Derek Bell (racing driver)

Derek Bell (racing driver)

Nation:	United Kingdom
Automobile world championship
First start:	1968 Italian Grand Prix
Last start:	1974 German Grand Prix
Constructors
1968  Ferrari  1969  McLaren  1970 Tom Wheatcroft Racing 1970–1971  Team Surtees  1972  Tecno  1974 Surtees
statistics
World Cup balance:	WM-22. ( 1970 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 9 - - -
World Cup points :	1
Podiums :	-
Leadership laps :	-

Derek Reginald Bell , MBE (born October 31, 1941 in Pinner , Middlesex , England ) is a retired British automobile racing driver .

Career

Monoposto

Derek Bell began his career in 1964 on a Lotus Seven , with which he competed in club races in Great Britain. A year later he moved to the British Formula 3 Championship and became a teammate of Peter Westbury at Church Farm Racing . The racing team was owned by Bernard Hendler, Bell's stepfather.

Derek Bell 1970

With Hendler's financial help, Bell entered the Formula 2 European Championship in 1968 . With a Brabham BT23 he performed so well that the Ferrari team management noticed him. Bell was offered a work contract that led him to Formula 1 . With the Ferrari Dino 166 F2 he finished fourth in 1968 and fifth in the European Championship in 1969. At the end of 1968 he made his debut in the Formula 1 World Championship. At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza , Scuderia's home race, Bell started with the Ferrari 312F1 , but had to end the race prematurely after problems with the fuel pump. He did not finish in the USA either.

Derek Bell in the Brabham BT30 Formula 2 at the Nürburgring in 1970

After Scuderia withdrew from Formula 2, Bell lost his works contract. Several years followed in which he tried in vain to gain a long-term foothold in Formula 1. In 1970 he was runner-up in the Formula 2 European Championship and took sixth place in the Watkins Glen, the only point in the drivers' world championship. The commitment for the Surtees team was typical of Bell's involvement in Formula 1. He was only used as a substitute driver who was quickly available. In the USA he drove the Surtees TS7 , with which he qualified for the race at Silverstone a year later .

At the end of 1974, after three non-qualifications in a row, he finally turned his back on Formula 1. Although Bell continued to drive monoposto, especially races in the Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic , the Brit's main focus was now on sports and touring cars.

Racing car

At the same time as Formula 2, Bell competed in sports car races from the late 1960s. In 1970 he made his debut in a Ferrari 512S at the 24 Hours of Le Mans . When he drove his last race on the Sarthe in 1996, it was his 26th start. Over the years he has developed into one of the best sports car drivers in motorsport history. In 1975 he celebrated his first success at Le Mans alongside Jacky Ickx . In the same year, with three successes in the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33, he made a significant contribution to winning the World Championship for the Italian brand. When he became a works driver at Porsche in 1981 , series victories followed. For Porsche, he achieved four more successes in Le Mans and, alongside Ickx, was considered a specialist in the Porsche 962 . Twice, in 1985 and 1986, he won the world sports car championship driver's title. Bell was hired by the Bentley team for the Le Mans race in 2001 .

