Breaking news
Rallycross
Original 'Stig' McCarthy to make racing return
Former Formula 1 and Le Mans 24 Hours driver Perry McCarthy, also the original 'Stig' from Top Gear, is to make a racing return 15 years on from hanging up his helmet through injury.
Hal Ridge
Edited: Jul 19, 2019, 1:59 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Briton, who famously tried to qualify for the Andrea Moda F1 team in 1992 (pictured top), will be returning to the cockpit for his rallycross debut in the Titans RX Europe series at Lydden Hill next week.
McCarthy, who last competed at Le Mans in 2003 for Audi, will campaign a single-make, four-wheel drive PanteraRX6 in the Lydden Hill double-header. He will also take part in the remaining rounds of the season in Portugal, Austria, Hungary and Germany.
Speaking about his new challenge, McCarthy said: “At 58 years old, I’m so proud and delighted to be coming back to motor racing at this level.
"It’s a big challenge ahead and I’ve never raced in rallycross, but it’s given me something to get my teeth into and thankfully I was fast in testing.”
McCarthy was the original secret racing driver for the BBC Top Gear TV show, called ‘The Stig’. He will compete against fellow former F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr and World Rallycross Championship points leader Kevin Hansen among others at Lydden.
Read Also:
“Since I retired it’s all been about personal appearances and not competing, but now it’s coming back this is a challenge that I’ve not just been presented with, but I want,” he said.
“I’ve not done rallycross before – I mean, I have been on the grass a few times, but that wasn’t deliberate! I do believe I can have a go at them.”
McCarthy will be joined at Lydden by GT and touring car racer Abbie Eaton, best known as the test driver on Amazon TV show The Grand Tour. Like McCarthy, Eaton is also totally new to the mixed-surface discipline and is wary of making pre-event predictions.
“Rallycross is something I’ve always wanted to do,” she said. “My dad actually started off in rallycross so he’s loved it, enjoyed it all the time, he’s been a part of it; so it’s something that I’ve had on my bucket list for a while.
"Just to get stuck in on what is a proper rallycross circuit, an old-school one, is going to be something really special.
"To be quite honest I’ve got no expectations or anything because I’ve not even sat in the car, I’ve never even done anything purposefully on gravel, so to me it’s just an experience thing.
"If I can go out in the car each time and go quicker and quicker, that’s all I’m trying to do and if we can get some pointers off the drivers in it that’s always going to help.”
Abbie Eaton
Photo by: JEP / LAT Images
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article F1 set to abandon high-degradation tyres for 2021
Next article McLaren: Addressing slow-speed weakness a "high priority"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Hal Ridge
Portugal WRX: Gronholm claims second win, Hansen extends points lead
World Rallycross
World Rallycross
Montalegre
Portugal WRX: Gronholm claims second win, Hansen extends points lead
Portugal WRX: Hansen leads Gronholm after Saturday's running
World Rallycross
World Rallycross
Montalegre
Portugal WRX: Hansen leads Gronholm after Saturday's running
Spa victory lifts Kristoffersson into World Rallycross title fight
World Rallycross
World Rallycross
Spa
Spa victory lifts Kristoffersson into World Rallycross title fight
More from
Perry McCarthy
Scott Pye takes 2010 UK Formula Ford Championship
Other open wheel
Other open wheel
Scott Pye takes 2010 UK Formula Ford Championship
Road America: Andersen Racing race report
Indy Pro 2000
Indy Pro 2000
Road America: Andersen Racing race report
Multimatic Panoz 24H preview
WEC
WEC
Multimatic Panoz 24H preview
Latest news
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 45 min
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 1 h
‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes
BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
2 h
BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC
The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
4 h
The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe