Mark Blundell

Mark Blundell (born Barnet, London, 8 April 1966) is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. 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.

Background
He first dabbled in motor racing at the age of 14, racing motocross bikes across England. He was an immediate success, eventually becoming one of the top-ranked riders in Britain, winning a few championships. At the age of 17 he made the switch to four wheels in Britain's Formula Ford. Again, he was rewarded with instant success, and in his first season he placed second in both British Junior Formula Ford Championships (despite 25 wins and 24 poles). The following year, Mark won both the Esso British and Snetterton FF1600 crowns. The next year, he upgraded his ride to the more powerful FF2000 category, and promptly won the BBC Grandstand series. He even returned to FF1600 for the European Championship racing, taking pole, and finishing fourth overall. With 1986 came another championship in FF2000, this time the European title.

At this point in his career, Blundell decided it was time to take his continuing success, and move on to international racing. He bypassed the traditional stepping stone of Formula Three and started racing in Formula 3000. Despite having to cope with an underfunded and underpowered car, he showed incredible talent and strung together a series of promising results. He even started a few races at Formula Three for TOM'S-Toyota, showing ability there as well. 1988 meant a switch to the works Lola team in F3000, at that time one of the biggest teams in the series. In a closely contested season, Blundell managed a very respectable sixth place in the final standings.

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. Not only was he a massive 6.040 seconds clear of 2nd place, but he became the youngest driver to ever achieve pole position at Le Mans.



The year 1991 marked the biggest step forward in Mark Blundell's racing career – his Formula One debut. His debut season saw a sixth place in Belgium with the Brabham Yamaha team. He also maintained his testing deal with Williams. The following season however, he was not retained by the cash-strapped Brabham team, and was left without a race seat in Formula One. He did, however, sign 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. 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
Out of Formula One, Blundell moved to the U.S. and joined the CART racing team PacWest Racing, with fellow former Formula One driver Maurício Gugelmin of Brazil alongside. A huge crash in the early stages of the season in Rio meant Mark had to sit out for several races owing to injury. Despite this, Mark 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, and Blundell recorded race victories in Portland, Toronto, and Fontana en route to sixth in the championship. That year he was also named British Driver of the Year by Autosport magazine. 1998 was not a year for the books, and a massive crash early in 1999 left him to languish at the bottom of the table. He returned to PacWest for a final season in 2000. However, another disappointing season – 18 pts, 21st overall – lead to a mutual split with PacWest racing.

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 team-mates impressed. Off-track, Blundell joined ITV television in Britain as an analyst during the 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.

2003 saw great success in sports cars. 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.

Blundell also spends time running a management company, 2MB Sports Management, who handle the contracts of such people as McLaren test driver Gary Paffett and British Formula Three champion and Indycar driver Mike Conway. The name refers to the fact that it was founded by Blundell and former team-mate Martin Brundle, who stepped down from the company in January 2009.

In a newspaper article in 2011, Blundell was openly critical of oval racing in general, and of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship, which had claimed the life of Dan Wheldon.

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.

'Blundellisms'
Mark's unique style of TV presentation and commentary is drawing ever-increasing attention from the Formula One community, particularly on the internet. Known as 'Blundellisms' (an apparently affectionate throw-back to Murray Walker's now legendary 'Murrayisms'), Mark's curious turn of phrase is sometimes humorous, occasionally baffling, and often linguistically unsound. He has received some criticism for his colloquial grammar, such as frequently using 'what' when 'which' or 'that' would be more suited.

Some examples of 'Blundellisms' include:


 * On Honda's new-for-2007 'Earth car': "They've got a new image. They've got everything that they're moving into in a different way – whole new process – but what they've got to be careful of is they don't lead the way on the track, that they're leaving behind technology and performance where they really are frustration there, because Button and Barrichello, they're scratching their heads already at the first race and that's not what they want."
 * On Lewis Hamilton's fear of Alonso: "He hasn't got no regard for him, whatsoever."
 * Mark's view on the conditions in Malaysia, 2007: "It's just immensely humidity."
 * On the temperature at the 2007 US Grand Prix: "It's as hot as what I've felt it here before."
 * On Lewis Hamilton's performance at the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix: "Lewis just needs to go home and understand where he sits."
 * On the standard of marshalling at the 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix: "Maybe those waved yellows should have been stagnant yellows."

Complete International Formula 3000 results
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Complete Formula One results
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American open–wheel racing results
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