Mark Blundell Q&A

"It's been incredibly tough from the standpoint that it's the first time for 16 years that I haven't been racing for a whole season. I technically had a contract that was valid for 2001, and I should have been racing in the US in the CART series. It's been tough to swallow that, especially when the team had a more competitive package in terms of engine and so forth than what we've been carrying for the last couple of years. And tough because of the nature of what went on, and the way it got handled. The way that it was done stopped me from doing anything else and stopped me from going anywhere else at an early stage, so at that point a lot of the good drives were taken up."



"From a legal standpoint it had to go the way it went, which has been costly to me in terms of being able to race this season, but it was just how the situation was. As the year has gone through I've had offers to drive stuff back in America, in the IRL, and some other stuff as well. Some quite big stuff. But there hasn't been the consistency and level of performance that I was looking for."



"I'd rather hand pick a couple of good races and go and do them - good quality stuff rather than one-offs here and there in an array of cars. It just doesn't suit me."



"It was a great event. It was great to go there in an MG, and great to head up the squad and put on a good show. I think everybody was amazed by what we turned out. Considering the amount of testing we got done - which was very, very little, the car being brand new, the engine being brand new, the team being put in at that level, and MG Rover being involved for the first time in some 35 years - I think we really put on a great show. And I think it will be even stronger next season."



"It was a fantastic little car, a great little sportscar. In the wet it was mind blowing. Some laps we were 10s a lap faster than everybody else, and that was a nightmare for some of those big boys to swallow! I stayed in the car for just under six and half hours, with only an hour and 20 minute break for the other guys to get in the car. That was a long slog for me, but it was well worth it, and it was great to get it up to third. I think we had the possibility to go a bit higher if we had a little bit more smooth running."



"There are a elements of frustration that I'm at a race meeting at that level, especially because I've got some unfinished business to attend to back there. But at the same time it's enjoyable. It's been great working back with Martin, my old sparring partner, and it's been great working with some new people like Jim Rosenthal and Tony Jardine in the studio. When you go to a different arena like television you get a new appreciation for what people have to do, and definitely the ITV people do a great job."



"Put it this way, when it came to watching the races in the studio I was on the edge of my seat, shouting and bawling! I pinned my colours on Montoya at the beginning of the season and there was a little bit of a deal with Tony on who was going to do what. He was with his people and I was with mine, and we were screaming at each other - ' there's my boy!.' There was loads of fun going on. It's given me a little bit of an insight into what there is outside of the cockpit of a race car. I've now done some other TV work, and I've also got some interest in doing things connected with motor sport that maybe in a little bit of a different area to what I've been involved with in the last 16 years. But it's not the end of the road yet for me in terms of driving. I've still got a lot of driving left in me to do, and I've got to get it out of my system before I go and hang up my gloves and helmet. I've got a number of things I'm looking at, and hopefully they're going to be good, strong deals that will come together for next year. But in the economic climate that we're in, it's tough for everybody concerned. So we'll have to wait and see."



"It's a few things, to be honest. I've got three or four different options and they cover a wide array of different deals. Two of them are connected with the US - one is a season, and one is a one-off deal for Indianapolis. Then there's the sportscar stuff, a little bit of F1 testing, and some other bits and pieces floating around that are kind of interesting, and we'll have to wait and see whether they come to fruition. I've just got to sit back and try and do the best thing for me at the time, and see whether it works out. And there's also the TV aspect. I did enjoy the TV, and I've never been one to go the normal route up the ladder. I've always taken a strange sort of angle to get where I want to go, and it may well be that I'll go and do a load of different things and mix it up a bit - TV, sportscars and IRL."



"There's definitely some stuff going on on that front. Some teams can't afford to have young guys learning the trade. I've got oodles of miles under my belt, and that includes testing and not just racing. I've tested for some of the big teams in the pitlane, and I've got a good rep for testing and development work. I'm a known quantity, and I'm not going out there to set the world alight. I've already done what I need to do, but I'm still around to go and do a very good job for somebody."



"I think that's pretty much what people would like to see. The situation I was looking at is that if you are in that position, if you're then needed as the reserve guy, then so be it. We've seen it over this season gone by that some teams have found themselves a bit weak because they haven't had a strong stand-in who can carry on getting the results. There are a lot of angles, and more pros than cons for it at this stage."



"As you go on and get further through your career you want to make sure that what you go and do is for the right reasons. Firstly you have to go and enjoy it, and secondly, you've got to be in something that's going to be competitive. There's tons of stuff you can go and do, but it's not necessarily what you really want to do. That's been a big deal with me this year. I wanted to do stuff that I would enjoy. I spent 18 months in my last situation that was probably the worst 18 months of my career, in terms of results and emotions as well. It was tough to take. Leading my last Champcar race at Fontana, and having the engine blow in the next 15 seconds, kind of summed it all up! It's something that grinds on me slightly. I went out in style, leading the race, but I definitely would like to go out winning races again like I did before. It's really a case of making the best of what's available, and doing it for the right reasons. Whatever I do I want to do it in a professional manner - I don't want to just go off and do it just for the sake of sitting in a race car again."