Tom Belsø (27 August 1942 – 12 January 2020) was a

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

driver, credited as the first Formula One driver from Denmark.

Early career

Belsø started out in

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The ...

s, where he won his debut race and went on to become Scandinavian Touring Car Champion in 1969. He became a

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

racer in 1972, with his best result being a fourth place at the Albi Grand Prix, finishing 17th in the European F2 Championship. In 1973 he raced a

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lol ...

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an Open-wheel car, open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel ...

. He also raced in a few non-championship Formula One races, finishing 7th in the 1973 Race of Champions and 8th in the 1973 BRDC International Trophy, and retiring in the 1974 BRDC International Trophy and

1975 Race of Champions The 1975 Race of Champions was a non-championship Formula One race held at Brands Hatch on 16 March 1975. Weather conditions were inhospitable, with strong winds, heavy rain and even snow showers during the weekend. There was some pre-race contr ...

. He contested the

1974 Rothmans 5000 European Championship The 1974 Rothmans 5000 European Championship The championship was promoted as the Rothmans 5000 European Championship, as indicated in (eg) the programmes for Oulton Park 12 April, Brands Hatch 15 April, Mallory Park 14 July and Brands Hatch 19/ ...

winning at Snetterton and finishing 8th in the Series. He also competed in the 1977 Shellsport 5000/Libre series and finished fifth in a Radio Luxemburg-sponsored Lola T330-

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

Formula One

Belsø qualified a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

Iso-Marlboro for the

Frank Williams Racing Cars Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor. Early years Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three, backed by Williams's shrewd i ...

team at the 1973 Swedish Grand Prix, but could not start the race because his sponsorship money did not arrive. In 1974 he tried four times to qualify for Williams, but was only successful in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In South Africa, the clutch on Belsø's FW failed on the first lap of the race. In Sweden, he finished his only complete Grand Prix, in eighth place.

Racing record

Complete Formula One results

( key) ‡ Belsø took part in practice only. The car was driven in the race by

Howden Ganley James Howden Ganley (born 24 December 1941) is a former racing driver from New Zealand. From 1971 to 1974 he participated in 41 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix. He placed 4th twice and scored points 5 times for a total of 10 champions ...

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Personal life

In 1977 he founded Belso Cereals, a manufacturing company based in

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. On 12 January 2020 Belsø died from stomach cancer; he was 77 years old.

References

External links

Profile on F1 Rejects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belso, Tom 1942 births 2020 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer in England Sportspeople from Copenhagen Sportspeople from Gladsaxe Municipality Danish racing drivers Danish Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers