Video Tribute to Stefan Bellof...Le mans driver..

[F.M]

A driver and fatality I didn`t even know about...6.11 round the N.R isn`t slow...RIP..
What an era to be driving in though...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqFrqLBcCGk&mode=related&search=

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgtZe-iQH1U

Edited by F.M on Thursday 3rd August 19:00

[flemke]

F.M said:

A driver and fatality I didn`t even know about...6.11 round the N.R isn`t slow...RIP..
What an era to be driving in though...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqFrqLBcCGk&mode=related&search=

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgtZe-iQH1U

When Beloff hit the back of Ickx he was trying to overtake Ickx on the outside at Eau Rouge. Anyone who has driven there will appreciate how extraordinary this would have been.

At the time, there was a view held by at least some of the people closest to Bellof that he had been aggreived by something that Ickx had done and was trying to embarrass Ickx at his home circuit in the most visible way.

[F.M]

Tis better to have lived one day as a man than 100 years as a weed...
Thanks for the extra info..

A Captivating era of motorsport...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yni-W7s3Hp4&search=956

Edited by F.M on Thursday 3rd August 19:39

[kevin ritson]

Back in 1984 when Senna was famously catching Prost for the lead at Monaco in the Toleman, Bellof was catching Senna in his N/A Tyrrell..

[F.M]

Wasn`t the 6.11 time a record that stood for a good while..and significantly quicker than our man Derek Bell...?

[racefan_uk]

F.M said:

Wasn`t the 6.11 time a record that stood for a good while..and significantly quicker than our man Derek Bell...?

I thought it still stands today? I haven't checked for a while and can't remember off hand.

[jacobyte]

Yes, 6.11 still stands today.

[flemke]

The next-best time by anyone was achieved at that same round - 6:25/Ickx.

[anonymous-user]

in my opinion, bellof would have been world sportscar champion numerous times over in the eighties, he was as fast as ickx, bell and stuck and would have only got better. he had the same attitude as villeneuve or pedro rodriguez, a real driver's driver.

[Eric Mc]

The sad part of Belloff's Monaco drive in 1984 is that it would have counted for nothing. The Tyrrell team's points for 1984 were removed due to the carrying of illegal ballast.

[Joe911]

jacobyte said:

Yes, 6.11 still stands today.

Does it really stand - I thought (all word of mouth stuff) that the 6.11 was accepted by most as the fastest, but not in fact official (as it was done in practise) - and the that 6:25 of Bellof and/or Ickx (I think) was the "official" fastest. Of course all this depends on your view of "official".

Edited by Joe911 on Friday 4th August 13:16

[ninemill]

flemke said:

The next-best time by anyone was achieved at that same round - 6:25/Ickx.

Doesn't the commentary in that clip suggest that Bellof's time to beat is his team mates lap of 6:16.85?

[GarrettMacD]

Wasn't there always rumours that Bellof used to turn up the boost when doing his stints, then handing back to the other drivers who then had to complete their stint / finish the race on a low boost to conserve fuel???

Or was that just other drivers being bitchy???

14 seconds quicker than Ickx over a single lap. That works out at roughly 1 second PER MILE quicker, in an identical car, on, presumably, a similar fuel load. Either way, he wasn't hanging around...

[jacobyte]

ninemill said:

flemke said:

The next-best time by anyone was achieved at that same round - 6:25/Ickx.

Doesn't the commentary in that clip suggest that Bellof's time to beat is his team mates lap of 6:16.85?

Yes, it was Jochen Mass who did 6.16.85

As Joe911 says, these were in practice. In the race, Belloff did a 6.25.9

[anonymous-user]

incar956 video has a lap of the ring with derek bell. that lap is apparently the fifth fastest ever at the ring....

[jacobyte]

pablo said:

incar956 video has a lap of the ring with derek bell. that lap is apparently the fifth fastest ever at the ring....

During which he gets overtaken by Jacky Ickx, presumably on the 4th fastest lap ever

[kevin ritson]

GarrettMacD said:

Wasn't there always rumours that Bellof used to turn up the boost when doing his stints, then handing back to the other drivers who then had to complete their stint / finish the race on a low boost to conserve fuel???

You could probably find that was the case for a lot of young guns, out to prove a point first. Similarly, even with Tyrrell's 1984 farce of an exclusion, if the Monaco GP had run its course and assuming that none of the 3 broke down, Bellof finishing first or second would have been enough to receive the plaudits. Sadly, though the events of Spa put paid to this...

[flemke]

pablo said:

incar956 video has a lap of the ring with derek bell. that lap is apparently the fifth fastest ever at the ring....

That was a 6:41!

[flemke]

jacobyte said:

ninemill said:

flemke said:

The next-best time by anyone was achieved at that same round - 6:25/Ickx.

Doesn't the commentary in that clip suggest that Bellof's time to beat is his team mates lap of 6:16.85?

Yes, it was Jochen Mass who did 6.16.85

As Joe911 says, these were in practice. In the race, Belloff did a 6.25.9

Bellof's lap of 6:11:13 was an official qualifying lap, not practice.

I don't know what Mass did officially.

[F.M]

Just shows that the 80`s seemed to be the peak of what we could do in the last centuary...there was plenty of money flying around and the `lets slow `em down brigade and safen it until it`s not the same spectacle .. were not running the show...along with accountants..Political correctness seemed just hair brained...

I`m sure motorsport wise we could improve the times if given a free reign...Large slick, modern compound tyres...Active suspension reintroduced..turbos nitrous..no tiny capacity restrictions...( traction control banned mind you )... ..it`s possible to go faster but I don`t think we will be given the same freedoms again...without putting in 50% more effort than needed..Like running with a ball and chain round your ankle...proverbially...


The brightest candles don`t last long....