Stefan Bellof

Born in Gießen, West Germany, and following in his brother Georg's footsteps, Stefan Bellof made his karting début in 1973, competing in the Automobilclub von Deutschland's Federal Junior Cup, in which he ended up in fourth position. Several other top-five championship placings occurred during the next few years before Bellof claimed his first karting title, by winning the International Karting Championship of Luxembourg in 1976. In the same season, Bellof also finished thirteenth in the Karting World Championship in Hagen, Germany. Georg won the German Karting Championship in 1978, while Stefan finished in eighth position in the same race, improving to third in 1979 and becoming German champion in 1980, while dovetailing a campaign in Formula Ford.

Bellof moved into Formula Ford at the tail end of the 1979 season, as a member of Walter Lechner's Racing School setup, making his bow at Hockenheim in November 1979, where he finished in second place. A full season in the 1600cc class beckoned in 1980, and Bellof became champion taking eight victories and nine podium placings from twelve races. He continued in the series in 1981, but was not as successful as his championship-winning season, taking five wins and also made a foray into the more powerful 2000cc class, but retired from both his starts in the Lion Trophy at Zolder and the 300 km meeting at the Nürburgring. Bellof also contested three VW Castrol Europa Pokal races, of which he won one.

As well as those outings, Bellof moved into the German Formula Three Championship, making his début for Bertram Schäfer's team at Wunstorf. Despite missing the opening two races of the season, Bellof led the championship by seven points going into the final round at the Nürburgring, having taken a top four finish in each of his first eight races. Luck eluded Bellof however, as he finished the race in thirteenth position, while title rivals Frank Jelinski and Franz Konrad finished in first and second places to overhaul Bellof's points total.[3] Eleven points separated Bellof from Jelinski,[4] who claimed his second successive German Formula Three championship. At the conclusion of the season, Bellof contested the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, but was excluded from the meeting after finishing sixth in his quarter-final heat, for excessive contact. Bellof made a promise to the meeting's clerk of the course, saying that the official had "better watch my career, because I'll be back here next year and I'll win my first Formula 2 race."[5]

Bellof joined Mike Thackwell and Alain Ferté at a test session with Maurer Motorsport at Circuit Paul Ricard in France at the end of the 1981 season.[5] Eje Elgh, who finished third with Maurer in the 1981 European Formula Two Championship was present at the test and was impressed by Bellof, and recommended him to team boss Willy Maurer to sign him for the 1982 season. After acquiring a limited amount of BMW backing, Bellof assumed a place in the team, with Maurer eventually becoming his manager, having signed an eight-year management deal with Bellof.[5]

The first race of the season was the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, where Bellof qualified ninth on the grid. Sticking to his promise that he made at the 1981 Formula Ford Festival, Bellof drove through the field in showery conditions to win by 21 seconds ahead of Satoru Nakajima and became the first driver to win outright,[6][7] and second driver to win a race on his European Formula Two début after Dave Morgan won on aggregate at Silverstone in 1972. He followed this win up with a second successive triumph at the Jim Clark Gedächtnisrennen at Hockenheim, having started from pole position and achieved the fastest lap during the race.[7][8] Two points from the next six races ruled him out of the championship hunt, as he fell to an eventual fourth place classification, scoring 33 points.[9]

By comparison to his 1982 season, Bellof's 1983 season was much less successful. He made only one trip to the podium with second at Jarama while he lost another podium when he was disqualified from third place at the Pau Grand Prix, after his and teammate Ferté's cars were found to be underweight at the race's conclusion.[10] Bellof's only other points-scoring finish was fourth at Silverstone, as he finished the season in ninth position on nine points.

While competing in Formula Two in 1982, Bellof made a one-off appearance in the World Endurance Championship at the 1000 km of Spa, partnering Rolf Stommelen at the wheel of a Kremer CK5. The pairing retired from the race on lap 51, due to a problem with the starter motor.[11] The previous weekend, Bellof had joined Kremer to compete in the Hessen Cup at Hockenheim as part of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, but retired with transmission failure.[12]

A Porsche 956 being demonstrated at the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed, formerly a car shared by Bellof and Jochen Mass in the 1983 World Endurance Championship.