Bell comments on Formula 1 races and advises Porsche. His son Justin Bell is also a racing driver; he drove with him in the 1992 and 1995 24-hour races at Le Mans.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1970	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Ferrari 512S	Ronnie Peterson		failure	Engine failure
1971	John Wyer Automotive	Porsche 917LH	Joseph Siffert		failure	crankshaft
1972	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	Teddy Pilette	Richard Bond	Rank 8
1973	Gulf Research Racing	Mirage M6	Howden Ganley		failure	Oil pump
1974	Gulf Research Racing	Gulf GR7	Mike Hailwood		Rank 4
1975	Gulf Research Racing	Gulf GR8	Jacky Ickx		Overall victory
1976	Grand Touring Cars Inc.	Mirage GR8	Vern Schuppan		Rank 5
1977	Team Renault Sport	Alpine A442	Jean-Pierre Jabouille		failure	Engine failure
1978	Team Renault Sport	Alpine A442	Jean-Pierre Jarier		failure	differential
1979	Grand Touring Cars Inc.	Ford M10	Vern Schuppan	David Hobbs	failure	Gearbox damage
1980	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 924 Carrera	Al Holbert		Rank 13
1981	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 936	Jacky Ickx		Overall victory
1982	Rothmans Porsche AG	Porsche 956	Jacky Ickx		Overall victory
1983	Rothmans Porsche AG	Porsche 956	Jacky Ickx		Rank 2
1985	Rothmans Porsche AG	Porsche 962 C.	Hans-Joachim Stuck		Rank 3
1986	Rothmans Porsche AG	Porsche 962C	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Al Holbert	Overall victory
1987	Rothmans Porsche AG	Porsche 962C	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Al Holbert	Overall victory
1988	Porsche AG	Porsche 962C	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Klaus Ludwig	Rank 2
1989	Richard Lloyd Racing	Porsche 962C GTI	James Weaver	Tiff Needell	failure	Fire
1990	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Frank Jelinski	Rank 4
1991	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Frank Jelinski	Rank 7
1992	ADA engineering	Porsche 962C GTI	Justin Bell	Tiff Needell	Rank 12
1993	Courage Compétition	Courage C30	Lionel Robert	Pascal Fabre	Rank 10
1994	Gulf Oil Racing	Kremer K8 Spyder	Robin Donovan	Jürgen Lässig	Rank 6
1995	Harrods Mach One Racing	McLaren F1 GTR	Justin Bell	Andy Wallace	Rank 3
1996	Harrods Mach One Racing	McLaren F1 GTR	Olivier Grouillard	Andy Wallace	Rank 6

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1971	JW Automotive Engineering Ltd.	Porsche 917K	Joseph Siffert			Rank 5
1972	Gulf Research Racing Company	Mirage M6	Gijs van Lennep			failure	differential
1980	Red Lobster Racing	BMW M1	Dave Cowart	Kenper Miller		Rank 25
1981	Bob Akin Motor Racing	Porsche 935K3	Bob Akin	Craig Siebert		failure	Engine failure
1982	Bob Akin Motor Racing	Porsche 935K3 / 80	Bob Akin	Craig Siebert		Rank 12
1983	Henn's Swap Shop Racing	Porsche 935L	Michael Andretti	John Paul Junior		failure	Engine failure
1984	Henn's Swap Shop Racing	Porsche 935L	AJ Foyt	Bob Wollek		Rank 3
1985	Holbert Racing	Porsche 962	Al Holbert	Al our junior		Rank 2
1986	Holbert Racing	Porsche 962	Al Holbert	Al our junior		Rank 3
1989	Momo Gebhardt Racing	Porsche 962	Giampiero Moretti	Michael Roe	Massimo Sigala	Rank 4
1993	Momo	Nissan NPT-90	Giampiero Moretti	John Paul Junior		Rank 2
1994	Auto toy store	Spice SE89	James Weaver	Andy Wallace		Rank 2 and class win
1995	Auto toy store	Spice SE90	Jan Lammers	Andy Wallace		Rank 2
1996	Champion Porsche	Porsche 911 Turbo	John Fergus			Rank 9
1998	Matthews-Colucci Racing	Riley & Scott Mk III	David Murry	Jim Matthews	Hurley Haywood	failure	Engine failure

