Lottery winners can often have subhuman tendencies, so it's only natural that you'd want to hang out with equally awful subset of humanity, racing drivers. The Stig is a perfect representation of those with abnormally high levels of octane in their blood, and his/its services around Silverstone were purchased for £35,000 at a charity auction buy a lottery winner recently in reciept of £5 million. The Stig's passenger got three rain-soaked laps for a price of £11,666 per, and the Stig's performance, even on rain tires, was enough to impress Fernando Alonso. For the same price, you might be able to hire a passel of goons to abduct the esteemed Stigginator and pop that darn helmet off, though that particular scenario might be as creepy as the Darth Vader death scene in Return Of The Jedi.
Storms swept through Silverstone this year for the British Grand Prix. First came the announcement of David Coulthard's retirement from Formula 1, which was followed by the announcement that, starting in 2010, the race would leave its historic home at Silverstone and move to Donington Park.
The decision by Formula One Management and the FIA followed years of calls for the ageing Silverstone track -- owned and operated by the British Drivers Racing Club -- to renovate and get itself up to the modern standards set by F1's newer tracks. However, after failing to secure government funding or sufficient private investment, the decision was made to move the event to Donington. So as the storms set in to close two major chapters of British motor racing history, the rain poured down on the penultimate running of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Remember the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix? How about a refresher – Fernando Alonso took the checkered flag, but all eyes on the podium weren't focused on the Spanish champion...they were on David Coulthard, who stood on the third step of the podium in a red cape. (Yeah, seriously.) The scarlet accessory was part of a commercial agreement that saw Red Bull Racing promoting Superman Returns. Few expected DC to score that podium finish (it was the first for the new team) but there he stood.
This year, it appears that the Justice League has switched allegiance, as Toyota has announced a similar arrangement to promote the upcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight. No word yet on whether Jarno Trulli (who took third in last week's French Grand Prix) and Timo Glock (last year's GP2 champion) will have to wear black capes if they make it onto the podium, but their racing suits are tipped to feature a Batman theme, as will the cars themselves. But that's not all: during this coming weekend's British Grand Prix, the new Batmobile and Bat-Pod will be on display at Silverstone, and the Batmobile is reportedly scheduled to hit the track this Thursday evening for a run around the circuit alongside the Toyota TF108.
