Perry McCarthy

Perry Edward McCarthy (March 3, 1961 - Present): British racing driver who drove for Andrea Moda in Formula 1 during 1992, though never made it into a race, later becoming famous as the original 'Stig' on BBC's Top Gear. Beginning his working life on North Sea oil rigs, saved every penny to fund his dream of becoming a professional racing driver. Raced in Formula Ford, Formula 3, eventually F3000, and various US sports car races before testing for Footwork F1 in 1991. His F1 break came in 1992 with independent Andrea Moda team, but the experience was disastrous.

His Spanish GP debut lasted eighteen meters down the pit lane in pre-qualifying before engine failure. At the British Grand Prix, was sent out with wet tires on a dry track. For the Hungarian Grand Prix, was only allowed to leave the pits 45 seconds before the end of pre-qualifying, making it impossible to set a lap time even with a faster car. Never qualified for a race with Andrea Moda. Moved into sportscars, driving in the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times between 1996 and 2003.

In 2002, released autobiography 'Flat Out, Flat Broke,' speaking candidly about his F1 time and revealing his role as The Stig, the masked anonymous racing driver evaluating high-performance cars on Top Gear. McCarthy was the original black-suited Stig for the first two series. Currently works as a corporate ambassador and after-dinner speaker worldwide.