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 Needell in 2009 | |
| Born | Timothy Richard Needell (1951-10-29)29 October 1951 (age 74) Havant,Hampshire, England |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Active years | 1980 |
| Teams | Ensign |
| Entries | 2 (1 start) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1980 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1980 Monaco Grand Prix |
| British Formula One Championship career | |
| Active years | 1979 |
| Entries | 8 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Career points | 7 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
Timothy Richard "Tiff"Needell (born 29 October 1951) is a Britishracing driver andtelevision presenter. He is a presenter ofLovecars, and formerly served as co-presenter ofTop Gear andFifth Gear.
Needell attendedOttershaw School followed byCity University, London where he achieved an Honours Degree inCivil Engineering. Hired byGeorge Wimpey & Co, his day job was as a Structural Design Engineer. As a teenager, Needell worked as an auxiliary postman during Christmas in 1967 with one of the houses he delivered to beingBruce McLaren's.
Needell first raced at a driving school atBrands Hatch in 1970. He progressed toFormula Ford, his progress assisted by the use of aLotus 69 FF he won in anAutosport magazine competition.[1] He later sold his Lotus and used the money to buy and race anElden Mk10. Needell's Formula Ford period culminated in his acquiring aCrosslé 25F with which he won the Kent Messenger FF Championship after competing for only half of the remaining season. This success landed him a partly paid drive in the Formula Ford 2000 Championship in a Hawke chassis provided by McKinstry Racing. Needell was completely dominant in that car and series which provided him with the springboard into Formula 3. The remainder of the 1970s saw Needell as a front-runner in the BritishFormula 3 series and then in the AuroraBritish Formula One championship. In 1979, he was unable to graduate to theF1 World Championship due to the lack of the correct licence, but he was back in1980, driving two Grands Prix for Ensign, qualifying for theBelgian Grand Prix atZolder. However, he had an engine problem and did not finish the race. He subsequently failed to qualify for theMonaco Grand Prix.
In 1988 and 1989, Needell competed in the BritishRallycross Grand Prix in aMetro 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 the24 Hours of Le Mans in1981 driving anIbec-Hesketh 308LM alongsideTony Trimmer. They failed to finish and again in1982 this time paired withBob Evans andGeoff Lees in an Aston MartinNimrod NRA/C2. However the following year Needell finished 17th driving aPorsche 956. In 1985 Needell briefly led the 24 hours driving the Aston MartinEMKA C84/1 and would eventually finish 11th.
Needell's best result at Le Mans was third overall in1990, on the podium driving aPorsche 962C withDavid Sears andAnthony Reid.
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He then had a couple of years in theBritish Touring Car Championship withNissan, before returning to sports cars in 1995, driving a Porsche atDaytona and aJaguar XJ220 at Le Mans.
Needell then drove theLister Storm for five years, reaching third overall at Daytona in 1997 before gearbox problems dropped them to nineteenth. In 1998, he finished fifth in theBritish 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 atDonington 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 atCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps andSilverstone Circuit. He also took part in the2000 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 withNigel Mansell at the 1993TOCA shoot out race atDonington Park.[2]
Needell is a television presenter and motoring journalist and co-hosted the original run of theBBC TV seriesTop Gear starting in 1987.[3] In 2001, when the BBC cancelledTop Gear (the show was revived in 2002 under a new format), Needell and the whole cast defected and signed withChannel 5 to produce and host a new motoring show namedFifth Gear. Needell has also co-presented'MPH' at Earls Court in 2003, 2004 and 2005 withJeremy Clarkson andRichard Hammond and in 2006 with Clarkson andJames May (because Hammond was recovering from an on-location accident in a rocket car which rolled over at top speed, leaving him in a coma). He also appeared very briefly in the 2005Top GearComic Relief special, "Stars in Fast Cars". In 2009, he appeared onJames May's Toy Stories featuring the building of aScalextric around Brooklands, and also visited James May's Lego house. In 2011, he appeared onTop Gear, driving theAriel Atom V8 in a race against aBMW S1000RR around theTop Gear Test Track. The segment was done in humour, with May supposedly driving the Atom V8, only for it to actually be Needell.
