It has been top secret at Top Gear for years, but Nissan is now revealing the secret of the identity of its “tame” racing driver. Paul Eames - no, the man has nothing to do with the Eames chair - has been working for the Japanese for 20 years and plays a decisive role in setting up the chassis for the European Nissan models.
For a long time it was rumored who it could be. Michel Schumacher was mentioned for a long time, lately it should have been Lewis Hamilton and still others rumored that it should be Tiff Needell or Jason Plato from the competing show “5th Gear”. However, this secret of the “white racing driver” was never really revealed by Top Gear. But Nissan ends the secrecy about its own little "The Stig". Paul Eames is one of the top European test drivers for Nissan and now had to air his helmet at the start of the new “Top Gear” streak on the BBC.
His job: drive, drive and drive again. Eames is one of four test drivers outside of Japan to have been awarded the highest driver qualification by Nissan. Of course, this gives him one or two laps on the company's test tracks, which are scattered around the globe - and have done so for more than 20 years. Here Eames can instinctively decide whether the combination of driving dynamics and comfort is right in a new series vehicle. One of the biggest challenges of the last period for Nissan's Stig: setting up the Nissan GT-R. It should be exciting up to high tempos, but at the same time stable and easy to grip.
Other models, other polls: A Nissan Qashqai or a Micra offer other challenges. These should be agile, stable and safe, but at the same time comfortable and supple. Of course, this expertise and the votes of the respective vehicles require a certain amount of expertise. For example, Eames started as a technician in the 80 years and knows all about the details and components of the vehicles. So his job is to give the vehicles their respective character and not tease out the last hundredth of one of the Nissan.
Some say he is not really a stig. And that he only emulates the real Stig. But we know that Paul Eams is responsible for the quality of the driving experience in a Nissan and therefore has more on the box, as to set on the circuit best times.