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Mark Blundell | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Blundell in 2011 | |||||||
| Born | (1966-04-08)8 April 1966 (age 59) Chipping Barnet, London, England | ||||||
| Spouse | |||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||
| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
| Nationality |  British | ||||||
| Active years | 1991,1993–1995 | ||||||
| Teams | Brabham,Ligier,Tyrrell,McLaren | ||||||
| Entries | 63 (61 starts) | ||||||
| Championships | 0 | ||||||
| Wins | 0 | ||||||
| Podiums | 3 | ||||||
| Careerpoints | 32 | ||||||
| Pole positions | 0 | ||||||
| Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||
| First entry | 1991 United States Grand Prix | ||||||
| Last entry | 1995 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 81 races run over 5 years | |||||||
| Team | PacWest | ||||||
| Best finish | 6th(1997) | ||||||
| First race | 1996Grand Prix of Miami(Homestead–Miami) | ||||||
| Last race | 2000Marlboro 500(California) | ||||||
| First win | 1997Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200(Portland) | ||||||
| Last win | 1997Marlboro 500(California) | ||||||
| |||||||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |||||||
| Years | 1989–1990,1992,1995,2001–2003 | ||||||
| Teams | Nissan,Peugeot,Gulf,MG,Bentley | ||||||
| Best finish | 1st(1992) | ||||||
| Class wins | 1(1992) | ||||||
Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British formerracing driver andbroadcaster, who competed inFormula One from1991 to1995, andIndyCar from1996 to2000. Inendurance racing, Blundell won the24 Hours of Le Mans in1992 withPeugeot.
He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcasterITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to theBBC. Blundell returned to the track in 2019, driving in theKwik FitBritish Touring Car Championship for the Trade Price Cars team.
Blundell was born inBarnet,London. He first dabbled in motor sport at the age of 14, racingmotocross bikes across England. At the age of 17 he made the switch to four wheels, starting his driving career inFormula 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 powerfulFormula Ford 2000 category, and won theBBC Grandstand series. He returned to FF1600 to compete in theEuropean Championship racing, taking pole,[clarification needed] and finishing fourth overall. In 1986, he won another championship in Formula Ford 2000, this time the European title.
In 1987, Blundell moved on to racing inFormula 3000[1] and started a number ofFormula Three races forTOM'S-Toyota.[1] 1988 brought a switch to the worksLola team in F3000. Blundell completed the season in sixth place.[1]
Blundell signed with the sports car team atNissan for 1989, landing a factory seat. He also managed a test drive withWilliams F1 Team. By 1990, Blundell left F3000 to concentrate on sports cars. That same year, he earned pole position at the24 Hours of Le Mans race driving aNissan 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]
1991 marked Blundell's transition intoFormula One. His debut season saw a sixth place inBelgium with theBrabham Yamaha team while also maintaining his testing deal with Williams. However, the following season, he was not retained by Brabham, 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 contemporaryDamon Hill about the vacant Williams test seat, which Hill eventually took. Having failed to land a drive for 1992, Blundell eventually signed a testing deal withMcLaren. Whilst being a full-time tester for McLaren, he also continued to race sports cars. That year, with the factoryPeugeot outfit, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours, adding to his earlier pole.
Blundell returned to Formula One in 1993. A drive with Ligier netted him his first two podium finishes in South Africa and Germany, and tenth in the final World Championship standings. It was a one-year deal with Ligier, however, and in 1994 Blundell signed withTyrrell. Blundell managed only one podium finish in the1994 Spanish Grand Prix, which was the last Formula One podium finish forTyrrell. At the end of the season, owing to lack of sponsorship, Tyrrell released Blundell as the retirement ofNigel Mansell meant a return to McLaren, this time, in a race seat. Teamed with future two-time world championMika 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 Blundell's final year in Formula One, owing to the signing ofDavid Coulthard by McLaren.
Blundell achieved 3 podiums, and scored a total of 32 championship points.
Blundell came close to making a return to Formula One in 2001. He had advanced negotiations withProst Grand Prix to be the team's test and development driver but the deal was not concluded.[3]
| Mark Blundell | |
|---|---|
| CART World Series | |
| Years active | 1996–2000 |
| Teams | PacWest Racing |
| Starts | 81 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 6th in1997 |
| Awards | |
| 1997 | Autosport British Driver of the Year |
Out of Formula One, Blundell moved to the United States and joined theCART racing teamPacWest, alongside fellow former Formula One driverMaurício Gugelmin. Early in the 1996 season, Blundell crashed head-on into a concrete wall inRio at an estimated 122G's, resulting in a fractured foot and ankle, brainhaematoma, and various injuries to internal organs,[4] forcing him to miss three races. Despite this, he was third in the rookie standings with three top six finishes in theU.S. 500,Detroit Grand Prix, andMichigan International Speedway races.
