Mark Blundell

Mark Blundell

Blundell in 2011
Born	(1966-04-08) 8 April 1966 (age 57) Barnet, London, England, UK
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1991, 1993–1995
Teams	Brabham, Ligier, Tyrrell and McLaren
Entries	63 (61 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	3
Career points	32
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1991 United States Grand Prix
Last entry	1995 Australian Grand Prix

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. Blundell has returned to the series in a new role for 2020 helping to form the latest name to line the grid - MB Motorsport as Sporting Director working with Laser Tools Racing. He is CEO of Europe wide sports management group, MB Partners.

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,^{[ 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 in Formula 3000 ^[1] and started a number of 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

Blundell signed with the sports car team at Nissan for 1989, landing a factory seat. He also managed a test drive with Williams F1 Team. By 1990, Blundell left F3000 to concentrate on sports cars. That same year, he earned pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 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.

1991 marked Blundell's transition into Formula One. His debut season saw a sixth place in Belgium with the Brabham 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 contemporary Damon 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 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.

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 with Tyrrell. Blundell managed only one podium finish in the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix, which was the last Formula One podium finish for Tyrrell. At the end of the season, owing to lack of sponsorship, Tyrrell released Blundell as the retirement of Nigel Mansell meant a return to McLaren, 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 Blundell's final year in Formula One, owing to the signing of David 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 with Prost Grand Prix to be the team's test and development driver but the deal was not concluded. ^[3]

CART

Mark Blundell
CART World Series
Years active	1996–2000
Teams	PacWest Racing
Starts	81
Wins	3
Poles	0
Best finish	6th in 1997
Awards
1997	Autosport 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 and forcing him to miss three 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.

In 1997 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 crash whilst testing at Gateway in early 1999 left Blundell to miss 8 races in the middle 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 driving the Trade Price Racing Audi S3 at Snetterton during the 2019 British Touring Car Championship season.

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. In 2003 he finished third at the 12 Hours of Sebring driving for Bentley alongside Johnny Herbert and David Brabham.^{[ citation needed ]}

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

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1984	Formula Ford 2000		?	?	?	?	?	0	?
1985	Formula Ford 1600		?	6	?	?	?	?	1st
	Formula Ford 2000		?	6	?	?	?	?	?
	Formula Ford Festival		1	0	0	?	0	0	4th
1986	Formula Ford 2000		?	?	?	?	?	125	1st
1987	British Formula 3 Championship	TOM'S GB	6	0	0	0	1	6	13th
	International Formula 3000	Fleetray Racing	5	0	0	0	1	5	15th
		BS Automotive	4	0	0	0	0
1988	International Formula 3000	Lola Motorsport	11	0	0	1	3	18	6th
	Japanese Formula 3000	Footwork Racing International	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1989	International Formula 3000	Middlebridge	8	0	0	0	1	8	11th
	World Sportscar Championship	Nissan Motorsports	5	0	0	0	2	27	11th
	24 Hours of Le Mans		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1990	World Sportscar Championship	Nissan Motorsports International	8	0	0	0	3	16	11th
	24 Hours of Le Mans		1	0	1	0	0	N/A	DNF
1991	Formula One	Motor Racing Developments Ltd	14	0	0	0	0	1	18th
1992	24 Hours of Le Mans	Peugeot Talbot Sport	1	1	0	0	1	N/A	1st
1993	Formula One	Ligier Gitanes Blondes	16	0	0	0	2	10	10th
1994	Formula One	Tyrrell	16	0	0	0	1	8	12th
1995	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren Mercedes	15	0	0	0	0	13	10th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	GTC Gulf Racing	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	4th
1996	PPG Indy Car World Series	PacWest Racing	13	0	0	0	0	41	16th
1997	PPG CART World Series	PacWest Racing	17	3	0	2	5	115	6th
1998	CART FedEx Championship Series	PacWest Racing	19	0	0	0	0	36	18th
1999	CART FedEx Championship Series	PacWest Racing	12	0	0	0	0	9	23rd
2000	CART FedEx Championship Series	PacWest Racing	20	0	0	0	0	18	21st
2001	24 Hours of Le Mans	MG Sport & Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2002	24 Hours of Le Mans	MG Sport & Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	World Rally Championship		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2003	24 Hours of Le Mans	Team Bentley	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	2nd
	American Le Mans Series		1	0	0	0	1	19	21st
2010	Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup	—	1	0	0	1	1	0	NC†
2011	Rolex Sports Car Series	United Autosports w/ Michael Shank Racing	4	0	0	0	0	99	17th
	Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup	—	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP8	Volkswagen Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2012	Blancpain Endurance Series	United Autosports	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup	—	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2013	British GT Championship	United Autosports	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2017	Mini Challenge UK	United Autosports	3	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2019	British Touring Car Championship	TradePriceCars.com	30	0	0	0	0	5	27th
Sources: [8] [9] [10]

^† As Blundell was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

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				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
Sources: [9] [10]

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
Source: [10]

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
Sources: [9] [11]

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
Sources: [9] [10] [12]

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	Ref
1996	PacWest Racing	Reynard 96i	Ford XB V8 t	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	[13]
1997	PacWest Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz IC108D V8 t	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	[14]
1998	PacWest Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz IC108D V8 t	MIA 12	MOT 10	LBH 7																		18th	36	[15]
		Reynard 98i	Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8 t				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 V8 t	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	[16]
2000	PacWest Racing	Reynard 2Ki	Mercedes-Benz IC108F V8 t	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	[17]

Complete WRC results

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
Sources: [9] [18]

Complete American Le Mans Series results

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	[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
Sources: [9] [20]

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. Wilkins, Robert (14 March 2001). "Blundell moves close to joining Prost". Crash. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
4. "1997 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via YouTube.
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.
8. "Mark Blundell". Driver Database. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
9. "Mark Blundell Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
10. "Mark Blundell". Motor Sport . Retrieved 12 January 2024.
11. "Mark Blundell". Automobile Club de l'Ouest . Retrieved 12 January 2024.
12. Small, Steve (2000). "Blundell, Mark". Grand Prix Who's Who (Third ed.). Reading, Berkshire: Travel Publishing. pp. 83–84. ISBN   978-1-902007-46-5 . Retrieved 12 January 2024– via Internet Archive.
13. "Mark Blundell – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
14. "Mark Blundell – 1997 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
15. "Mark Blundell – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
16. "Mark Blundell – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
17. "Mark Blundell – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
18. "Mark Blundell". eWRC-results.com . Retrieved 12 January 2024.
19. "Mark Blundell – 2003 American Le Mans Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
20. "Mark Blundell race results". TouringCars.net. Retrieved 12 January 2024.

External links

• Official Website
• MB Motorsport Website
• Mark Blundell at itv.com
• Mark 'git orf me barra' Blundell at www.planet-f1.com

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