BIOGRAPHY

Nationality:     British 
Date of Birth:   April 8th, 1966 
Place of Birth:  Barnet, England 
Marital Status:  Married to Deborah, two
                 sons (Mark Jr. and Callum) 
Resident:        Royston, Herts, England 


A former test driver for Marlboro McLaren,
Mark "Billy" Blundell was recruited to
replace Nigel Mansell in the first two
rounds of the 1995 championship.

Having carried out his duties admirably,
he was retained to complement the Marlboro
McLaren Mercedes driver line-up for the
rest of the season.

Unlike most of his colleagues who graduated
in karting, Mark started his racing career
on two wheels, competing in 125cc motocross
for three years.

In 1984, he entered the Formula Ford 1600
category junior championship, finishing
runner-up in his maiden season, winning 25
of 70 races in the series and receiving a
well-deserved Grovewood Award for this
achievement.

He followed this promising debut by
clinching two championship titles in the
next two seasons: the Esso FF1600 in 1985
and EFDA FF2000 in 1986.

In 1987, he raced in F3000 and his
breakthrough to Formula One came in 1989
when, while still competing in F3000, he
was nominated as test driver for the
Williams team for two seasons. In his spare
time, he also drove for Nissan in the World
Sports Car Championship.

This latest series brought him the highest
point in his career, with a victory at the
1992 Le Mans 24 Hours in a Peugeot 905.

That same year, Marlboro McLaren recruited
Mark as its principal test driver for the
MP4/7, offering him the opportunity to
develop his racing skills alongside Ayrton
Senna and Gerhard Berger.

In 1993, he joined the Ligier team as a
full-time racing driver and made it to the
rostrum in South Africa and Germany. 

The following year, he raced for the
Tyrrell-Yamaha team, and finished the
Drivers' Championship in 12th position.

In 1995, besides his activities as a
Marlboro McLaren Mercedes driver, Mark once
again took part in the Le Mans 24 Hours,
finishing fourth at the wheel of a McLaren
GTR.

Mark is 29, married to Deborah and has two
sons, Mark Jr. and  Callum. 

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Source: http://www.mclaren.co.uk/mclaren/
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COMPETITION HISTORY

1980-1983 Motocross 125cc 
1984: Formula Ford 1600, category junior,
      runner-up 
1985: Esso FF1600, category senior,
      champion 
1986: EFDA FF2000, champion 
1987: F3000 - EC/BS Automotive 
1988: F3000 - EC/Lola, 6th place 
1989: F3000 - EC/Lola; WSPC/Nissan 
1990: WSPC/Nissan 
1992: WSPC/Peugeot, Le Mans winner 

Formula One
===========

1989: Williams-Renault, test driver 
1990: Williams-Renault, test driver 
1991: Brabham-Yamaha, 1 point, 18th in the
      Drivers' Championship 

1992: Marlboro-McLaren-Honda, test driver 
1993: Ligier Renault, 10 points, 10th in
      the Drivers’ Championship, 3rd in
      South Africa and Germany 

1994: Tyrrell-Yamaha, 8 points, 12th in the
      Drivers' Championship 3rd in Spain,
      5th in Hungary and Belgium 

1995: Marlboro McLaren Mercedes 

F1 Statistics
=============

Grand Prix Starts: 46 (At the end of 1994)
Grand Prix Points: 21     3 x 3rd,
                          1 x 4th,
                          3 x 5th

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Source: http://www.mclaren.co.uk/mclaren/
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