There are those that could lay claim that The Stig, the name given to the ultimate racing car driver on BBC’s mega hit, Top Gear, the most illegally download program on the Internet, is actually the model for the television commercial world’s Most Interesting Man in the World. The fact that I’ve never seen them in the same place together at the same time, there could be some validity to that claim.

How much longer the mystery of The Stig remains is, well, a mystery. The combination of recent financial documents showing a link between Ben Collins, racing driver and James Bond stunt driver, and a recent legal battle between Collins and the BBC over his plans to reveal his identity in an upcoming autobiography have turned both the racing and television world on it’s end with the possibility of the seven-year mystery identity coming to an close. The BBC argues that secrecy is an essential element to the Stig’s role on the series.

Both the BBC and Collins, in true James Bond fashion, have disavowed any acknowledgment that the documents prove the identity of The Stig. For those that follow the series, this isn’t the first time that questions have surrounded the unmasking of his identity. Last year, F1 driver, Michael Schumacher was “outed” as The Stig, but it was later regarded as a hoax.

At this point, who knows. All I can say is, to me, he is the “Most Interesting Man in the World.” Who can argue with the following facts about The Stig:

• The Stig is convinced that clouds follow him
• If you knew what The Stig knows, you’d wake up screaming
• Only seven people have every looked The Stig straight in the eyes. No one knows where they are at this time.
• Every time someone in the world uses the word ‘mincemeat’, The Stig gets 25p
• Both his hearts have variable valve timing
• When he blinks, you can hear a noise like a camera shutter