Derek Reginald Bell MBE (born 31 October 1941 in Pinner, Middlesex, England) is a British racing driver.
In sportscar racing, he won the Le Mans 24 hours five times, the Daytona 24 three times and the World Sportscar Championship twice.
He also raced in Formula One for the Ferrari, Wheatcroft, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno teams. He has been described by fellow racer Hans-Joachim Stuck as one of the most liked drivers of his generation. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born in 1941, in Pinner, Derek Bell grew up on a farm and his early encounters with driving included a tractor and Willys Jeep plus a drive in his stepfather’s Jaguar XK150 while on a trip to 1959’s Italian Grand Prix though he didn’t sit in a race car until he was 22. After marshalling some races at Goodwood, plus raising money to have some lessons at Jim Russell Racing Drivers’ School at Snetterton he started racing in 1964 with a Lotus Seven, after encouragement from his stepfather Bernard Hender. He promptly won his first race at Goodwood in March that year, which was held “in teeming rain. I started off with lots of much faster cars behind me, like Hugh Dibley’s Brabham BT8, and I waited for them to come steaming past, but they all spun off.” With the support of Bernard’s Church Farm Racing team he graduated to F3 the following year with a Lotus 31 and had a win and second at Goodwood, a class win at Castle Combe and second at Brands Hatch. He also raced a Marcos GT and took a class win at Brands Hatch. After starting with a Lotus 41 in 1966, a switch to a Brabham BT21 saw wins at Goodwood and Brands Hatch plus podiums at Goodwood, Silverstone and Oulton Park. He teamed with Peter Westbury the following season and it proved a successful year, with victories in the Brabham at Zolder, Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Silverstone, Castle Combe and Oulton Park in continental races had podiums at Monaco, Barcelona, Nogaro, Chimay, Clermont Ferrand and Albi. At the end of the year he was second in the Grovewood Awards. Hoping to move into F2, he struggled to raise finance but after securing a bank loan he embarked on a European series with a Brabham BT23, a mechanic (Ray Wardell) and a truck with Church Farm Racing painted on the side. His first race was at Hockenheim where he qualified fifth but the event would be overshadowed by Jim Clark’s tragic accident. Derek was staying in the same hotel as Jim Clark and Graham Hill, and they gave him a lift to the track and dropped him off in the paddock. Later, although he heard he had crashed, he didn’t realise how bad it was and only realised when he saw his mechanic carrying one of Jim Clark’s driving shoes.
At the following races, he finished third at Thruxton and the Nurburgring and his performances had attracted the attention of Enzo Ferrari, and after a successful test at Monza, he was placed in the works F2 team. Ferrari entered him in the F2 Monza Lotteria, where he started on pole, but in the race his car spun and three of the four Dinos in the race were taken out. He told how “I hadn’t signed my contract. I went miserably home thinking that was that, but Ferrari didn’t blame me. in fact they were pleased with his pole position and gave him a bonus cheque.” He shone at Zandvoort and seemed set to win until his gearbox failed and after doing five F2 races for Ferrari he had an F1 test at Modena. The pressure was on him as it was raining on the day, Enzo Ferrari was watching and Mauro Forghieri told him if he crashed it would be the last time he drove a red car! However, the test went well and he found himself alongside Jacky Ickx and Chris Amon at Oulton Park’s Gold Cup and in the race he was running fifth until he had gearbox problems. Three weeks later would be his first Grand Prix, at Monza, and he drove well to qualify eighth on his debut but retired after four laps due to a fuel system failure. A second race came at the US GP, at Watkins Glen standing in for an injured Ickx, though he retired from the race with a blown engine. During his time with them, Ferrari drivers weren’t given Ferrari road cars so he bought a second-hand Jaguar E-type and told how “I took it down to Maranello..The place went mad, all the mechanics rushing over to see this beautiful machine.” He went on to race a Dino Ferrari in the Tasman Series and acquitted himself well, with second place finishes for Scuderia Veloce in February’s Australian GP at Lakeside and twice at Warwick Farm. While down under he met Tom Wheatcroft, who was there looking for cars to buy, and he told him to contact him if he ever needed help.
