In 1995, you have raced with your son Justin. Is it something special ?
« Yes, it was spectacular to stand on the Winners rostrum with my son Justin on Father’s Day, albeit in 3rd place ! With the brilliant Andy Wallace too ! «
«You have driven at Le Mans with two French teams – Renault Sport and Courage Compétition. How was the atmosphere in these teams ? Was it different with a works team as Renault and a privateer team as Courage ?
« To drive for Renault Alpine and be the only non Frenchman was amazing, what a professional team of people, the cars were so fast and superb to drive. My immediate impression was that it was a new dynamic team intent on winning and that F1 was the next step. Our first year was disappointing for us all as JPJabouille and I were leading by a long way at mid morning only to have a cylinder go away. The second year was a great success with a wonderful victory. They were on the way !!
Courage was a different experience and by this time the cars were not so competitive but none the less superb to drive. A very compact and organised team. »
What do you think about the agreement between ACO and IMSA ? Are you more hypercars than LMDhs ?
« I’m very pleased they have begun to agree but I wait for it to be a mutual agreement with European cars coming over to USA . Hyper cars sounds very exciting but they have to get more teams interested .
Above all we mustn’t forget Le Mans is the greatest test of Endurance of man and machine. High speed is very desirable, but my concern is that the race should be affordable to Privateers as they have always supported the race and are the back Bone of the Race. »
Could we see you behind a wheel in some historic events in 2020 ?
« I cannot see myself doing much racing but always love the chance to drive race cars. My son Justin, Gunnar JeaNnette and Rodrigo Sales had a really great weekend at the Daytona 24 Classic event early December and won in the Lowenbrau Porsche 962 that i had won so many races along with Al Holbert in the 1980’s. »
Are you optimistic about the future of motorsport ?
« Motorsport is very strong But it may depended on Formula E and how successful E cars become…..!! »
You are a MBE. Is it something you are very proud of ? What does it represent to you ?
« The MBE is a great honour for me, to receive an Honour from the Queen and my Country has to be the greatest accolade. »
To conclude, what makes Le Mans very different from the other racing events ?
« Le Mans is simply the greatest and most Historic Sports car race in the World. »
We thank Derek Bell very much for his kindness.
You can find more pictures of Derek Bell’s Le Mans races, taken by our friend Christian Vignon here
