A successful karting career paved the way to Mark’s successes in Formula Ford. Two seasons in the Australian series netted numerous victories, including the support race at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, and led to an invitation to race for Van Diemen in the 1996 British Formula Ford Championship.
“This was a great category for me because I learnt a lot about racing. The first year (’94) was a learning period and, in hindsight, we could have done a few things differently. But we were running the car ourselves and we did the best job we could on very limited money.
Year two (’95) was a better one in terms of results, but I was still incredibly raw. I got a lot of pole positions, but I was very impatient in the races and I had no idea technically about the car. I did well in the Formula Ford Festival and was a marked man when I went back to Australia to contest the Adelaide Grand Prix support race. It was great to win that one.
The ’96 season was tough for many reasons. I didn’t know any of the tracks in England, except for Brands Hatch, and I missed home a lot, which had a negative impact on my racing. It was only when I went home mid-season and realised that I was missing nothing that I got my head straight. I had a much better second half of the year, which included winning the Festival. That was huge and more than made up for finishing second in the championship.”
“Annie and I had no money back then, so we both did any work we could get, really. I taught at the Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Snetterton race schools, but it wasn’t well paid. I was on £43 a day when I started, which barely paid for my fuel up to somewhere like Oulton. I was driving around in a bomb, a B-reg Fiesta, but I never saw it as a sacrifice. It was a choice I made.”
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