Derek Reginald Bell (born 31 October 1941 in

Pinner Pinner is a London suburb in the London borough of Harrow, Greater London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 31,130 in 2011. Originally a me ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

, England) is a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. In sportscar racing, he won the Le Mans 24 hours five times, the Daytona 24 three times and the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

twice. He also raced in

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 ...

for the Ferrari, Wheatcroft,

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

Surtees The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000. History The team was formed by John Surtees, a four-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the ...

and Tecno teams. He has been described by fellow racer Hans-Joachim Stuck as one of the most liked drivers of his generation.AUSringers.com – Hans-Joachim Stuck speaks to AUSringers
Retrieved 4 April 2009 Derek Bell 1970

Early career

Bell grew up on a farm and helped to run the Church Farm caravan site, complete with its own pub, near Pagham Harbour, boarding at The King's School, Worcester. He was encouraged by his stepfather Bernard Hender to take up racing with a Lotus Seven in 1964. He won his first race in the Lotus at Goodwood in March of that year. He graduated to

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dr ...

in the following year racing a Lotus 31 and in 1966 switched to a Lotus 41 scoring his first victory, again at Goodwood. In 1967 he enjoyed seven wins. He entered

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 r ...

in a privateer

Brabham BT23 The Brabham BT23 was a formula racing car built by Brabham in 1967. Development The BT23 was designed as a Formula 2 racing car and most of the vehicles of this type were also used in this racing series. There was also a Tasman version and some B ...

C fielded by his stepfather's Church Farm Racing team and after several promising performances, which caught

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automob ...

's eye, made his

Grand Prix debut for Ferrari at Monza in 1968. He contested the

1969 Tasman Series The 1969 Tasman Series was a motor racing competition staged in New Zealand and AustraliaThomas B Floyd, ''Amon Gives Ferrari a Tasman'', Australian Motor Racing Annual, pages 6 to 17 & 30 to 63 for cars complying with the Tasman Formula.

in a 2.4 Dino and was second at Lakeside to Amon and Rindt at Warwick Farm. In 1969 he raced the four-wheel-drive McLaren M9A in its only ever race at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

. Bell took part in the filming of ''

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

'' (1970) starring Steve McQueen, and he and his family lived with the McQueen family during the filming, the two becoming friends. Bell had a lucky escape during the making of the film. The Ferrari 512 he was driving suddenly caught fire whilst getting into position for a take. He managed to get out of the car just before it was engulfed in flames and suffered minor burns. Although the car was badly damaged, it was later rebuilt and is still racing at historic meets.https://twitter.com/MrDerekBell Twitter account https://twitter.com/MrDerekBell/status/379323628740808705/photo/1 Bell finished second in the 1970 European

Championship, driving a Brabham BT30 for Wheatcroft Racing. In 1972 he got a drive in the Tecno Formula One team, along with Nanni Galli. He later raced a number of times for the Surtees team, including a sixth place at the

1970 United States Grand Prix The 1970 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 4, 1970 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 12 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 Internat ...

racing a

TS7, which was to be his highest finish in the Formula One World Championship. He had a few further drives for Surtees in 1974 and finished 11th in the 1974 German Grand Prix. Enjoying single seaters more than sports cars he accepted drives in F5000/Libre British Shellsport series and F5000 in 1976-7 the Penske PC7 March and also odd F5000 drives in the US and Australia. It was to be in sports car racing, which he came to via a drive in Jacques Swaters privately entered Ferrari 512M in the 1970 Spa 1000 km, leading to a Ferrari works drive at the 1970 Le Mans 24 hours, where he built a strong reputation as a world class and world championship winning racer.

Le Mans

Bell won the Le Mans 24 hours race five times, in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

, 1986 and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

, making him the most successful British driver in the race to date. He was teamed with the Belgian

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...

in 1975, racing the Gulf

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meani ...

GR8, again in 1981, racing a Porsche 936, and finally in 1982 racing a Rothmans Porsche 956. Bell went on to win the 1986 and

Le Mans teamed with Hans-Joachim Stuck and

Al Holbert Alvah Robert "Al" Holbert (November 11, 1946 – September 30, 1988) was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series. He once held the record with the most IMSA race wins at 49. Life and career ...

racing a Rothmans Porsche 962. 1971 Le Mans Porsche 917LH Derek Bell Jo Siffert Hotel de France

His first Le Mans was in 1970 in a works-entered Ferrari 512, with co-driver

Ronnie Peterson Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Peterson began his motor racing car ...

