Which member of the trio was the Stig closest with? | Ben Collins interview

ben

collins

great to have you on the channel great to be here i feel like we've had clarks ham for me on and off the channel we've had tiffany dell and now we've got royal flash yeah well I'm chasing them in the wheel tracks so yes, we thought we'd chat with you about how your 2021 is going, how you're doing and what you've been up to, in fact the start of this year has been pretty quiet compared to last. year, so I've been pretty busy filming in and out of lockdown. I also wrote a book about Aston Martin, so that kept me busy.

I couldn't visit all the libraries, so luckily I managed to recover all these books and archive material. to go home and just dedicate myself to it and get it out before Christmas, that was a big mission, um, but yeah, just getting back into it now, start filming, get behind the wheel of some exciting cars and look forward to seeing all the new stuff, um. The products coming out this year are great, so we'll soon move on to the things you're doing here and now, but I'd like to go back to 2003. You started off as a stick at the top, what led you to The show I started off camera , I guess around 2002 or so with the top team, so that was my debut as the black stick, so I put on, you know, the whole Darth Vader suit for a day, I think it was a Ford day. with top gear for the magazine and that's how I started so the magazine hired me to be the

stig

and that was kind of my introduction to the world of television

which

started at o3 and it was a completely different level but it was kind of amazing. to start with and then they decided to change your name to the white uniform, that's right, yeah, it was a big change and it was quite unexpected because I went to an audition.

I met Andy Willman, the executive producer. He really had no idea. who it was I assumed the director was the person in charge of everything and um Andy showed up and I thought he was cool and uh grabbing this kind of stack of papers and he kind of shuffled his feet and uh he threw me a car key and I basically did a evaluation and then I didn't hear from him so I thought it didn't go very well, but I finally heard a few months later that I got this job and they showed up and they had a new set of shiny white jumpsuits. coming in and that's how it started, what was the car your audition was in, it was a forward focus and what it's like as a racing driver to spend so much time on an airfield track because you're used to driving the best circuits.

In the world spa le mans all these kinds of places what is it like when you are on a barren airfield like dunsfold before ben answers that question have you ever wanted a tesla model 3? Well, we're giving you the chance to win a Model 3 just like this, by entering our Drive Tribe competition, simply click the link in the description, answer a quiz question and then buy a ticket for £9. 99, by entering our Tesla competition you could be in with a chance of winning a Model 3 or £40,000 cash. equivalent, the choice is yours, okay let's see what Ben has to say, it's different because it's flat but then again, I've raced on airport circuits before and you get used to that, Dunspold is actually a brilliant track, it has a very Good mix and it's funny how many people go there, I think the manufacturers think it must be low downforce because they have these long straights.

It was brilliant for testing because you had these deep, very heavy braking zones, a tight, twisty chicane that you could feel that weight transfer and the rest really very fast and um and good to unleash the full potential of the cars, so I loved. I never got tired of Dunsfold and every lap was different in every different car, so it was never the same twice. We receive questions from our audience and this is the first of them. They would like to know

which

was the best car you ever drove at the top of your test track and which was the worst so that the best car would drive.

It was the Porsche Carrera GT, even if it wasn't the best lap, but it was a real challenge and I didn't get discouraged, but I felt comfortable jumping in so many different types of cars that I didn't think about a supercar with a formula one engine in the part. Rear went out on the GT and spun it, you know, coming out of the chicane and I thought well, okay, I dialed it in every now and then spun it again. I haven't marked it yet and it wasn't there. I was used to turning there, but the car was so stiff and the power was so wild and your feet were sitting on this aluminum platform.

It was very raw, difficult to keep your feet in one position and had a fine trigger throttle, so any movement. The power had an instant effect on the rear wheels and off the hammer, you know, there were a lot of bumps, so while the car was going, everything was happening in the cockpit, you had to really think about what you were doing and it was kind of like, um I don't know how to tap dance, you had to be absolutely in time with the throttle on the bumps so I had to fit myself into the seat a little bit better and then everything synchronized and it was like that.

A rewarding car to drive well, so Carrera GT was the best car on the track, what was the worst? the old school tvrs were pretty terrible on the track, they were really seductive and you would press the brake pedal where you felt it was right, you usually get a feeling of how much grip a car has, it was always too late for the tvr um, you would turn with a speed that seemed right, which is always too much for him too, so he always wanted to lock the wheels and he always wanted to turn when you turned the steering wheel and yeah, they were wild again, you got used to it and I think that's actually what a TVR owners love these things: there's a peculiar type of British car that's a little scary.

