Martin Donnelly: unbroken and unstoppable

F1 Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

News, Leisure, Sports News, Sports, Automotive

4.7 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2022

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

He’s a survivor, who fought back from a crash which could have broken his spirit. Martin Donnelly’s racing career was cut short at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix, when his Lotus left the track and hit a barrier at 160 miles per hour, throwing him from the car. Martin tells Tom Clarkson his memories of that fateful weekend, and the great lengths he went to as he tried to return to racing – including treatment from the doctor who had helped Niki Lauda after the Austrian’s life-changing crash. He reflects on his close friendship with Ayrton Senna, who rushed to the scene that day in Spain, and on his brotherhood with fellow racing drivers like Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert, alongside whom he rose to Formula 1. Support from his father and deals with shrewd team owner Eddie Jordan shaped his career. His time at the top of motorsport was short-lived, his potential never fully realised, but Martin never stopped racing.

Related episodes:

Eddie Jordan
Damon Hill
Tommy Byrne
Johnny Herbert
Derek Warwick

This episode is sponsored by:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Much like you, I've got a lot to complain about, like open toe sandals.
0:04.3	Who thought that was a good idea? Who wants to look at toes? Adults who drink, squash.
0:08.7	Listen, you're a fully grown person. But I just got my Sky TV and Broadband and I've got no complaints.
0:15.1	Sky is the lowest number of complaints made to off-com for pay TV and fix line broadband.
0:20.0	To find out more, visit offcom.org.uk.
0:23.0	We're happy because you're happy.
0:25.4	Oh, Angon though, noise eaters, they're annoying.
0:28.0	Sky, believe in better.
0:34.4	September 28th, 1990.
0:37.6	A racing driver lies motionless on a track in Spain.
0:42.0	Martin Donnelly has been thrown from his car after a 160 mile an hour crash.
0:48.2	The load has slammed into the guardrail.
0:50.6	The whole front end of the car had disintegrated, throwing the driver onto the track.
0:55.8	The car so badly damaged that it was impossible to find out what had gone wrong.
1:00.8	Racing can be dangerous.
1:03.8	Mistakes or in Martin's case, mechanical failures can have severe consequences.
1:08.8	But until that day, Martin hadn't given that much thought.
1:13.8	I think my attitude was, those axons happened to other drivers, not me.
1:18.8	I never had any sort of major serious accident, you know.
1:21.8	I tell them where I spent a car, you know, it was able to fail the car's limit.
1:26.8	And it helps me live with the fact that I knew it was my fault.
1:31.8	To the great relief of the whole paddock, Martin was alive and he was then helicoptered to hospital in nearby Seville,
	...

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