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1970	Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari	Ferrari 512S	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
								8th		DNF
1971	JW Automotive	Porsche 917	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
			1	DNF	5	3	2	2		DNF	DNF	DNF	3
1972	Gulf Racing Ecurie Francorchamps	Mirage M6 Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
					DNF	DNF		4th			8th	DNF	3
1973	Gulf Racing	Mirage M6	DAY	VAL	DIJ	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
			DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	1			DNF	5	4th
1974	Gulf Racing Abarth-Osella	Gulf GR7 Abarth-Osella PA2	MON	SPA	ONLY	IMO	LEM	ZEL	WAT	LEC	BRH	KYA
			4th	2	DNF	DNF	4th	4th		3	3	3
1975	Willi Kauhsen Racing Team	Alfa Romeo T33	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SPA	BY	ONLY	ZEL	WAT
				2	4th	18th	1	2	DNF	1	1
1976	Max Moritz Team Kremer Racing	Porsche 934 Porsche 935	MUG	VAL	ONLY	MON	SIL	IMO	ONLY	ZEL	BY	WAT	MOS	DIJ	DIJ	SAL
									3	4th
1977	Gelo Racing	Porsche 935	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SIL	ONLY	VAL	BY	WAT	EST	LEC	MOS	IMO	SAL	BRH	HOK	VAL
							DNF
1978	Faltz Gelo Racing Alpine	BMW 320i Porsche 935 Alpine A442	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	SIL	ONLY	LEM	MIS	DAY	WAT	VAL	ROD
					3			DNF		DNF
1979	Vasek Polak Robin Hamilton Joest Racing Gran Touring McLaren	Porsche 935 Aston Martin AM Ford M10 BMW 320i	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	BRH	ROA	VAL	ELS
								3	12	5	DNF						1
1980	Red Lobster Racing Ault & Wiborg Claude Haldi Porsche Mazda Team Siegfried Brunn	BMW M1 Aston Martin AM Porsche 935 Porsche 924 Mazda RX-7 Porsche 908	DAY	BRH	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	VAL	DIJ
					25th				DNF	DNF	13			22nd			2	DNF
1981	Akin Racing Emka Porsche Welter Racing Electrodyne De Narvaez	Porsche 935 BMW M1 Porsche 936 BMW 530i Porsche 934	DAY	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	BRH
			2	DNF		DNF		2	33	1			DNF	7th	DNF	24	3
1982	Porsche	Porsche 956	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	MUG	FUJ	BRH
				2		1	2		DNF	1
1983	Porsche	Porsche 956	MON	SIL	ONLY	LEM	SPA	FUJ	KYA
			7th	1	DNF	2	2	1	1
1984	Porsche	Porsche 956	MON	SIL	LEM	ONLY	BRH	MOS	SPA	IMO	FUJ	KYA	SAN
			1	10		1		4th	1				1
1985	Porsche	Porsche 962 Porsche 956	MUG	MON	SIL	LEM	HOK	MOS	SPA	BRH	FUJ	SEL
			DNF	2	2	3	1	1	2	1	DNF	DNF
1986	Porsche John Fitzpatrick Racing Joest Racing	Porsche 962 Porsche 956	MON	SIL	LEM	NOW	BRH	JER	ONLY	SPA	FUJ
			1	2	1	11	2		DNF	3	25th
1987	Porsche Joest Racing Team Schuppan	Porsche 962	JAR	JER	MON	SIL	LEM	NOW	BRH	ONLY	SPA	FUJ
			2	3	2	3	1	DNF	4th	2	5	6th
1988	Lloyd Racing Porsche Takefuji Racing	Porsche 962	JER	JAR	MON	SIL	LEM	BRÜ	BRH	ONLY	SPA	FUJ	SAN
			4th			DNF	2				DNF	17th
1989	Lloyd Racing	Porsche 962	SUZ	DIJ	JAR	BRH	ONLY	DON	SPA	MEX
			19th	5		DNF	15th	11		4th
1990	Equipe Almeras Joest Racing	Porsche 962	SUZ	MON	SIL	SPA	DIJ	ONLY	DON	MOT	MEX
			8th			DNF
1991	Team Salamin	Porsche 962	SUZ	MON	SIL	LEM	ONLY	LIKE	MEX	AUT
									5
1992	ADA engineering	Porsche 962	MON	SIL	LEM	DON	SUZ	LIKE
					12

Web links

Commons : Derek Bell  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Derek Bell at Racing Sports Cars