Tiff Needell
1979 | |
Races | 8 |
---|---|
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 0 |
Podium finishes | 1 |
Career points | 7 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
Timothy Richard "Tiff" Needell (born 29 October 1951) is a British racing driver and television presenter. He is a presenter of Lovecars, and formerly served as co-presenter of Top Gear and Fifth Gear.
Biography
Needell attended
Racing career
Needell first raced at a driving school at
In 1988 and 1989 he competed in the British
Needell made his first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1981 driving an Ibec-Hesketh 308LM alongside Tony Trimmer. They failed to finish and again in 1982 this time paired with Bob Evans and Geoff Lees in an Aston Martin Nimrod NRA/C2. However the following year Needell finished 17th driving a Porsche 956. In 1985 Needell briefly led the 24 hours driving the Aston Martin EMKA C84/1 and would eventually finish 11th.
His best result at Le Mans was third overall in 1990, on the podium driving a Porsche 962C with David Sears and Anthony Reid.
He then had a couple of years in the British Touring Car Championship with Nissan, before returning to sports cars in 1995, driving a Porsche at Daytona and a Jaguar XJ220 at Le Mans.
He then drove the Lister Storm for five years, reaching third overall at Daytona in 1997 before gearbox problems dropped them to nineteenth. In 1998 he finished fifth in the British GT Championship and won the Silverstone Golden Jubilee Trophy race. That same year, he was to be part of Lister's assault on Le Mans, but the car failed scrutineering and thus didn't qualify. In 2000, he again drove for Lister, this time in three races of the British GT Championship, winning all of them. He won at Donington Park in the main Lister entry and then competed in two further rounds in the CSi privately entered Lister. Due to the late entry, this car wasn't registered for championship points, but Tiff won both races at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone Circuit. He also took part in the 2000 FIA GT Championship for one round at Zolder.
Since then, Needell's racing career has mainly consisted of racing closed-wheel cars, with varying levels of success in sports cars, historic racing and touring cars. He achieved particular notoriety after an accident with Nigel Mansell at the 1993 TOCA shoot out race at Donington Park.[2]
Television career
Needell is a television presenter and motoring journalist and co-hosted the original run of the
He was one of several people suspected of portraying the elusive masked racing driver The Stig on the current format of Top Gear.[4][5] The true identity of The Stig was eventually revealed as being Ben Collins late in production, necessitating Needell's return to Top Gear after a nine-year absence to train director Danny Boyle for his lap in the "Star In A Reasonably Priced Car" segment.[6] In the same episode Clarkson referred to Needell as the "Emergency Stig".
On 22 September 2013, Needell co-starred in Tommy Kendall's Fox Sports 1 show, Driven - A Race Without Boundaries.
In 2016, Needell announced that Fifth Gear had ended.[7] In 2018, Needell and others announced a new series of Fifth Gear was being filmed and will be shown on Quest in September of the same year; however, the 2019 series no longer features Needell in their presenter line-up.[8]
In 2020, Needell featured on a new TV show Lovecars: On The Road, which originated from the Lovecars YouTube channel where Needell travels Europe with his co-presenter Paul Woodman to try out no fewer than 50 cars. In early 2024 it was announced that the second series of the show would be broadcast on Amazon Prime.[9]
Other work
On 7 February 1999, Needell drove a McLaren F1 XP5 prototype to set the fastest lap record at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, over a 2-mile (3.2 km) banked circuit, top speed test: An average speed of 195.3 mph (314.3 km/h) was attained, with a maximum speed of 200.8 mph (323.2 km/h).
In 2018 Needell started as a presenter with Lovecars.[10] mainly for their car reviews on YouTube.[11] together with co-host Paul Woodman. Notable reviews include the world's first Tesla race car, together with an ongoing series of Tiff Talks, where regular motoring news is discussed.
He writes for the magazine Modern Classic, together with a regular motor racing news feature on Drive Tribe.
