Bio of Martin Brundle
The making of a commentator
by Michael Bass
British ex-racing driver Martin Brundle started racing saloon cars at the age of 18, soon making a name for himself during the British Formula Ford 2000 Championship. From there he moved to Formula 3 in 1982, finishing third overall in the year British driver Tommy Byrne became champion.
He signed up for a drive in Formula 3000 in 1983,and despite giving Ayrton Senna a run for the title, was disappointed with his results: Martin raced effectively against the legend Senna, taking the championship to the wire in his Eddie Jordan Racing Ralt.
Ken Tyrrell identified Martin as talented, signing him up to race in Formula One for 1984. He finished fifth in his first grand prix in Brazil, and raced second behind Nelson Piquet in Detroit; he was very pleased with his achievement. Martin's luck ran out at Dallas, where not only did he break a leg, but it was decided the Tyrrell's were illegal, and all results collected were scrapped.
In 1986, Martin scored points in four grands prix, but his career took a dive when he joined German team Zakspeed for 1987. He failed to sign a Formula One drive in 1988, and ended up racing for Jaguar and winning the World Sports Car Championship. He did manage a one-off drive for Williams at Spa-Fracorchamps, though.
He got a drive with Brabham in 1989, but the move proved unlucky as the car just wasn't competitive, so he returned to sports car racing in 1990, winning the Le Mans 24-Hours race for Jaguar.
He signed up for another season with Brabham in 1991, but luck was just not on his side as Yamaha engines used were not up to competing with other teams.
A drive for Benetton alongside Michael Schumacher in 1992 gave Martin his big break, but performances were hidden in Schumacher's rising star... though he claimed sixth overall and scored points in all but one race of the season. There were a number of races where Brundle showed Schumacher the way forward, but largely the German had the measure of the Brit.
1993 arrived, along with a drive for Ligier. Here, he scored better finishes taking seventh position overall. Martin's career peaked when he signed to drive for McLaren in 1994: playing long odds, he held out signing until the last moment to claim the drive.... The car was not at it's best, and he did not score any wins, though finishing twice on the rostrum, and seventh overall.
Martin shared the second Ligier with Aguri Suzuki in 1995, and drove the best race of his career when he chased David Coulthard in the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.
He signed up for Jordan in 1996, and worked hard to fulfil the promise for that season, to little avail as the car was always just off the pace... the season included the memorable "cartwheel" accident in Australia, where Martin rolled his car lengthways at turn one, climbed out of the disintegrated wreck, and made the restart in the spare car - a clear sign of his dedication to the sport.
Sadly, that was his last season as an active driver, and Martin is now a commentator for ITV, working alongside lead vocals Murray Walker; he still drives in occasional sports car and rally races to keep up on training, just in case that call comes again.
Article is written by and copyright (c) 1999 Michael Bass.
Michael is a reliable, kind and generous chap, who enjoys school to a reasonable extent. He is working hard to gain A-levels and start a career as a newspaper journalist. His hobbies include Formula One, photography, writing and bike riding, to name a few.
Views expressed in these articles do not necessarily coincide with the views of the F1 Rumors Team.
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