In1997, Blundell came within one corner of winning theDetroit Belle Isle Grand Prix before running out of fuel, an event he described at the time as the worst disappointment of his career.[5] In the next race, he passedGil de Ferran on the final straight to win theGrand Prix of Portland by 0.027 seconds. Blundell recorded further race victories inToronto andFontana en route to sixth in the championship. That year he was also named British Driver of the Year byAutosport magazine.
A crash whilst testing atGateway in early 1999 left Blundell to miss 8 races in the middle of the1999 season. He returned to PacWest for a final season in2000. However, after finishing 21st in the championship with 18 points, he left PacWest racing by mutual agreement.
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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 joinedITV 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 aDale CoyneChamp Car to help prepareDarren 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 withJohnny Herbert andDavid Brabham, he finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, completing a 1–2 sweep byBentley. In2003 he finished third at the12 Hours of Sebring driving for Bentley alongsideJohnny Herbert andDavid Brabham.[6]
From 2004, Blundell ran a management company, 2MB Sports Management, with fellow ex-F1 driver and friendMartin Brundle, until Brundle decided to devote more time to his television career.[7][8] The company represent drivers includingMcLaren test driverGary Paffett,British Formula 3 champion and IndyCar driverMike Conway,Ferrari juniorCallum Ilott,BMW backed racerTom Blomqvist, IndyCar driverJordan King,British F4 champion Kiern Jewiss andBritish GT driver Patrick Kibble.
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.[9]
Blundell married his wife Deborah in 1995.Ron Dennis loaned him aMcLaren F1 for the wedding, which was crashed by his best manPerry McCarthy, who playedThe Stig onTop Gear.[10] They have two sons: Mark Jr. and Callum.[11] In October 2025 , Blundell was given five points on his driving licence and banned from driving for six months for excessive speeding in an incident which took place on 30 November 2024 where Blundell drove his Land Rover at 96 miles per hour in a 70 miles per hour zone.[12]
 |
† As Blundell was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
(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 | 14th | 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 | |
(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 |
Source:[15] | |||||||||||
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 |  Nissan Motorsports | Julian BaileyMartin 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 WarwickYannick Dalmas | Peugeot 905 Evo 1B | C1 | 352 | 1st | 1st |
| 1995 | GTCGulf Racing | Ray Bellm Maurizio Sandro Sala | McLaren F1 GTR | GT1 | 291 | 4th | 3rd |
| 2001 | MG Sport & Racing Ltd. | Julian BaileyKevin McGarrity | MG-Lola EX257 | LMP675 | 92 | DNF | DNF |
| 2002 | MG Sport & Racing Ltd. | Julian BaileyKevin McGarrity | MG-Lola EX257 | LMP675 | 219 | DNF | DNF |
| 2003 | Team Bentley |  David BrabhamJohnny Herbert | Bentley Speed 8 | LMGTP | 375 | 2nd | 2nd |
(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 | BrabhamBT59Y | YamahaV12 | USA Ret | BRA Ret | 18th | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| BrabhamBT60Y | YamahaV12 | 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 | LigierGitanes Blondes | LigierJS39 | RenaultV10 | 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 | Tyrrell022 | YamahaV10 | 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 | MarlboroMcLarenMercedes | McLarenMP4/10 | MercedesV10 | BRA 6 | ARG Ret | SMR | ESP | 10th | 13 | |||||||||||||
| McLarenMP4/10B | MON 5 | CAN Ret | FRA 11 | GBR 5 | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL 5 | ITA 4 | PAC 9 | JPN 7 | AUS 4 | |||||||||||
| McLarenMP4/10C | POR 9 | EUR Ret | ||||||||||||||||||||
(key)
| Year | Team | No. | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | PacWest Racing | 21 | Reynard 96i | FordXBV8t | 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 | [18] | ||||
| 1997 | PacWest Racing | 18 | Reynard 97i | Mercedes-Benz IC108DV8t | 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 | [19] | |||
| 1998 | PacWest Racing | Reynard 97i | Mercedes-Benz IC108DV8t | MIA 12 | MOT 10 | LBH 7 | 18th | 36 | [20] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Reynard 98i | Mercedes-Benz IC108EV8t | 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 IC108EV8t | 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 | [21] | |
| 2000 | PacWest Racing | Reynard 2Ki | Mercedes-Benz IC108FV8t | 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 | [22] | |
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | MG Sport & Racing | MG ZR S1600 | MON | SWE | FRA | ESP | CYP | ARG | GRC | KEN | FIN | GER | ITA | NZL | AUS | GBR Ret | NC | 0 |
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | [24] |
(key) Races inbold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 2002–2003 all races, 2004–present just in first race) Races initalics 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 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1992 With:Derek Warwick &Yannick Dalmas | Succeeded by |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by |