Mansell’s Win Draws Crowd Onto Track

Nigel Mansell won the British Grand Prix on Sunday, but Mansell might have done his best driving after the race when he had to maneuver his car past hundreds of countrymen who ran on to the track at Silverstone, England.

“I have never seen a British crowd so enthusiastic, but I am not going to criticize them,” Mansell said after his 39-second victory over Italy’s Riccardo Patrese. “That was the most incredible experience of a lifetime.”

It could have been a dangerous experience for some among the crowd of 150,000 fans.

Just after Mansell, 38, won for the seventh time in nine races this season, hundreds of British flag-waving fans spread around the circuit, broke through security and spilled on to the track to celebrate while drivers were still competing at speeds of up to 130 m.p.h.

One fan ran up to Mansell’s slow-moving car and handed him a British flag, which he held up as the crowd screamed its approval. Despite several announcements to stay off the circuit, fans pulled Mansell from his car and lifted him up in triumph.