Skip to main content

BELL, DEREK in Formula 1

 

Born 10/31/1941, Pinner, Middlesex, England

Starts:9

Points: 1

Wins:0

Poles:0

Fastest Laps:0


Bell had been around Formula 2 for sometime when he was hired by Ferrari as a Formula 2 driver in 1968. Eventually he got the chance of a lifetime, debuting in F-1 with the Prancing Horse’s cars. He qualified well (for a rookie) in Italy (8th), but retired, while the going was even tougher in USA (qualified 15th, retired as well). He got no further offers to drive Ferraris in F-1, but was hired to handle the four wheel drive McLaren in the 1969 British GP, an outing that ended in retirement as well. In 1970, Bell finished as runner up in the European Formula 2 championship, and debuted in Sports cars. His F-2 entrant, Tom Wheatcroft, put together a deal for Bell to drive a Brabham in the Belgian GP, where Bell retired. John Surtees also gave Bell a chance in the US GP, where Derek got his single Formula 1 point, finishing 6th. Surtees would give Bell other chances, including an entry in the 1971 British GP, where Bell retired. Then for 1972 Bell was retained by Tecno, as one of the PA123’s drivers. This turned out to be a total dud, and Tecno miserably failed to reach the success it had achieved in F3 and F2. The Martini sponsored cars were heavy, the proprietary 12 cylinder engines down on power and unreliable, and Bell continued to further damage his reputation as a single seater driver. Bell persevered in F2 for two more years, 1973 and 1974, while racing a wide range of machines, from touring cars to sports cars and, Formula 5000 and Can Am racers. John Surtees gave him a last GP chance in 1974. Derek was entered in five races, but the TS16 was a tough nut to crack. Bell finished 11th in Germany, but failed to qualify four other times. It became clear to Bell that pursuing a top level single seater career would no longer be possible, and he concentrated in Sports Cars, where he became one of the most successful drivers ever, including five Le Mans victories. He also became a successful broadcaster, and occasionally still races in the USA.

OUTSIDE OF FORMULA 1

Derek has had one of the most diversified careers out of Formula 1, having driven a large number of cars during four decades of racing:

Formula 1 (Non championship): march

Formula 2: Brabham, Ferrari, March, Surtees, BMW

Formula 5000/Group 8: Lola, Penske, Surtees

Formula 3: Brabham

Can-Am/Interserie: Mclaren

Sports cars: Ferrari, Porsche (917, 908, 935, 962, 936, 934, 956, 962, 924), BMW M-1, Abarth, Alpine-Renault, Mirage, Alfa Romeo, McLaren, Kremer-Porsche, Courage, Aston-Martin, Ford M10, Mazda RX7 , BMW 320 Group 5.

Touring cars: Jaguar, BMW, Volvo, Mazda 323
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

INTERNATIONAL RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS OF THE 70S

Many international championships were added to the International calendar during the 70s, which spike interest on the sport globally. These, plus the existing championships were: Formula 1 – World Championship, South Africa (also included F5000 and F2), Aurora Championship + British Group 8 (which also included Formula 5000, Formula 2, even Atlantic early on) Formula 2 – European and Japanese Championships Formula 3 – British, European, German, French, Italian, Swedish championships Formula 5000 – American, European, Australian, New Zealand Sports cars: World Championship of Makes, World Sports Car Championship, DRM (also ran Touring Cars), European GT Championship, European 2 Liter Championship, IMSA, Trans-Am, Can Am, Interserie, PROCAR, Le Mans Touring cars: NASCAR, European Touring Car championship, Avenir Cup, USAC Stockcars Formula Atlantic: Canada, South Africa, Britain Formula Indy: USAC Championship Trail   + CART Formula S...
3 comments
Read more

CASERTA'S HELL

  Racing history enthusiasts will readily remember some of the darkest days of the sport, when multiple drivers and spectators died on a same race. Le Mans 1955, Monza 1933, Rouen 1970, Indy 1973, Imola 1994, are just some of those sad days that remind us how thousands of people lost their lives   at race tracks or places where races were held since the late 19 th century, in spite of today’s false sense of security.   The earliest races took place on open roads, generally from one city to another. With increasing number of vehicles and the inconvenience of closing roads for racing events, soon closed circuits emerged, while the “stradale” Targa Florio insisted in remaining open for business until the 70s. Now such racing is restricted to rallies and hill climbs.   It is not surprising that it was in Italy, in spite of the veteran Monza circuit, that there was some resistance to building of purpose made tracks with a semblances of safety. Very dangerous race...
1 comment
Read more

Who invented one make championships?

I know some people who would certainly kick the butt of the inventor of one make championships, truly believing they destroyed car racing.  I dare not say what was the first international one make race or tournament ever held. For sure, there were races in the 20s or 30s, in which only Bugattis competed, albeit unintentionally.   However, the race discussed in this post was probably one of the first intentional attempts to hold a one make championship and race in the world.   The location and timing could not be more exquisite. Nowadays we are used to racing events in Indonesia, Malaysia, China, even Saudi Arabia. However, in the aftermath of World War II,  international races in places other that Western Europe or the USA could rate as madness. How about Africa? There was racing in the continent in the Pre-War period, I know. One of the most famous GP of the 30s was the Tripoli event, in Lybia, and even South Africa was visited by the Auto Union team in th...
3 comments
Read more