell turned up to do his lap…”
“Yes, so first World Champion and despite it being such a small car with no power, no aero, he drove it like it was a qualifying lap at the start of the F1 season. Fully committed, although he was quite reluctant in the beginning to get in the car. They sort of talked him into it.
He drove the wheels off it, it was very impressive to see up close.”
Fighting through further signal interruptions, I managed to ask who the best overall driver was and received a pretty diplomatic answer:
“It’s hard to say to be honest. Lewis (Hamilton) was very fast, and the track didn’t look perfect when he was there. He did a really fast time on a sort of semi-damp track, which was pretty incredible.
There were a few afterwards that were after my time, probably. I think Lewis was very impressive, but there was Mansell, and being different days, different temperatures…”
The moustache-based malediction struck again, with the line breaking up at the mere mention of a 1980s Formula 1 legend. With conventional phone calls, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams all unable to make up for shoddy UK infrastructure any further conversations would have to take place when The Stig eventually made it to a hotel.
Still, at least the lack of cell service helped gloss over that question I tried to ask about Kimi Raikonnen’s lap time. That happened after Collins left the show in 2010. In my defense, 15 years is a long time.
Ben Collins recently set a record time for an ICE vehicle on the Top Gear track in a Praga Bohemia. In July 2025, he will be representing Praga at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Photos Courtesy of Praga.
