About Martin Donnelly (racing driver)
Hugh Peter Martin Donnelly is a British former racing driver from Northern Ireland who competed in Formula One at 15 Grands Prix from 1989 and 1990. Donnelly competed in Formula Three and International Formula 3000, where he won three races, including the 1987 Macau Grand Prix. But it was during 1989 that Donnelly got his first race start when he substituted for Arrows driver Derek Warwick at the 1989 French Grand Prix after Warwick injured his back in a non-competitive karting accident. Donnelly finished his first F1 race three laps down in 12th place and was the last car running to finish while Cheever's experience told and he had a better race finishing only one lap down in seventh place. Donnelly's performance in the Lotus drew interest from several more competitive teams, prompting Lotus to renegotiate his contract for 5.6 million pounds, to prevent him from being bought out.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.