Brundle and Blundell team up

Date published : 22 Jan 2011 - 14:32:54

Martin Brundle ends more than a decade in the sportscar wilderness next weekend when he competes in the Daytona 24-hour race.

The new BBC Formula One commentator's last sportscar outing was in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990, a race he won in a Jaguar with American Price Cobb and Dane John Nielsen.

On this occasion, on the 49th running of the Daytona race, the 51-year-old teams up with fellow former Formula One driver and close friend Mark Blundell, along with American duo Mark Patterson and Zak Brown.

The British pairing put in a creditable performance in the recent test session, with Blundell just one hundredth of a second faster than Brundle, for the United Autosports team in their Riley-Ford Daytona Prototype.

Looking ahead to the race run next Saturday and Sunday, with the qualifying session on Thursday, Brundle is aware of what now lies ahead after winning the event in 1988 and finishing second two years later.

"We won't be the fastest out there so we have got to be the smartest and stay out of trouble, stay out of the pits and see how far we get," said Brundle.

"If we've managed that come Sunday morning then we could be looking at a good result."

Appreciating the calibre of the opposition, he added: "If you look at the line-ups in the race, the drivers are young pros at the highest levels of motorsport.

"Many of these guys are doing this week in week out, year in year out. They know this race, they know the track.

"It will be tremendous fun, if not a tiring experience remembering what it was like for me in 1988 and '90."

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