Nigel Mansell on SPEED's "Wind Tunnel

This should be good for a look.....I always liked to watch Masell race, both F1 and IndyCar, but there was always an element of . shall we say. "drama", about him...all the limping, whining, theatrics....and remember, he hasn't actually "retired" yet, has he.....?

hps

From SPEED's webpage...


Nigel Mansell to Appear on Wind Tunnel
Written by: Andrew Crask
Among the most charismatic racing drivers ever, Nigel Mansell is one of only four drivers to have won both the Formula 1 World Championship and an Indy car national championship-and is the only one to have done so in consecutive seasons.

Englishman Mansell was fairly late to racing stardom, having had to work his way up the ranks largely with his own money. After showing strong form in British Formula 3, however, Lotus founder Colin Chapman gave him a testing deal with his Formula 1 team, and then brought the 26-year-old Mansell into F1 in 1980. He spent four F1 seasons with Lotus, but these were lean years for the team and Mansell managed only one third place during that time.

His speed attracted the attention of Frank Williams, however, who signed him for the 1985 season. After a troubled beginning, Mansell came on strong as the season progressed and decisively won the final two races of the season. The next two years, Mansell racked up 11 grand prix wins, although the ultimate prize of the F1 world title continued to elude him. Williams lost its Honda engines the following season, forcing Mansell to race an underpowered Judd-engined car, but his aggressive driving carried that car into contention on several occasions, adding to his reputation as one of F1's hardest chargers.

Two F1 seasons with Ferrari brought several more memorable wins and earned Mansell the nickname "il leone" ("the lion") from Ferrari's fanatic Tifosi. He then returned to Williams, winning five times in 1991 before finally rolling to the world title in '92 with an utterly dominant season in which he reset the record book with nine grand prix wins and 14 (out of 16!) poles.

In mercurial Mansell fashion, however, he had a bitter falling-out with the Williams team even as he was clinching the title, and stunned the racing world by announcing he was quitting F1 for CART's IndyCar World Series, as the Champ Car series was then known. Joining the Newman/Haas team for 1993 alongside Mario Andretti, Mansell promptly won the first Indy car race of his career, from the pole, and went on to win four more races and the CART championship that year.

Amid a disappointing follow-up CART season, Mansell decided to return to F1, having patched up his differences with Williams, which was reeling from the tragic death of Ayrton Senna in one of its cars at Imola. Mansell gave the team a morale-boosting victory in the final Grand Prix of 1994, but an ill-advised move to McLaren for '95 was cut short when he failed to fit the cockpit and he retired after just two races. He left the sport with 31 grand prix wins, and still ranks fourth on the all-time list a decade later.

Mansell made a brief comeback in the British Touring Car Championship in 1998, and then returned to an F1 cockpit last June when he drove a Jordan through the streets of London to promote the British GP. The massive crowds on hand were a testament to Mansell's popularity in the UK 10 years after his glory days.

Mansell lives in England, where he operates a Ferrari dealership among other business interests.

PLEASE NOTE: The Nigel Mansell interview for Sunday, May 1 will be taped this Sunday, April 24. If you have a question for Nigel please call 1-866 -WTUNNEL between 3:30 and 4pm ET or send your question by e-mail NOW.