Tiff Needell Biography

Fast Facts

• Won the 1975 Townsend Thoresen Championship and received a special commendation at the Grovewood Awards in the same year
• Graduated with honors from City University, London with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1974
• First joined the BBC in 1981, when he joined Murray Walker to cover a live Formula Two event for "Grandstand․"
• Started out as a sports commentator when he was invited to do commentary at a Mallory Park race where he was simply hanging around in pursuit of a paid driving job
• Has worked as a columnist for numerous publications, including Top Gear Magazine, Autocar, Sunday Times In Gear, and evo magazine
• Best known as a race car driver and host of the TV series "Top Gear" and "5th Gear․"
• Got his job as "Top Gear" presenter after covering for then-presenter Chris Goffey, who had broken his leg and couldn't do a test drive of the new Formula First race car in 1987
• Published his autobiography, "Tiff Gear - The Autobiography of Tiff Needell," in 2011
• Won his first race car, a Formula Ford Lotus 69F, in a giveaway competition by the weekly racing magazine Autosport