Mark Blundell

Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British racing driver who competed in Formula One for four seasons, sports cars, and CART. He won the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC. Blundell returned to the track in 2019, driving in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for the Trade Price Cars team.

Mark Blundell
Blundell in 2011
Born (1966-04-08) 8 April 1966
Barnet, London, England, UK
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality British
Active years1991, 19931995
TeamsBrabham, Ligier, Tyrrell and McLaren
Entries63 (61 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums3
Career points32
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1991 United States Grand Prix
Last entry1995 Australian Grand Prix

Background

Blundell was born in Barnet, London. He first dabbled in motor sport at the age of 14, racing motocross bikes across England. At the age of 17 he made the switch to four wheels, starting his driving career in Formula Ford. In his first season he placed second in both British Junior Formula Ford Championships. The following year, Blundell won both the Esso British and Snetterton Formula Ford 1600 crowns. The next year, he began racing in the more powerful Formula Ford 2000 category, and won the BBC Grandstand series. He returned to FF1600 to compete in the European Championship racing, taking pole, and finishing fourth overall. In 1986, he won another championship in FF2000, this time the European title.

At this point in his career, Blundell moved on to racing in Formula 3000.[1] In this time, he also started a few Formula Three races for TOM'S-Toyota.[1] 1988 brought a switch to the works Lola team in F3000. Blundell completed the season in sixth place.[1]

Formula One

The following year, he made a deal with the sports car team at Nissan, landing a factory seat. He also managed a test drive with one of the top teams in Formula One – Williams. By 1990, Blundell had abandoned F3000 to concentrate on sports cars. That same year, he earned pole position at the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours race driving a Nissan R90CK. Blundell became the youngest driver to achieve pole position at the Le Mans 24 Hours, with a 6.040-second margin ahead of second place.[2]

Blundell driving for McLaren at the 1995 British Grand Prix.

The year 1991 marked Blundell's transition into Formula One. His debut season saw a sixth place in Belgium with the Brabham Yamaha team. He also maintained his testing deal with Williams. However, the following season, he was not retained by the cash-strapped Brabham team, and was left without a race seat in Formula One. He declined Williams' offer to stay on as their test driver for 1992, as he had his eyes solely on a full-time race seat. He told his contemporary Damon Hill about the vacant Williams test seat, which Hill eventually took. Blundell would live to regret this decision, as Hill ended up with a full-time race seat for 1993 and went on to win 21 races in 5 years at Williams, culminating in winning the world championship in 1996. The race seat taken by Hill would likely have been Blundell's had he accepted Williams' 1992 test-drive offer.[3] Having failed to land a drive for 1992, Blundell eventually signed a testing deal with McLaren. Whilst being a full-time tester for McLaren, he also continued to race sports cars. That year, with the factory Peugeot outfit, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours, adding to his earlier pole.

1993 saw the return of Mark Blundell to the pinnacle of motorsport. A drive with Ligier netted him his first two podium finishes in South Africa and Germany. He finished tenth in the final World Championship standings. It was a one-year deal with Ligier, however, and in 1994 he signed with Tyrrell. It was not as successful a year as '93, and Blundell managed only one podium finish in the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix, which was the last Formula One podium finish for Tyrrell, however his reputation suffered as he was frequently slower than his lesser rated team mate Ukyo Katayama. At the end of the season, owing to lack of sponsorship, Tyrrell released him. This would prove to be a blessing in disguise, as the retirement of Nigel Mansell meant a return to McLaren for Blundell, this time, in a race seat. Teamed with future two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen, Blundell recorded five points finishes and once again took tenth in the final standings. 1995 also saw continued success in sports cars with a fourth place showing in Le Mans, but was Mark Blundell's final year in Formula One, as the signing of David Coulthard by McLaren meant that Mark would have to find a job somewhere else.

Blundell achieved 3 podiums, and scored a total of 32 championship points.

CART

Mark Blundell
CART World Series
Years active1996–2000
TeamsPacWest Racing
Starts81
Wins3
Poles0
Best finish6th in 1997
Awards
1997Autosport British Driver of the Year

Out of Formula One, Blundell moved to the United States and joined the CART racing team PacWest, alongside fellow former Formula One driver Maurício Gugelmin. Early in the season, Blundell crashed head-on into a concrete wall in Rio, resulting in a broken foot and ankle. This forced him to miss several races. Despite this, he was third in the rookie standings with three top six finishes in the U.S. 500, Detroit Grand Prix, and Michigan International Speedway races.