, his last in 1996 racing a McLaren F1 GTR. Bell achieved his highest ever speed at Le Mans at the 1971 Le Mans 24 hours April test day, reaching a calculated top speed of 246 mph on the

Mulsanne Straight The Mulsanne Straight (''Ligne Droite des Hunaudières'' in French) is the name used in English for a formerly long straight of the Circuit de la Sarthe around which the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race takes place. Since 1990, the straight is inte ...

in the JW Gulf Porsche 917LH. 1972-05-28 Mirage M6, Derek Bell

Sportscar racing

Bell also won the

title twice in 1985 and 1986 and the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

three times in 1986, 1987 and 1989. He won the 1973 Silverstone

RAC Tourist Trophy The RAC Tourist Trophy (sometimes called the International Tourist Trophy) is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's ol ...

racing a BMW 3.0CSL with Harald Ertl. In 1984 he won the Nürburgring 1000km with Stefan Bellof, racing a Porsche 956, with a notable fourth place in the 1974 Nürburgring 1000km racing a Gulf GR7 with James Hunt on the longer 22.8 km circuit. His first victory in the Spa 1000km came in 1974 racing a

M6 with

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British professional motorcycle racer and racing driver. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycl ...

, going onto win the 1975 and 1984 editions, with Henri Pescarolo, in 1975, in that season's dominant Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT12 on the old 14 km track and with Stefan Bellof, in the equally dominant Porsche 956 of 1984, on the shorter circuit used by

. He is also one of two drivers to win the Spa 1000km on both the original and current circuits, the other being

Derek Bell with a number of the Porsche race cars

Post-racing career

Bell was hired as chairman for the

Spectre R42 The Spectre R42 is a 2-seater mid-engined rear-wheel drive sports car manufactured by British boutique automobile manufacturer Spectre Supersports Ltd. History Ray Christopher, associated with the GT Development firm, which was notable for buil ...

super car project between 1996 and its demise in 1997. In 2001 he was hired to consult for the Bentley Speed 8 programme, helping

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, Nort ...

to win

two years later. He now splits his time between the United States and his home near

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

, UK, with his wife Misti. He is an after dinner speaker and motorsport commentator, and also races in historic events, and is a global ambassador for

. Bell is also an operating partner of Bentley Naples in Naples, Florida, USA. Derek Bell 2014 Group C race Le Mans

His eldest son Justin Bell is also a racer. The two raced together in the 1991

, and the

1992 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 60th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 20–21 June 1992. It was also the third round of the Sportscar World Championship. For this race, both C1 and FIA Cup class cars ran under the C1 category to ...

. Bell was to race in the

2008 24 Hours of Daytona The 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona was the first round of the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series season and the 46th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona. It took place at Daytona International Speedway between January 26–27, 2008. Qualifying In the Dayton ...

with Justin, however the car dropped out of the race early and Derek did not get to run in the race. Aside from winning at Le Mans five times, he claims his proudest moment was coming third with his son Justin racing the

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to oth ...

sponsored McLaren F1 GTR in the 1995 Le Mans on Fathers Day. Derek Bell at the Moscow Raceway

AA presentation of Honorary Life membership to Derek Bell

Bell is a patron for the charities Dementia Support, Hope for Tomorrow, Mission Motorsport and the Henry Surtees Foundation. He is also an Ambassador for the Fly Navy Heritage Trust. He is currently the president of the oldest pram race in the world. The Pagham Pram Race started in 1946 and is run annually at 11am on Boxing Day. Bell returned to Le Mans to race a Porsche 962 for the first time in 20 years in the Group C support race at Le Mans on 16 June 2012. He was presented with Honorary Life membership of the AA in recognition of his 50 years in motorsport, commemorated by a plaque presented by Lord March at the Moving Motorshow during the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the presence of Chris Jansen, CEO of the AA, and Edmund King, the president of the AA. Bell was the grand marshal at the 2014 Silverstone 6 Hours, 2010 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2021 24 hours of Le Mans.

Awards

BRDC The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...

Gold Star: 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987 *

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a ...

Plaque d'Honneur: 1985 *Guild of Motoring Writers Driver of the Year: 1982 and 1985 *Bell was awarded the MBE in 1986 for services to motorsport. *Inducted into the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, ...

Derek Bell
at the

in 2012. *Inducted into the Le Mans 24 Hours Drivers Hall of Fame in 2013. * Inducted in to the Motor Sport Hall of Fame UK in 2016 * Presented with Honorary Life Membership of the AA in recognition of his 50 years in motorsport at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed * was made citizen of honor of the city of

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a commune, the prefecture of the Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Angoumoisins'' o ...

in 2017 *2017 Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Bell was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

( key)

Complete Tasman Series results

( key)

Complete European F5000 Championship results

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

Complete Shellsport International Series results

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete WRC results

References

External links

Derek Bell MBE – Official Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Derek 1941 births Living people People educated at King's School, Worcester English racing drivers English Formula One drivers Ferrari Formula One drivers McLaren Formula One drivers Surtees Formula One drivers Tecno Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers International Race of Champions drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers Tasman Series drivers Brighton Speed Trials people People from Pinner BRDC Gold Star winners Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Bognor Regis 24 Hours of Daytona drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Goodwood estate Bentley Japanese Sportscar Championship drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Team Joest drivers Audi Sport drivers David Price Racing drivers