Derek BELL

An English driver

Derek Bell, the child of a modest family, grew up in the countryside and was employed on a camping site when he started motor racing. He progressed through the categories one by one to finally take the wheel in Formula 1 for prestigious constructors such as Ferrari or McLaren. 

It was thanks to Commendatore Enzo Ferrari that Derek Bell discovered the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1970. That year, he also took on the role of technical advisor for Steve McQueen's film Le Mans.

His motor racing career became inseparable from the Le Mans race in which he took part twenty-six times between 1970 and 1996. Derek Bell holds the record for the number of finishes for a driver. He crossed the finishing line nineteen times, and was on the top of the podium on five occasions!

He was associated for the first time with Jacky Ickx back in 1975: a mythical duo had been born. They won the event again in both 1981 and 1982. Derek Bell won on two more occasions with Hans Stuck and Al Holbert following the Belgian driver’s retirement.

After the Bentley Boy Sammy Davies, Briggs Cunningham, Luigi Chinetti and Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell became the fifth driver to be made an Honorary Citizen of the City of Le Mans in 2002.

In 1995, Derek Bell entered the 24 Hours with his son Justin for one of his final appearances. He came third, and is one of his finest memories of Le Mans.