1997 was a breakout year. Blundell came within one corner of winning the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix before running out of fuel, an event he described at the time as the worst disappointment of his career.[4] In the next race, he passed Gil de Ferran on the final straight to win the Grand Prix of Portland by 0.027 seconds. Blundell recorded further race victories in Toronto and Fontana en route to sixth in the championship. That year he was also named British Driver of the Year by Autosport magazine.

A massive crash whilst testing at Gateway in early 1999 left Blundell to languish at the bottom of the table upon returning for the latter half of the 1999 season. He returned to PacWest for a final season in 2000. However, after finishing 21st in the championship with 18 points, he left PacWest racing by mutual agreement.

From driving to commentating

Blundell again crossed the Atlantic to focus on his sports car racing. He failed to finish Le Mans with the MG Lola team, though he and his teammates impressed. Off-track, Blundell joined ITV television in Britain as an analyst for the 2002 Formula One season. This position lasted until the end of the 2008 Formula One season when ITV lost coverage to the BBC.

Since 2001, Blundell's racing involvement has steadily declined, with only the occasional event. He did test a Dale Coyne Champ Car to help prepare Darren Manning for a one-off in the first CART race in Britain at Rockingham, and raced in the British round of the World Rally Championship. In 2003, along with Johnny Herbert and David Brabham, he finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, completing a 1–2 sweep by Bentley. He also finished third at the 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing top among the Bentleys.

From 2004, Blundell ran a management company, 2MB Sports Management, with fellow ex-F1 driver and friend Martin Brundle, until Brundle decided to devote more time to his television career.[5][6] The company represent drivers including McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, British Formula 3 champion and Indycar driver Mike Conway, Ferrari junior Callum Ilott, BMW backed racer Tom Blomqvist, IndyCar driver Jordan King, British F4 champion Kiern Jewiss and British GT driver Patrick Kibble.

Helmet

Blundell's helmet is yellow with three red stripes and two yellow gaps in the middle, a blue stripe in the entire chin area and a blue circle on the top with his golden initials on it. The rear of his helmet bears the motto "The Will To Win" – a quote from his grandfather.[7]

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1987 Fleetray Racing SIL
Ret
VAL
6
SPA
2
PAU DON
9
BRH
6
BIR
DNQ
15th 5
BS Automotive PER
9
IMO
Ret
BUG
Ret
JAR
8
1988 Lola Motorsport JER
2
VAL
5
PAU
Ret
SIL
9
MNZ
Ret
PER
Ret
BRH
3
BIR
Ret
BUG
7
ZOL
2
DIJ
Ret
6th 18
1989 Middlebridge SIL
3
VAL
Ret
PAU
6
JER
DNQ
PER
Ret
BRH
Ret
BIR
5
SPA
DNS
BUG
Ret
DIJ
6
11th 8

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

(key)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
1988 Footwork Racing International SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ SUZ
Ret
NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1989 Nissan Motorsports Julian Bailey
Martin Donnelly
Nissan R89C C1 5 DNF DNF
1990 Nissan Motorsports International Julian Bailey
Gianfranco Brancatelli
Nissan R90CK C1 142 DNF DNF
1992 Peugeot Talbot Sport Derek Warwick
Yannick Dalmas
Peugeot 905 Evo 1B C1 352 1st 1st
1995 GTC Gulf Racing Ray Bellm
Maurizio Sandro Sala
McLaren F1 GTR GT1 291 4th 3rd
2001 MG Sport & Racing Ltd. Julian Bailey
Kevin McGarrity
MG-Lola EX257 LMP675 92 DNF DNF
2002 MG Sport & Racing Ltd. Julian Bailey
Kevin McGarrity
MG-Lola EX257 LMP675 219 DNF DNF
2003 Team Bentley David Brabham
Johnny Herbert
Bentley Speed 8 LMGTP 375 2nd 2nd

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Pts.
1991 Motor Racing Developments Ltd Brabham BT59Y Yamaha V12 USA
Ret
BRA
Ret
18th 1
Brabham BT60Y Yamaha V12 SMR
8
MON
Ret
CAN
DNQ
MEX
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
12
HUN
Ret
BEL
6
ITA
12
POR
Ret
ESP
Ret
JPN
DNPQ
AUS
17
1993 Ligier Gitanes Blondes Ligier JS39 Renault V10 RSA
3
BRA
5
EUR
Ret
SMR
Ret
ESP
7
MON
Ret
CAN
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
7
GER
3
HUN
7
BEL
11
ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
JPN
7
AUS
9
10th 10
1994 Tyrrell Tyrrell 022 Yamaha V10 BRA
Ret
PAC
Ret
SMR
9
MON
Ret
ESP
3
CAN
10
FRA
10
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
5
BEL
5
ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
EUR
13
JPN
Ret
AUS
Ret
12th 8
1995 Marlboro McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4/10 Mercedes V10 BRA
6
ARG
Ret
SMR ESP 10th 13
McLaren MP4/10B MON
5
CAN
Ret
FRA
11
GBR
5
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
BEL
5
ITA
4
PAC
9
JPN
7
AUS
4
McLaren MP4/10C POR
9
EUR
Ret

