Revealed: Driver who crashed Hamilton’s old car is billionaire part-time racer
Mark Radcliffe is a billionaire who made his money selling bathrooms, according to the Daily Mail.
And he competes as a racing driver in the British GT championships, the report states.
He has won four of his 73 races including the most recent one in June, in the GT Cup Championship at Snetterton.
He purchased Hamilton’s purple Pagani Zonda 760 LH last year, and it is valued at approximately £8.5m.
But he crashed the supercar last week at the A55 expressway in Conwy in north Wales.
“He's very lucky to escape in one piece after a crash like that,” the newspaper quoted a source at the scene.
The Pagani Zonda 760 LH, which was previously owned by Lewis Hamilton, was crashed yesterday in Wales.
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) August 16, 2023
The car was sold two years ago for 10 million Euros.
Thankfully, the owner is unharmed.
[via Ethan Gale on IG]#F1 pic.twitter.com/Y4VI9jn3nh
Radcliffe is the founder of Victorian Plumbing, an online bathroom retailer.
Before that business, he became the UK’s first eBay millionaire, at the age of 30, from a mobile phone accessories business.
A witness of his recent crash told MailOnline: “The crash was so dramatic. He hit one wall and spun round 360 degrees before bouncing off the other. There was an enormous bang and sparks everywhere. I was worried the car was going to explode.
“My wife and I were on our way to a caravan to begin our holiday and were driving on the dual carriageway.
“It was making a really loud booming noise as it overtook.
“There was a light rain and the surface may have been slippery.
“'I watched as the car sped into the tunnel and then he seemed to suddenly lose control. He hit one wall, span round into the other, which he bounced off before finally coming to a halt.
“It was a spectacular crash and quite terrifying. My wife was quite shaken and I was concerned the car might explode so I drew to a halt and waited to check that he was ok.
“A man got out of the car and he seemed completely ok. He was just worried about the damage to the car. Once we knew he was ok we went on our way and it wasn't until later that I discovered that it was a famous car.”
This unlucky Pagani Zonda 760 LH has been crashed once before, by its previous owner Hamilton.
He bumped a parked vehicle shortly after the 2015 F1 Monaco Grand Prix, and blamed the accident on sleepiness.