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Timothy Richard " Tiff" Needell (born 29 October 1951) is a British Auto racing and television presenter. He is a presenter of Lovecars, and formerly served as co-presenter of Top Gear and Fifth Gear.
In 1988 and 1989, Needell competed in the British Rallycross Grand Prix in a Metro 6R4 prepared by Will Gollop's motorsport team. He achieved a good result in 1988 finishing fourth in the B-Final in what was his first rallycross event, however, the 1989 event was cancelled due to heavy fog after the practice sessions.
Needell made his first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1981 driving an Ibec-Hesketh 308LM alongside Tony Trimmer. They failed to finish and again in 1982 this time paired with Bob Evans and Geoff Lees in an Aston Martin Nimrod NRA/C2. However the following year Needell finished 17th driving a Porsche 956. In 1985 Needell briefly led the 24 hours driving the Aston Martin EMKA Racing C84/1 and would eventually finish 11th.
Needell's best result at Le Mans was third overall in , on the podium driving a Porsche 962C with David Sears and Anthony Reid. He then had a couple of years in the British Touring Car Championship with Nissan, before returning to sports cars in 1995, driving a Porsche at Daytona and a Jaguar XJ220 at Le Mans.
Needell then drove the Lister Storm for five years, reaching third overall at Daytona in 1997 before gearbox problems dropped them to nineteenth. In 1998, he finished fifth in the British GT Championship and won the Silverstone Golden Jubilee Trophy race. That same year, he was to be part of Lister's assault on Le Mans, but the car failed scrutineering and thus didn't qualify. In 2000, he again drove for Lister, this time in three races of the British GT Championship, winning all of them. He won at Donington Park in the main Lister entry and then competed in two further rounds in the CSi privately entered Lister. Due to the late entry, this car wasn't registered for championship points, but Tiff won both races at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone Circuit. He also took part in the 2000 FIA GT Championship for one round at Zolder.
Since then, Needell's racing career has mainly consisted of racing closed-wheel cars, with varying levels of success in sports cars, historic racing and touring cars. He achieved particular notoriety after an accident with Nigel Mansell at the 1993 TOCA shoot out race at Donington Park. "I could have been Lewis Hamilton" – Auto Trader online
Needell was one of several people suspected of portraying the elusive masked racing driver The Stig on the current format of Top Gear. Some say he's Top Gear's true star. We only know he's The Stig, The Scotsman, 28 March 2008 Trackside – Who is the Stig? – Auto Trader online The true identity of The Stig was eventually revealed as being Ben Collins late in production, necessitating Needell's return to Top Gear after a nine-year absence to train director Danny Boyle for his lap in the "Star In A Reasonably Priced Car" segment. In the same episode Clarkson referred to Needell as the "Emergency Stig".
On 22 September 2013, Needell co-starred in Tommy Kendall's Fox Sports 1 show, Driven - A Race Without Boundaries.
In 2016, Needell announced that Fifth Gear had ended. In 2018, Needell and others announced a new series of Fifth Gear was being filmed and will be shown on Quest in September of the same year; however, the 2019 series no longer features Needell in their presenter line-up.
In 2020, Needell featured on a new TV show Lovecars: On The Road, which originated from the Lovecars YouTube channel where Needell travels Europe with his co-presenter Paul Woodman to try out no fewer than 50 cars. In early 2024 it was announced that the second series of the show would be broadcast on Amazon Prime.
In 2018, Needell started as a presenter with Lovecars. mainly for their car reviews on YouTube. together with co-host Paul Woodman. Notable reviews include the world's first Tesla race car, together with an ongoing series of Tiff Talks, where regular motoring news is discussed.
Needell writes for the magazine Modern Classic, together with a regular motor racing news feature on Drive Tribe.
Needell has lent his voice to the first and second games in the TOCA Touring Car series for British video game developer Codemasters. His voice is also featured in the Ferrari Challenge and Le Mans 24 Hours video game for racing game developer Eutechnyx. He also features in the video games Race Pro and GTR Evolution racing an Aston Martin DBR9. Additionally, he is the voice of the Road Angel road safety device and GPS speed camera alert system, as well as the face on their advertising campaigns. He was the launching announcer for the high speed Rita roller coaster at Alton Towers, as well as narrating several Discovery Channel documentaries. worlds Largest Nuke Explosion Sample commentary YouTube
Thruxton Circuit has an exclusive deal which enables customers to pay £175 for three laps of fast-paced driving and drifting with Needell. The laps are filmed from within the car and feature his commentary and conversation with the passenger.
Needell has also presented the world series of Powerboat racing throughout the United Kingdom. Working with Greenlight TV and Powerboat GP, Needell regularly commentates, casts voice-overs and interviews drivers. His latest appearance during the world championship race in Nottingham on 1 September 2013 saw the climatic result of the Powerboat F2 Series come to a thrilling end.
Starting in 2025, Needell has appeared as an occasional presenter on Richard Hammond's Drivetribe
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In November 2006, Needell was cleared of 'failing to supply details in relation to a speeding ticket', and the accompanying speeding offence by Pontypridd magistrates. He was defended by Nick Freeman, otherwise known as Mr. Loophole, who also defended former colleague Jeremy Clarkson on a similar case.
He is a football fan and supports Southampton. He is also an active user of Twitter.
He also works as an after-dinner speaker. TMC Entertainment – Tiff Needell profile
| 1980 ! nowrap | Unipart Racing Team ! nowrap | Ensign N180 ! nowrap | Cosworth V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA ! NC ! 0 |
| 1979 | Fabergé Racing Lee Jeans ! nowrap | Ford Capri III 3.0s | MNZ | VLL | Mugello Circuit | Brands Hatch | JAR | ZEL | Masaryk Circuit | NUR | ZAN | Salzburgring | PER | SIL 4† | Circuit Zolder | ! NC ! 0 |
| 1980 | David Price Racing ! nowrap | Rover 3500 SD1 | MNZ | VLL | Brands Hatch | Salzburgring | Masaryk Circuit | PER | NUR | SIL Ret | Circuit Zolder | ! NC ! 0 | ||||
| 1986 | HWRT Ford Tuning ! nowrap | Ford Sierra XR4Ti | MNZ | Donington Park | Hockenheimring | MIS | AND | Masaryk Circuit | ZEL | NÜR | SPA | SIL Ret | NOG | Circuit Zolder | JAR | EST ! NC ! 0 |
| 1988 | TOM's GB ! nowrap | Toyota Corolla FX GT | MNZ | Donington Park | EST | JAR | Dijon-Prenois | VLL | NÜR | SPA | Circuit Zolder | SIL 26 | NOG | ! NC ! 0 |
| 1987 | TOM's GB ! nowrap | Toyota Corolla FX GT | MNZ | JAR | DIJ | NÜR | SPA | BRN | SIL 17 | BAT | CLD | WEL | FUJ ! NC ! 0 |
‡ Endurance driver.
| 2000 ! nowrap | Cirtek Motorsport ! rowspan=2 nowrap | Lister Storm ! rowspan=2 | GT | Thruxton Circuit | Croft Circuit | Oulton Park | Donington Park | SIL 1 | Brands Hatch | Donington Park | Croft Circuit | SIL 1 | SNE 1 | !rowspan=2 25th !rowspan=2 | 15 |
† Not eligible for points.
| 1992 ! Ford Motor Co Ltd ! Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN | FRA | GRE | NZL | ARG | FIN | AUS | ITA | CIV | ESP | GBR 30 ! NC ! 0 |
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