Complete CART results

(key)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Rank Points
1996 PacWest Racing Reynard 96i Ford XB V8t MIA
17
RIO
27
SRF
Inj
LBH
Inj
NZR
Inj
500
5
MIL
22
DET
5
POR
8
CLE
11
TOR
11
MIS
6
MDO
10
ROA
20
VAN
12
LS
24
16th 41
1997 PacWest Racing Reynard 97i Mercedes-Benz IC108D V8t MIA
14
SRF
8
LBH
13
NZR
19
RIO
8
STL
24
MIL
12
DET
17
POR
1
CLE
9
TOR
1*
MIS
2
MDO
26
ROA
16*
VAN
7
LS
2
FON
1
6th 115
1998 PacWest Racing Reynard 97i Mercedes-Benz IC108D V8t MIA
12
MOT
10
LBH
7
18th 36
Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8t NZR
20
RIO
11
STL
10
MIL
12
DET
22
POR
22
CLE
10
TOR
26
MIS
17
MDO
19
ROA
7
VAN
12
LS
25
HOU
14
SRF
11
FON
6
1999 PacWest Racing Reynard 99i Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8t MIA
8
MOT
24
LBH
13
NZR
17
RIO
Inj
STL
Inj
MIL
Inj
POR
Inj
CLE
Inj
ROA
Inj
TOR
Inj
MIS
Inj
DET
10
MDO
13
CHI
21
VAN
19
LS
12
HOU
24
SRF
19
FON
16
23rd 9
2000 PacWest Racing Reynard 2Ki Mercedes-Benz IC108F V8t MIA
13
LBH
8
RIO
7
MOT
19
NZR
17
MIL
17
DET
11
POR
20
CLE
12
TOR
22
MIS
19
CHI
23
MDO
14
ROA
11
VAN
25
LS
13
STL
23
HOU
20
SRF
11
FON
15
21st 18

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2003 Team Bentley LMGTP Bentley Speed 8 Bentley 4.0 L Turbo V8 SEB
3
ATL SON TRO MOS AME MON MIA PET 21st 19

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 2002–2003 all races, 2004–present just in first race) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded all races) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point awarded – 2002 just in feature races, 2003–present all races)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Pts
2019 TradePriceCars.com Audi S3 Saloon BRH
1

14
BRH
2

27
BRH
3

19
DON
1

23
DON
2

Ret
DON
3

22
THR
1

27
THR
2

Ret
THR
3

Ret
CRO
1

21
CRO
2

26
CRO
3

19
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

23
OUL
3

18
SNE
1

23
SNE
2

21
SNE
3

Ret
THR
1

27
THR
2

26
THR
3

27
KNO
1

20
KNO
2

24
KNO
3

21
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

18
SIL
3

13
BRH
1

22
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

20
27th 5

References

  1. "About Mark". Mark Blundell Official Website. 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  2. "Le Mans 24 Hours 1990 - Photo Gallery". Racing Sports Cars. 17 June 1990. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  3. "Beyond The Grid F1 Podcast: Mark Blundell on F1 in the 90s, friendship with Martin Brundle, filling Mansell's seat and more | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  4. "1997 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix".
  5. "Brundle leaves management role". Crash.net. 7 January 2009.
  6. "Brundle to step back from 2MB role". autosport.com. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  7. Tom Clarkson (1 April 2020). "F1: Beyond the Grid - Mark Blundell on F1 in the 90s, friendship with Martin Brundle, filling Mansell's seat and more" (Podcast). 14.22 minutes in. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Volker Weidler
Johnny Herbert
Bertrand Gachot
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1992 with:
Derek Warwick
Yannick Dalmas
Succeeded by
Geoff Brabham
Christophe Bouchut
Éric Hélary
Awards
Preceded by
Damon Hill
Autosport
British Competition Driver of the Year

1997
Succeeded by
Dario Franchitti
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