Perry McCarthy

Perry McCarthy has one of the most quietly ironic stories in motorsport. He reached Formula One with Andrea Moda in 1992, yet the car was so hopeless he never actually started a race, which is almost a tragic punchline for a driver good enough to make it that far. What I love is what came after: five runs at the Le Mans 24 Hours, then immortality of a different sort as the original Stig on Top Gear. To me he embodies the gap between talent and the machinery you're handed, and the grace to turn near-misses into a memorable second act behind the wheel.

Perry Edward McCarthy (born 3 March 1961) is a British racing driver, who drove for the Andrea Moda team in Formula One in 1992, though never making it into a race, before moving into sportscars, including driving in the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times between 1996 and 2003. McCarthy also portrayed The Stig in the first two series of the revamped version of BBC motoring show Top Gear.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

Perry McCarthy

Name (Japanese)

ペリー・マッカーシー

Reading

ぺりー・まっかーしー

Born

March 3, 1961 (age 65)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Pisces / Ox

Origin

Stepney, United Kingdom

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Occupation

Formula One driver / journalist / broadcaster / racing automobile driver

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

Private

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9A%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%83%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%BC

Tags

• Formula One driver
• journalist
• broadcaster

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.