Despite having a contract for 1969, he only raced for Ferrari at the non championship F1 Daily Express race at Silverstone, finishing ninth in the pouring rain and then Ferrari released him to drive the 4WD McLaren M9A in the British GP. Having never sat in the car before until he drove in practice, in the race he only completed half a dozen laps before the suspension collapsed. He described the car as unmanageable while Bruce McLaren himself said driving it was like ‘trying to write your signature with someone constantly jogging your elbow’. Derek was helped at this point by Tom Wheatcroft and competed in the Tasman Series with his Brabham, “using an old 2.5 DFV we bought from Lotus. The engine was rebuilt as a 3-litre and we did the Belgian GP, but the gearchange broke on the warm-up lap.” Describing his season, he told how “John Surtees offered me a drive at Watkins Glen if I could supply the engine and Tom lent him the same old DFV and, even though I had to slow towards the end with a terrible transmission vibration, I was sixth in the TS7 (his highest finish in the World Championship). He persuaded Tom Wheatcoft to do an F2 season with a BT30, run from Church Farm with Mike Earle, and “we nearly won the European Championship, I won Barcelona and I was third to Stewart and Rindt at Thruxton. I drove Tom’s March 701 in the Argentine GP, got up to third before that old engine broke again. And the Questor GP in the US, with a Frank Williams March. The suspension broke.” He made his debut in the World Sportscar Championship when Jacques Swaters asked him to drive the Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 512S in the Spa 1000Kms. He and Hughes de Fierlandt finished eighth, behind the Porsche 917s and the works Ferraris, despite the car catching fire during a refuelling stop, “I couldn’t get out because the inside door wire had broken. A mechanic smashed the window with a fire extinguisher, got me out, they put the fire out, I got back in and carried on with singed eyebrows and a scorched face.” The pair also raced the 512 in the Kyalami 9 Hours, and took a sixth place finish. The year saw his first appearance at Le Mans, where he was initially intending to race Ecurie Francorchamp’s car, but after being offered a works Ferrari drive Jacques magnanimously told him to accept the ride. He was teamed with Ronnie Peterson in a Ferrari 512S, though they failed to finish after their engine failed after 4 hours. During this time he took part in the filming of the Le Mans movie and he and his family lived with Steve McQueen’s family during it, with the two becoming friends. Derek had a lucky escape during the making of the film when the Ferrari 512 he was driving suddenly caught fire whilst getting into position for a take. He managed to get out of the car before it was engulfed in flames and suffered minor burns. During this period, he was also racing in F2 at weekends and one time when his car was on site, McQueen tried the car for several laps of the Bugatti circuit. On another occasion, he and Jo Siffert were driving and came across a person lying in the middle of the track with a camera and on returning to the pits and complaining they discovered it was actually McQueen. There were humorous moments with each attempting to catch out the other. He and Siffert were racing, with McQueen in between them in a 917, but he was trapped between them as they took White House nose to tail. He was unable to lift and when they eventually stopped, he was as white as a sheet. Sometime afterwards, while not filming he and McQueen rode off on motocross bikes into the sand dunes. Arriving at a small hill, he rode on his back wheel to the top, disappeared, then reappeared and told Derek to try it. But once he arrived at the top the ground disappeared and he dropped into a garbage tip. McQueen’s laughter made him realise he had had his revenge!
After successfully testing for John Wyer at Goodwood, he was teamed for 1971 with Jo Siffert in the Porsche 917. They won the Paris and Buenos Aires 1000Km plus had podiums at Barcelona, Spa, Monza, Brands Hatch and Watkins Glen. Sadly, Siffert was killed later in the year racing a BRM at Brands Hatch. At his funeral in Switzerland, a JW Porsche led the hearse and procession through the streets of Fribourg and was attended by 50,000 people. Alongside his endurance racing Derek also contested F2 with a March 712M and had podium finishes at Monza, Thruxton and at the Columbian GP at Bogota. In all his years at Le Mans, he achieved his highest ever speed there in 1971 at the test day, reaching a calculated top speed of 246 mph on the Mulsanne Straight. Having found his calling in endurance racing, he continued in 1972 with John Wyer, racing their Mirage M6 and his best result was third at Watkins Glen. He took a victory and podium at Jarama and Nogaro with an Osella Abarth and there were also F5000 races with Sid Taylor’s M10B at Watkins Glen and Road America (finishing third). In F1 he raced a Tecno though only started the German and US GPs and both times the engine failed. However, he was unimpressed with the car even in testing (at Pirelli’s track in Turin towards the end of 1971) describing how “the track was used to test truck tyres and he you would be beheaded as you slipped under the guard rail. I wasn’t prepared to drive it fast though I went as quick as I could..It ran, but it wasn’t outstanding”. It was hoped the team’s sponsor Martini would eventually sponsor Brabham, with Derek being number two to Carlos Reutemann but this never materialised.
Derek Bell – Master of Endurance – from 
