Bell’s ‘ruby’ anniversary Last week, a familiar voice on my phone. "I thought you’d like to congratulate me. It’s 40 years since my first race. I thought you knew all those things!" Oh, Derek! As in Bell. Good lord, 40 years? "Yes, I drove a Lotus Seven at Goodwood, 13th March 1964. I won, too." Offhand, I can’t think of any other famous racing drivers who won their debut event, and went international the following season in Formula 3. And is there any other professional driver out there with a curriculum vitae covering four decades, and still giving the youngsters a hard time in touring cars? Volvo, one careful owner Bell, now 62 years of age and on his own admission, not that good on single laps (which costs him positions at the start), prepares to drive a Volvo S60R in the American Speedvision series, still with an on-board camera and a microphone enabling him to give viewers on-board coverage of the events. It’s a change from the Audi A4 Quattro that he’s driven in previous years, "but Volvo USA asked me if I’d be interested, and of course I am." The Volvo has a turbocharged five-cylinder engine and four-wheel drive, so it’s not going to be a back-marker. However, Bell’s car won’t be prepared in time for the opener at Sebring, so he will deliver the commentary from a chair that’s doing precisely zero miles per hour. Life isn’t slowing down for Britain’s finest long distance driver. He was calling me from a London hotel, preparing an after-dinner speech, flying next day to his second home in Boca Raton, Florida, to be with his wife Misti for her birthday, back to England next week for a dinner and speech in Crewe, than back to Florida for the Sebring 12-Hours. OK for air miles, Derek? Bentley Boy He is still a ’consultant’ to Bentley Motors, although the role has changed to ’ambassador’ since the great Le Mans 1-2 victory in June, a relentless round of speeches, dinners, dealers, presentations, just about every aspect of public relations. Bell doubts that Bentley will return to racing in the near future in any shape or form, although there was talk of interest in a GT programme in June, when adrenalin in Crewe flowed like wine. You could write a book about Derek Bell. In fact Formula One doyen journalist Alan Henry did, in 1988, possibly thinking that his professional career was drawing to a close. Perhaps it was, in terms of victories because the Porsche 962 was past its prime, and was narrowly beaten by Jaguar at Le Mans. Reelin’ in the years He was, though, the only man to have won World Championship races in the Porsche 917, with Jo Siffert, in the Porsche 936, with Jacky Ickx, and in the Porsche 956 and 962. He and Al Holbert were the only men to have won four consecutive 24-hour races at Daytona and Le Mans in 1986, at Daytona and Le Mans, again, in 1987. Ninety-six hours, unbeaten. Incroyable, as the French say, and he is a Freeman of the City of Le Mans. Five Le Mans victories went to Bell, one fewer than Jacky Ickx, but it could have been six had not his Renault’s engine failed on Sunday morning in 1978, after he and Jean-Pierre Jabouille had led for 17 hours. He won the FIA World Endurance Championship titles in 1985 and again in 1986, and for that was awarded the MBE, one of the proudest moments of his life. Safety First Bell’s safety record was almost impeccable. After his first two seasons in F3 and F2, when he admitted to having rather a lot of crashes which his step-father, Bernard (the Colonel) Hender usually paid for, he steadied up and got into the habit of winning. He has the enviable record of 26 starts at Le Mans, 20 finishes (14 of them in the top six), and no accidents at all. In fact (and I’ll write this quietly, because he is still competing) Bell has never even hurt himself in a racing car, which is a great testimony to his enormous skills in bringing the cars home in one piece, at winning speeds. Single Bell Bell drove single-seaters up to Formula One level (nine Grand Prix starts between 1968 and 1974 in Ferrari, Brabham, Surtees and Tecno) and his best F1 result was sixth place in the US Grand Prix in 1970, in a Surtees TS7. Somehow Bell’s single-seater career never properly took off, but his 42 major endurance racing victories, in World Championship and IMSA racing, mark him as a specialist long- distance man par excellence. For a man of mature years, Bell retains an enormous love of motor racing, an enthusiasm that compares that of many drivers still in their first decade. Long may he continue. |
Michael Cotton |
