http://www.news.com.au/entertainment...-1225907604455
BBC and Top Gear's mystery man The Stig in legal row over his identity
HIS face obscured by a blacked-out visor on his helmet, The Stig has become famous as much for his anonymity as his driving skills.
Now the Top Gear star is locked in a bizarre legal dispute with the BBC over an attempt to write his autobiography - a move which threatens to finally lift the lid on his identity.
The broadcaster says he would be breaching a confidentiality agreement and tarnishing the mystery of the show, one of its most popular.
Quite who would want to read a book about a faceless man about whom so little is known is unclear.
Only a handful of BBC executives and the program's presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May know who The Stig is.
The corporation is desperate to stop him revealing his identity and has called in lawyers, who have warned him publication would breach his "contractual" and "confidentiality" obligations to the program.
But he is continuing to fight them in what is a described as an "incredibly tense" situation.
It is understood that publishers representing the racing driver have hit back with their own legal letters, raising the prospect of an embarrassing court battle.
Insiders fear the BBC will end up axing the driver over the dispute, which has said to have deeply upset the show's star Clarkson.
Others have suggested The Stig may quit over the stand-off.
Sources said that for many years the driver had been forced to watch as Top Gear's other stars made a fortune from book deals.
But apart from his pay for appearing on the series, estimated to be between $10,000 and $20,000 a show, he has been unable to fully exploit his fame.
The BBC's commercial arm is behind products such as Stig shower gel and a Stig soap-on-a-rope, but The Stig does not make any money from them.
A BBC insider said: "This is absolutely about confidentiality. These are such unusual circumstances because he is anonymous."
The Stig has been a key part of the show's success since it was revamped from a dry motoring magazine format to a more humorous show eight years ago.
The Stig keeps his helmet and suit on for the entire time the show is recording.
He arrives on set early with only a handful of production staff so he will not be recognised.
Among The Stig's features on the program is Power Laps, which sees him test out performance road cars.
