We had a couple of lads working at this event. Ford wanted a Mondeo and an ■■■■■■ on show and although it would normally be a one man operation we let two go as we wanted to put on a good show. Peter Calderwood and his girlfriend and myself and my wife also turned up for a day out. Of course what most people in the crowd wanted to see was Nigel Mansell put on a show but we got more than we bargained for.
The four of us were watching from McLeans corner as the cars hurtled down the Craner Curves on the back of the circuit. About halfway through the race, Nigel was going well but so were some the others. About halfway down the back Tiff Nidell was right up behind Nigel when he misjudged one of the curves and walloped Nigel up the rear which shot him off the track across the grass and into the wall at the base of the bridge. Bits flew off the car, which I am fairly sure was a Mondeo, and steam or smoke or maybe dust rose into the air. The commentator tried to make a big thing of the accident but you could detect a note of concern in his voice. Help arrived very quickly with the fire brigade and an ambulance. It took about thirty minutes to extricate Nigel and get him back to the first aid post.
Half an hour later we saw his helicopter take off heading towards his home in Cornwall no doubt as he counted the lolly he earned for entertaining us that day. Dunno how much he had to pay Tiff for his involvement as a bit player.
