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

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

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. Th ...

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 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...

racer in 1972, with his best result being a fourth place at the

Albi Grand Prix The Albi Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de l'Albigeois) is a motor race held in Albi, in the Tarn department of Southern France. The first race took place in 1933 and was won by Pierre Veyron in a Bugatti Type 51A. After the Second World Wa ...

, 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 * Lola (fo ...

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an 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 racing cars tha ...

. 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 RTL Radio is a German commercial radio station based in Berlin and the part of the RTL Group. It originated as the German language service of Radio Luxembourg, which began broadcasting after World War II from Luxembourg. It broadcasts adult c ...

-sponsored Lola T330-

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

Formula One

Belsø qualified a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Iso-Marlboro 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 ...

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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. 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 Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Howden Ganley James Howden Ganley (born 24 December 1941 in Hamilton) 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 ...

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(

) (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 cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

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

References

External links

Profile on F1 Rejects
1942 births 2020 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer Sportspeople from Copenhagen People from Gladsaxe Municipality Danish racing drivers Danish Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers Deaths from cancer in England {{F1-bio-stub