Drive and I guess it reminds you of being alive. I guess that's why they do it. If those who survive, that's fine. It's fair. Another question from the Internet. Which of your Stig cousins ​​was your American, African, Chinese, German, Vegetarian or Italian truck driver? I guess I selfishly enjoyed the one I got to do, which was the German Stig. I loved the mullet. I have to say, speaking of the German, it's not exactly the same episode, but my favorite Stig moment is when James goes up the hill at Zolder in the dbr-9 dbrs 9 in front of that 911, yes, in top speed, great britain versus germany, that makes me so excited every time you go up the hill and you're ahead, I love it too, it's such a great movie because It was rare that I could drive a proper thoroughbred racing car, it was that the gt1 car or the gt3, gt3, okay, okay, the fun part of that session was, the car I was driving had the throttle stuck, so occasionally in some of the corners.

He was going 100 gasses when he tried to slow down, which made it entertaining and I was running into his hands. I think it was the professional German driver so while I was trying to fix the throttle he was warming up his tires and they put him at the front of the grid because I think the guys hadn't done well in the challenges so it was a proper chase and I really thought I don't know if my job depended on this, but I was driving as I was and Um, I just managed to sneak in one of those.

I'm either going to stop at the corner with everything locked or I'm going to end up in the gravel trap, unfortunately we didn't hit each other so that was a relief and I think um. It was a pretty genuine moment of celebration. Great, what was your relationship with Jeremy James and Richard like? I had a great time. You know, I mean, most of my time was spent with the team because we were often in different locations for the presenters to do their thing. somewhere else, you know, doing smart things and we'd be shooting somewhere on a windy airfield and having a great time, but it was a lot of fun networking when we did the challenges when we went to Ireland, man or um, and particularly at the shows live stunts we travel the world and you know, we're a lot closer to each other, I guess the one I was

closest

to was probably Clarkson because he often did the

interview

s after I had finished the tuition part so reasonable. car with price, so we would be chatting about the celebrity that just arrived, what they were like.

I would always sit with the editor as well and I would sort of know through the footage or re

member

where they had broken up or done something fun, so I would help piece that together, so I would usually be in the editing suite. Jeremy would come in for a quick you know, tell me something interesting and similarly with car reviews, you know, he really wanted to know what the different perspective was. the car he had just driven, so we all exchanged ideas and it's quite funny because we drive differently, but generally pretty similar opinions from different angles, so would you say you're closer to Jeremy because of the time you spent with him?

I think about all three, but I probably had more to do with Jezza and um, and you know, he's just a hilarious man, you know everyone you try and teach them something. I'm not sure it's possible to achieve that with Clarkson, um, it was Not only I had problems, there was a special forces guy who tried to teach him how to shoot, he took over the lesson, he did the same thing to me when I was trying from teaching them how to get around the Grand Prix track at Silverstone, he knew better You know, but you know, that's what makes the show fun and what your relationship with it is like now.

Do you still keep in touch? I mean, from time to time I'm in touch not very often. The last time I saw them, I think it was in Thruxton. which was a while ago, not really, I saw Richard Hammond recently so he's usually at work. We meet and in between they're so busy I guess they're doing what they do, but hopefully through the Drive Tribe, we'll absolutely do more things, so what made you leave the show in the end? I have been in Tokyo for a long time. I think by 2010 I had already far exceeded my forecast.

I thought two years would be a good innings of someone who is in front of the camera and trying to tell a secret at the same time and by 2010 no, by the 20th of 2008, actually, the rumors about who the

stig

is really were gaining so much force that we were constantly playing with wikipedia to get my name. I named damon hill there was a video on youtube that I did it naively because they asked me to speak in front of the camera with the stig hat on and people knew my voice, they said it was ben's voice um and then it came out that it was back in the radio days, you know, unfortunately, Bieb did a cover, who is this?, he did it with my biography, you know, as a kind of giveaway, all of which got him, you know, in so many papers that They publish that story that I decided.