Needell has lent his voice to the first and second games in the
Thruxton Circuit has an exclusive deal which enables customers to pay £175 for three laps of fast-paced driving and drifting with Needell. The laps are filmed from within the car and feature his commentary and conversation with the passenger.[13]
Needell has also presented the world series of
Personal life
He lives in Wiltshire with his wife Patsy and his three sons, Jack, Harry and George.[14] His younger brother Chris is a team manager for Barwell Motorsports team who currently race the Lamborghini Huracan GT3.[15]
In November 2006, Needell was cleared of 'failing to supply details in relation to a speeding ticket', and the accompanying speeding offence by Pontypridd magistrates. He was defended by Nick Freeman, otherwise known as Mr. Loophole,[16] who also defended former colleague Jeremy Clarkson on a similar case.
He is a football fan and supports
He also works as an after-dinner speaker.[18]
Racing record
Complete Formula One results
(key)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | WDC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | Racing Team
|
N180
|
Cosworth V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | BEL Ret |
MON DNQ |
FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | NC | 0 |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete European Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | DC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Fabergé Racing Lee Jeans | Ford Capri III 3.0s
|
MNZ
|
VAL
|
MUG | BRH | JAR | ZEL | BRN
|
NUR | ZAN
|
SAL | PER | SIL 4† |
ZOL | NC | 0 | |
1980 | David Price Racing | Rover 3500 SD1 | MNZ
|
VAL
|
BRH | SAL | BRN
|
PER | NUR | SIL Ret |
ZOL | NC | 0 | |||||
1986 | HWRT Ford Tuning | Ford Sierra XR4Ti | MNZ
|
DON | HOC | MIS | AND | BRN
|
ZEL | NÜR | SPA | SIL Ret |
NOG | ZOL | JAR | EST
|
NC | 0 |
1988 | TOM's GB
|
Toyota Corolla FX GT | MNZ
|
DON | EST
|
JAR | DIJ | VAL | NÜR | SPA | ZOL | SIL 26 |
NOG | NC | 0 |
† Not eligible for points.
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987
|
TOM's GB
|
Toyota Corolla FX GT | MNZ | JAR | DIJ | NÜR | SPA Ret |
BRN | SIL 17 |
BAT | CLD | WEL | FUJ | NC | 0 |
Complete British Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position - 1 point awarded) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Not eligible for points.
‡ Endurance driver.
Complete British GT Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Cirtek Motorsport | Lister Storm | GT | THR 1 |
CRO 1 |
OUL 1 |
DON 1 |
SIL 1 |
BRH 1 |
DON 1 1 |
CRO 1 |
SIL 1 |
SNE 1 |
25th | 15 | ||
CSi Brookspeed Racing | SPA 1 1† |
SIL 1 1† |
† Not eligible for points.
References
- ^ DRIVERS: TIFF NEEDELL – GrandPrix.com
- ^ "I could have been Lewis Hamilton" – Auto Trader online
- ^ Tiff Needell profile – Dave television channel
- ^ Some say he's Top Gear's true star. We only know he's The Stig, The Scotsman, 28 March 2008
- ^ Trackside – Who is the Stig? – Auto Trader online
- ^ Palmer, Alun (17 December 2010). "Top Gear's new Stig is... Tiff Needell". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ "Tiff Needell confirms end of "Fifth Gear"". motorauthority.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ "Fifth Gear will return to TV in September". www.motoringresearch.com. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ Leaman, Tom. "Lovecars: On the Road series two to launch on Amazon Prime". North Somerset Times. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Lovecars – the Automotive Social Hub". Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ "Lovecars - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ worlds Largest Nuke Explosion Sample commentary YouTube
- ^ "Tiff Needell BMW M4 Experience - Thruxton Circuit". www.thruxtonracing.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ Tiff Needell Archived 4 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine – Fifth Gear on five
- ^ Motorsport, Barwell. "Barwell Motorsport". www.barwellmotorsport.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "TV presenter cleared over ticket". BBC News. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ "Tiff Needell (@tiff_tv) - Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ TMC Entertainment – Tiff Needell profile
External links
- Tiff Needell at IMDb
- Official website
- interview on Mitzi TV, "Baby You Can Drive My Car" Archived 6 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine