Bell grew up on a farm and helped to run the Church Farm caravan site 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 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 in a privateer Brabham BT23C fielded by his stepfather's Church Farm Racing team. After several promising performances that caught Enzo Ferrari's eye, he made his Formula One Grand Prix debut for Ferrari at Monza in 1968. He contested the 1969 Tasman Series in a 2.4 Dino, finishing 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 at Silverstone.
Bell finished second in the 1970 European Formula Two Championship, driving a Brabham BT30 for Wheatcroft Racing. In 1972 he drove for the Tecno Formula One team alongside Nanni Galli. He later raced for the Surtees team, including a sixth place at the 1970 United States Grand Prix in a Surtees TS7 — his highest finish in the Formula One World Championship. He had further drives for Surtees in 1974 and finished 11th in the 1974 German Grand Prix.
Bell also participated in the filming of Le Mans (1970) starring Steve McQueen, with Bell and his family living with the McQueen family during filming. During the making of the film, the Ferrari 512 he was driving suddenly caught fire while 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. The car was later rebuilt and continued racing at historic meets.
Bell came to sports car racing via a drive in Jacques Swaters's privately entered Ferrari 512M in the 1970 Spa 1000 km, which led to a Ferrari works drive at the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours. He also enjoyed single seaters and accepted drives in the F5000/Libre British Shellsport series and F5000 from 1976–77, including the Penske PC7 March, with additional F5000 drives in the US and Australia.
Bell won the Le Mans 24 Hours race five times: in 1975, 1981, 1982, 1986, and 1987, making him the most successful British driver in the race to that date. He was teamed with Jacky Ickx in 1975 racing the Gulf Mirage GR8, again in 1981 racing a Porsche 936, and in 1982 racing a Rothmans Porsche 956. He won the 1986 and 1987 Le Mans races teamed with Hans-Joachim Stuck and Al Holbert in a Rothmans Porsche 962.
Bell's first Le Mans was in 1970 in a works-entered Ferrari 512 with co-driver Ronnie Peterson; his last was in 1996 racing a McLaren F1 GTR. At the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours April test day, Bell achieved his highest ever speed at Le Mans, reaching a calculated top speed of 246 mph on the Mulsanne Straight in the JW Gulf Porsche 917LH.
Bell won the World Sportscar Championship title twice, in 1985 and 1986, and the 24 Hours of Daytona three times, in 1986, 1987, and 1989. He won the 1973 Silverstone RAC Tourist Trophy racing a BMW 3.0CSL with Harald Ertl. In 1984 he won the Nürburgring 1000km with Stefan Bellof racing a Porsche 956. A notable result was fourth place in the 1974 Nürburgring 1000km racing a Gulf GR7 with James Hunt on the longer 22.8 km circuit.
Bell's first victory in the Spa 1000km came in 1974 racing a Mirage M6 with Mike Hailwood. He went on to win the 1975 edition with Henri Pescarolo in the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33TT12 on the old 14 km track, and the 1984 edition with Stefan Bellof in the Porsche 956 on the shorter circuit used by Formula One. He is one of two drivers to win the Spa 1000km on both the original and current circuits, the other being Jacky Ickx.
Bell was hired as chairman for the Spectre R42 supercar project between 1996 and its demise in 1997. In 2001 he was hired to consult for the Bentley Speed 8 programme, helping Bentley to win Le Mans two years later. He splits his time between the United States and his home near Chichester, UK, with his wife Misti. He is an after dinner speaker and motorsport commentator, races in historic events, and is a global ambassador for Bentley. Bell is also an operating partner of Bentley Naples in Naples, Florida.
Bell's eldest son Justin is also a racer. The two raced together in the 1991 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bell came third with his son Justin racing the Harrods sponsored McLaren F1 GTR in the 1995 Le Mans on Fathers Day, which he has said he considers his proudest moment alongside his five Le Mans wins.
Bell returned to Le Mans to race a Porsche 962 in the Group C support race at Le Mans on 16 June 2012, his first time racing there in twenty years. He was the grand marshal at the 2014 Silverstone 6 Hours, 2010 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bell is a patron for the charities Dementia Support, Hope for Tomorrow, Mission Motorsport, and the Henry Surtees Foundation, and is an Ambassador for the Fly Navy Heritage Trust. He is also president of the Pagham Pram Race, an annual event started in 1946.
Bell received the following recognition:
BRDC Gold Star: 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987
Royal Automobile Club Plaque d'Honneur: 1985
Guild of Motoring Writers Driver of the Year: 1982 and 1985
MBE in 1986 for services to motorsport
Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2012
Inducted into the Le Mans 24 Hours Drivers Hall of Fame in 2013
Inducted into the Motor Sport Hall of Fame UK in 2016
Honorary Life Membership of the AA, presented by Lord March at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Made citizen of honor of the city of Angoulême in 2017
2017 Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 4 related images
