10 Jason Priestley

One of the stars of the original Beverly Hills, 90210, not forgetting the risible remake of Vanishing Point, Priestley proved a handy driver in club rallying before venturing trackside. The Canadian-american went on to compete in a raft of different categories, and in the late ’90s and early 2000s his name was linked to a tilt at the Indianapolis 500. This was more than PR smoke, too: he competed in the junior Indycar series during the unloved IRL era. In 2002, he was second in the Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series season-opener at Kansas Speedway. However, in August of that year his single-seater smacked the wall twice at Kentucky Auto Racing Speedway at more than 180mph. This grisly shunt brought the curtain down on his hopes of making a name for himself as a racing driver.

Anorak fact Priestley broke his back in the crash, among other injuries, but recovered to enjoy a parallel career as a race commentator