In 1983 Bellof joined the Rothmans-backed Porsche factory team for the World Endurance Championship driving a Porsche 956 alongside Derek Bell. Bellof and Bell won first time at the 1000 km Silverstone, beating Bob Wollek and Stefan Johansson by almost a minute,[13] having taken the lead at half-distance,[14] completing the race's duration at an average speed of 198.274 kilometres per hour (123.202 miles per hour).[13][15] Bellof's pole time for the race – 1 minute, 13.15 seconds[13] – would have put him twelfth on the grid for the British Grand Prix later in the year.[6] The next race on the calendar was the 1000 km Nürburgring in which Bellof rewrote several records at the Nordschleife. His pole time for that race of 6 minutes, 11.13 seconds[16] is unofficially the fastest lap ever driven on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in its current configuration, taking pole position by five seconds,[5] at an average speed of 202.073 kilometres per hour (125.562 miles per hour). Bellof also set the fastest lap during the race, with a lap time of 6 minutes, 25.91 seconds, which remains the official Nordschleife lap record for all cars.[17] Two laps after setting the race record, on lap 20, Bellof's 956 – chassis 956-007[18] – flipped out of the race at the Pflanzgarten.[5] Bellof added two more wins later in the season at Kyalami and at Fuji, as he ended the season in fourth position. He also added a win in the non-championship Norisring Trophäe race.

Bellof was the dominant force in the 1984 championship driving alongside Bell, with John Watson also joining the team. Bellof also contested races with Brun Motorsport with whom he won at Imola partnering Hans-Joachim Stuck. Bell and Bellof won the opening round of the season at Monza, but only after the pairing were reinstated to the results. After crossing the line first, their 956 was promptly disqualified in scrutineering with the car found to be under the 850 kg (1,874 lb) weight limit, which would also apply to the third-placed Martini Racing Lancia LC2. Appeals from both teams were lodged, with the outcome being successful.[19]

Other victories at the Nürburgring, Spa, Mosport and Sandown helped Bellof claim the World Sportscar title by eight points from Jochen Mass,[20] and also helped Porsche secure the manufacturer's title for the year; the make taking all but one victory in the season.[20] He was also champion in the German DRM series. Bellof only contested six sportscar races in 1985, taking one win at the Norisring alongside Thierry Boutsen again in DRM.

Bellof in a Tyrrell 012 at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix.

Bellof first tested a Formula One car towards the end of 1983, when he joined the top two drivers from that season's British Formula 3 Championship – Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle – in testing for McLaren at Silverstone, where Bellof damaged the gearbox before Brundle's opportunity behind the wheel.[21] Bellof did move into the championship ahead of the 1984 season, joining Tyrrell Racing Organisation, to partner Brundle in naturally aspirated, Ford-engined machinery, which were giving away in excess of 150 horsepower (110 kW) to their turbo rivals.

Bellof failed to finish in his first two races in Brazil and South Africa, before scoring his first two championship points in successive races at Zolder and Imola. A retirement followed at Dijon, before Bellof achieved a podium finish in the rain-shortened Monaco Grand Prix. Despite starting down in 20th and last place, Bellof remained away from the barriers that caught out many of his rivals, and was catching the race-leading pairing of Alain Prost and Senna[22] when the race was curtailed after 31 laps due to inclement weather conditions. At the end of the race, Bellof had been 21 seconds in arrears of Prost and 13.7 behind Senna.[23] Retirements followed in Canada and in Detroit, where Brundle claimed the team's best result of the season with second position as Bellof stuck his Tyrrell in the pit wall.[5]

However, Bellof, Brundle and the team were stripped of all their championship points, after their cars were disqualified from the 1984 season after a dispute over lead ballast in their fuel tanks found after the Detroit Grand Prix. FISA charged the team on four separate counts, but the team appealed for injunctions to allow them to continue competing in the championship.[24] Ultimately, the FIA Court of Appeal rejected their final appeal and kicked the team out of the remainder of the season.[25] Despite this, Bellof missed his home race to compete in a World Sportscar race on the same weekend at Mosport Park, where he and Derek Bell finished fourth overall and third in class.

Bellof at the 1985 German Grand Prix.

Bellof remained with the team into the 1985 season, but did miss the opening round of the season – the Brazilian Grand Prix – as Tyrrell had Brundle and Stefan Johansson in their two cars in Rio de Janeiro. Bellof returned at the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril where the weather conditions were similar to that of Monaco 1984 in which Bellof had slithered his way up to the on-the-road positioning of third place. He once again started way down the order in 21st place, but by the race's conclusion, he had managed to make it into the top six,[26] and claiming a point for the team, which would be Bellof's first as all of his 1984 results were expunged.

He failed to qualify in Monaco, the only time Bellof failed to qualify in his short Formula One career, along with his exclusion at the 1984 Austrian Grand Prix. He made amends for his error of 1984 in Detroit, by finishing fourth in the 1985 race, which would ultimately be his final three points in Formula One.[27] His final race was the Dutch Grand Prix, where his Renault turbocharged engine blew on lap 40. Tyrrell had only changed to such engines from the German Grand Prix onwards meaning that Bellof never truly had the opportunity to show his talent at the wheel of a Formula One car.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key)

^* – Tyrrell was stripped of all championship points for 1984 in a dispute over lead ballast in their fuel tanks at the Detroit Grand Prix.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)