F1 Drivers Challenge
Had Mark not been a dreamer with high ambitions, his chance at a career as a racing driver would never have come about. The cash-strapped student, close to completing his course in Motorsport Design at Swansea University, flicked through the Exchange & Mart looking at cars he could not afford when he spotted the competition that would change his life.
Channel 5�s first series of �Be a Grand Prix Driver� aimed to take a talented driver without a racing licence and turn them into a professional driver. It sounded too good to be true, but the 23-year-old Ulsterman picked up the phone anyway, and he found himself on the windswept home of Worcester Rugby Club as one of 1000 hopefuls desperate to make their mark in the highly competitive world of motorsport.
While everyone claimed they wanted this prize, it was Mark who consistently caught the eye of the judges with his determination, even temperament and skill behind the wheel. Those judges included F1 ace Jenson Button, his manager John Byfield, TV pundit and racing driver Tiff Needell and cohort Vikki Butler-Henderson, and so all of them have invaluable insight into what makes a great driver.
It wasn�t just about setting a fast time either, as this is only a small part of modern motorsport. The competitors were assessed on their fitness, ability to deal with the media and their general attitude.
The youngster did have some racing experience, having gone as far as a meagre budget allowed in karting. This amounted to a handful of kart races at home near Belfast and a stint in a university-organised kart competition. This, combined with a number of track days in assorted road cars and a couple of outings in banger racing on short oval circuits was as close as he ever felt he would get to real competition.
But then he entered motorsport�s �fame academy�, and stormed through every round. Despite never having driven the Zip Formula cars, an F3 or an F1 car, which provided the ultimate test in the final, Mark took to the cars like a duck to water and was up to speed extremely quickly � something that counted heavily in his favour in the competition.
In the final Mark found himself in an ex-Martin Brundle Tyrrell used in the 1985 F1 World Championship, and sliding it into the fastest corners at Monza at 170mph.
The home of the Italian Grand Prix recently set the stage for Michael Schumacher to break the record for the fastest race pace of all time with an average speed of more than 154mph, and the track is not for the faint of heart. But Mark took it all in his stride and set competitive lap times whilst providing strong technical information � a legacy of his university studies perhaps � all the time knowing that a mistake could cost him his dream.
Nerves had to play a part in a televised final, but the Northern Irishman managed to put the pressure out of his mind and learn a new circuit and the car as he continued to impress those in attendance with times that would have given him a very respectable shot at winning the race that weekend.
In the end the competition came down to Mark and one other competitor, but the Ulsterman�s confidence, consistency and attitude outside of the car won the day and he was given the dream prize package.
A race in the FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship in the ex-Brundle car was the first part, together with a long-term management deal with Essentially Sport, which looks after Button, fellow Grand Prix driver Ralph Firman and former World Rally Champion Colin McRae. The Thoroughbred Grand Prix race weekend, also at Monza, started the day after Mark won the competition, giving him little time to celebrate or the life-changing experience to sink in.
The racing rookie was thrown in at the deep end, as he was competing against drivers such as Martin Stretton who had driven classic Formula One cars for many years, and the learning curve he faced was enormous. Most drivers spend years building up to cars with this kind of downforce and power, and the sheer scale of the situation was not lost on the new star.
As Mark put it himself: �If anybody had told me a month before I�d be driving an F1 car and telling people how to improve the handling for the race ahead, I would have laughed in their face.�
But this is exactly what he had to do, overcoming a myriad of technical problems at the same time. Having suffered with a broken gearbox in qualifying, he started well down the grid. And then as he came to the line to start his first race, in a 600bhp car that competed at the highest level, he realised he had another problem.
The clutch was gone, and the team even contemplated pulling him out of the race, but in the end Mark was not prepared to let this opportunity slip away and he decided to go for it anyway. It was a wise choice, as the youngster was able to pick his way through the field and pass a number of fantastic machines, including an old Ferrari F1 that Mark was ecstatic about overtaking under braking for Monza�s notoriously difficult chicanes, while learning an entirely new driving technique thanks to the broken clutch.
His eighth-placed finishing position in his first ever car race, using a car like this, was a relative miracle, and proved that Mark has the ability to step into more or less any racing machine and mix it with the best. His team commented on his car control and his speed, but also his caution where required and his wisdom beyond his years, and certainly beyond his experience.
Bringing the car to the chequered flag was the first priority for Mark, and the fact that he managed to overtake so many cars and finish in a points-scoring position in F1 terms was a massive bonus.
From there Mark concentrated on his fitness, which was already at an exceptional standard thanks to intensive work with Essentially Performance head Bernie Shrosbree, and PR work, as well as enjoying his newfound celebrity and signing autographs for the dedicated motorsport fans at Goodwood and other places that had seen the Channel 5 series and wanted to wish him well.
His suddenly attained profile through the Channel 5 series proved invaluable in securing a sponsorship deal with Britain�s leading men�s lifestyle magazine FHM, which he used to enter the TVR Tuscan Championship with Insane Racing. Mark was certainly among the more popular drivers in the paddock that weekend with the fans and media alike, although that may have had something to do with the troupe of lycra-clad promotional girls sent along by the magazine�
This was a reunion of sorts, as Mark gained work experience with Insane Racing before and during his degree course, and he hoped to join them as a mechanic after finishing his degree. He never expected to return as a driver, but then life had just thrown him a rather large bone.
After just one test in the 170mph, 460bhp car he entered the race towards the end of the season at Rockingham, a track he had never seen, let alone raced on. Once again it was a massive challenge to get up to speed with drivers with years of experience under their belt in an extremely challenging car that likes to slide a great deal. But his amazing propensity for finding the limit astonished his team once again.
�I saw him coming through one corner on his first test, at full speed and sliding the car, and I remember just waiting for the bang,� said team boss Steve Howard. �It never came! I was really impressed with his car control and the way he could take the car to the edge so fast without blundering over it.�
In the race meeting Mark encountered more problems, with fuel pressure problems meaning that his British circuit racing debut started from unlucky number 13. More fortunate was the fact that Mark had two races to impress, with the starting grid for the second decided by the finishing order of the first. And once off the line, Mark carved through the field like he�d been doing this all his life.
He managed eighth place in the first race, and so had a far better shot at race two. After losing places off the start after putting too much power through the rear wheels and spinning away from the line, though, he had to fight his way back through from 10th. He did so, pulling off a number of spectacular overtaking manoeuvres as he became more accustomed to the car and the track, and in his first TVR Tuscan feature race he finished fifth.
It was an astonishing achievement, which captured the attention of the motorsport press and the industry as a whole. A two-page spread in Autosport followed, together with a feature on Britain�s newest star in FHM, and Mark�s profile has risen through the roof in recent months.
Now he is fully focussed on putting together a full season of racing in one championship that should give him the opportunity to prove himself. Mark�s story so far is one of raw skill and massive potential, and there is certainly a great deal more to come.