Needell was one of several people suspected of portraying the elusive masked racing driverThe Stig on the current format ofTop Gear.[4][5] The true identity of The Stig was eventually revealed as beingBen Collins late in production, necessitating Needell's return toTop Gear after a nine-year absence to train directorDanny Boyle for his lap in the "Star In A Reasonably Priced Car" segment.[6] In the same episode Clarkson referred to Needell as the "Emergency Stig".
On 22 September 2013, Needell co-starred inTommy Kendall'sFox Sports 1 show,Driven - A Race Without Boundaries.[citation needed]
In 2016, Needell announced thatFifth Gear had ended.[7]In 2018, Needell and others announced a new series ofFifth 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.[8]
In 2020, Needell featured on a new TV showLovecars: 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.[9]
On 7 February 1999, Needell drove aMcLaren F1 XP5 prototype to set the fastest lap record at theMillbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, over a 2-mile (3.2 km) banked circuit,top speed test: An average speed of 195.3 mph (314.3 km/h) was attained, with a maximum speed of 200.8 mph (323.2 km/h).
In 2018, Needell started as a presenter withLovecars.[10] mainly for their car reviews onYouTube.[11] 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.[citation needed]
Needell has lent his voice to the first and second games in theTOCA Touring Car series for British video game developerCodemasters. His voice is also featured in theFerrari Challenge andLe Mans 24 Hours video game for racing game developerEutechnyx. He also features in the video gamesRace Pro andGTR Evolution racing anAston Martin DBR9. Additionally, he is the voice of theRoad Angel road safety device andGPS speed camera alert system, as well as the face on their advertising campaigns. He was the launching announcer for the high speedRita roller coaster atAlton Towers, as well as narrating severalDiscovery Channel documentaries.[12]
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.[13]
Needell has also presented the world series ofPowerboat 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 onRichard Hammond'sDriveTribeYouTube channel, generally doing new car reviews. Needell had previously made several guest appearances on the channel.[14]
As of 2009, Needell lived inWiltshire with his wife Patsy and his three sons, Jack, Harry and George.[15] As of 2016, his younger brother Chris is a team manager for Barwell Motorsports team.[16]
In November 2006, Needell was cleared of 'failing to supply details in relation to a speeding ticket', and the accompanying speeding offence byPontypridd magistrates. He was defended byNick Freeman, otherwise known as Mr. Loophole,[17] who also defended former colleagueJeremy Clarkson on a similar case.
He is a football fan and supportsSouthampton. He is also an active user ofX (formerly Twitter).[18]
He also works as an after-dinner speaker.[19]
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | UnipartRacing Team | EnsignN180 | CosworthV8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | BEL Ret | MON DNQ | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Fabergé Racing Lee Jeans | Ford Capri III 3.0s | MNZ | VLL | MUG | BRH | JAR | ZEL | BRN | NUR | ZAN | SAL | PER | SIL 4† | ZOL | NC | 0 | |
| 1980 | David Price Racing | Rover 3500 SD1 | MNZ | VLL | BRH | SAL | BRN | PER | NUR | SIL Ret | ZOL | NC | 0 | |||||
| 1986 |  HWRT Ford Tuning | Ford Sierra XR4Ti | MNZ | DON | HOC | MIS | AND | BRN | ZEL | NÜR | SPA | SIL Ret | NOG | ZOL | JAR | EST | NC | 0 |
| 1988 | TOM's GB | Toyota Corolla FX GT | MNZ | DON | EST | JAR | DIJ | VLL | NÜR | SPA | ZOL | SIL 26 | NOG | NC | 0 | |||
† Not eligible for points.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | TOM's GB | Toyota Corolla FX GT | MNZ | JAR | DIJ | NÜR | SPA Ret | BRN | SIL 17 | BAT | CLD | WEL | FUJ | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position - 1 point awarded) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
† Not eligible for points.
‡ Endurance driver.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Cirtek Motorsport | Lister Storm | GT | THR 1 | CRO 1 | OUL 1 | DON 1 | SIL 1 | BRH 1 | DON 1 1 | CRO 1 | SIL 1 | SNE 1 | 25th | 15 | ||
| CSi Brookspeed Racing | SPA 1 1† | SIL 1 1† | |||||||||||||||
† Not eligible for points.
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | WDC | 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 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