It was time to go, so I prepared myself for that. I handed in my notice very sadly when I realized the end was near and, yes, I left at the end of that time, but at least it was that way. I hope it was on good terms, it was a little rocky at first but it ended well, okay, great, another internet question. What cars do you currently have? I have a Land Rover 98 Wolf Defender, you know? The drive uh and a 2000 porsche 997 turbo so it's the gen 2 which is just a dream car that I always wanted to have and I kept waiting for the price to come down and I would earn enough to grow old so now I have it and It's a manual transmission, which um You know, they don't really make it anymore, it's all automatic, um, and again, you know, back then there was a little more feeling in those cars and I love the fact that you can feel the transfer of weight so yeah it's a lot of fun is there any current Auto that you like is there anything on the market right now there are a lot of them and you know I haven't driven some of the tip top hybrids so I'm really excited to get some of those, some of the new electric ones. cars that are online.

I'm really fascinated with the new Corvette and where it's going so there's tons that I want to own and I hope we get the chance to do that very soon and you've been running our stunt driving business. For many years, how does that whole business work? How do you get to the big box office hits? Well, largely thanks to Top Gear because that's what got me into filming in the first place. Well, actually, I did a car commercial which was my first introduction to how to make a film and then working with the guys was brilliant because we were sliding cars, we were choreographing little car chases and stuff like that and I thought the next natural progression was get into film, so I got in touch with some of the stunt coordinators and managed to come up with my first feature film, which was a national treasure. all the driving controls with him underneath saying a Hail Mary and whistling around London doing a high speed car chase which was great and then from there it went on to the Bond movies, which have been epic, so they're completely different, what?

You know? HaveTelevision, you know, scarce resources, you have to do things very quickly and then get out, whereas movies take their time, they want that timeless shot, there's a lot of preparation, a lot of rehearsals and things, more cars, cars they want. Wrecking, which is banned on TV, so it's a very different world and I loved adjusting to that and learning how they put these things together and all the technology that's been used now to blow up or flip these cars. and um it's just great, as you know, and you're working with teams of people with great experience in all the elements of making these movies so you can learn from the best and yeah, it's really fun, very, very different. racing racing you're on your own and with a very simple all encompassing goal with the stunts it's a full team goal and I love it it's great so like you say you've represented nicholas cage daniel craig vin diesel what would you say has Was it the most devious trick you've ever had to try as one of these guys?

I don't know but I would say probably the first big car chase was the gnarliest one which was a lot of consolation so we spent three months in Italy um chasing around Lake Garda and we also went up to the quarry um karara um that was because I've never done anything like that before, where you're weaving in and out of oncoming traffic, we had trucks, the weather was coming down this hill at the wrong time. On the side of the road we go through these blind coves and where you lost line of sight of what was coming, so we had to do it, so the coordinator was on top looking down timing this truck going up the hill and you know. everything was critical, I think it was 10 Aston Martin DBS cars, some of which had to be gutted, some of which had to be kept pristine, they were ripped out, all ripped out, watching the guys, the continuity guys, hit the dashboard with a blade to make a bullet.

The banging, they were scraping rocks down the side of the car, they did it literally like fingers on a blackboard looking at what they were doing and then hitting the panels with a sledgehammer, um, but you know, in the end you get this amazing thing. Watch it on the big screen and see what you did, but a lot of things get cut. You know you wish there was another cut, but it was an amazing movie to work on and you know, yeah, make great friends. Skyfall was loved by critics and the amount of comfort did not diminish so well.

Do you care when a movie you've been involved in is criticized or do you see the gimmick as the gimmick and if that turned out well, you're in? happy, as long as I do a decent job and they ask me, it's a result and you know I loved all the films I've worked on, you know the sequences I did, you knew I was lucky to be there, so what? people think that, you know, that's subjective, right?, and you know, I think Bond always delivers, there's always an amazing action sequence and they're timeless in their own right.

You could go back and watch these things and you go back in time and I mean you can watch them over and over again, that's the great thing about those movies, I think it's now March 10, 2021, what do you have planned for the rest of the year ? we're going to do some exciting shots I hope so I'm really looking forward to that I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the new mustang the mac e so I've been a passenger so I was subjected to Ken Block drives as We, like him, you know, we're all white-knuckled in the back seat, so I'm looking forward to driving in that, um, hopefully, get out there again in a few weeks in some of the new Ferraris that are going to be exciting, so get a little drive on the track pretty soon and, yeah, get back to some of the Hollywood chases that are coming up because I think everyone's been so busy writing, now it's time to get things moving.

It will be a very busy year when everything goes well. I hope to have you back on the channel. Thanks for your time. I hope everyone enjoyed those questions and answers. Thanks for inviting me. See you soon.