To the viewers of Top Gear, he is part man, part machine, with veins that course with petrol. But the true substance of “the Stig”, the BBC programme’s so-called tame racing driver, was revealed yesterday to be somewhat more prosaic.

The identity of the character, who test-drives cars around the Top Gear track, was divulged at the weekend as Ben Collins, a Bristol-based former American speedway driver and stuntman who doubled for Daniel Craig in the latest James Bond film.

The name of the white-suited Stig, beloved of the show’s hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, but the media have refrained from publishing his name to uphold the spirit of the programme.

On Sunday, however, a newspaper outed Collins, 33, after following up a story in a Bristol newspaper about a man commissioning a photographic studio in the city to produce limited edition prints of the character.

The BBC has a policy of never commenting on the identity of the Stig, who has a cult following around the world. A spokesman for Top Gear said yesterday: “We never comment on speculation as to who or what the Stig is.” Collins was not available for comment.

Privately, staff at the corporation could not hide their frustration. “It’s bloody annoying,” one show insider said. “You wouldn’t write a piece saying that Santa didn’t exist.”

Collins has always denied being the Stig, fearing that he could face the sack if his identity was disclosed.

Perry McCarthy, a previous Stig who wore a black suit, was fired off the deck of a warship after revealing his role as the character in his autobiography. It is thought, however, that Collins will not face a similar fate.

The disclosure of the Stig’s identity came after an internet hunt by fans of the programme. One clip posted on YouTube shows the Stig talking with a Bristol accent to a television crew, before cutting to a clip showing Collins speaking in similar tones.

The driver has also featured as himself in episodes of the show, and a report in 2006 into Hammond’s near-death crash stated that Collins had briefed the host and “worked closely with Top Gear as a high-performance driver and consultant”.

Before starring in the programme he had a varied career that included a four-year stint in the Army, work as a television presenter and a job managing Hornby’s Scalextric brand.

After beginning in motor sport in 1994, he raced in Gran Turismo cars at Le Mans and in Formula Three. He now charges upwards of £1,000 for giving motivational speeches.

Top Gear is one of the BBC’s most viewed programmes, and has been screened in more than 100 countries. The most recent series finished in December and the show will return to the BBC in the summer.

The name Stig originates from Clarkson’s former school, Repton, and was the moniker by which new boys were always known. The cult surrounding the character has grown because he is routinely introduced on the show with a humorous reference to his alleged non-human faculties. Introductions include “Some say his voice can only be heard by cats”, and “Some say one of his eyes is a testicle”.

The speculation surrounding the identity of the driver has been so intense that it featured in the ten most-searched-for terms on the Ask.com internet search engine.

— Damon Hill, the former world champion of Formula One, has in the past been erroneously named as the Stig.