Video: When Derek Bell found out how difficult rallying is

27th May 2022

Seán Ward

As well as being a man who never ages, Derek Bell is a five-time Le Mans winner, former F1 driver, regular Goodwood racer and generally a very nice human. For the 1987 RAC Rally, the final round of that year’s championship, he was a WRC driver, too.

What we have here is a short but oh-so-sweet clip from Bell in his Opel Kadett GSi. Mike Nicholson, Bell’s co-driver, is having a mighty hard time convincing Bell he knows where the course goes and the notes are accurate. This leads to brilliant one-liners like “oh Derek” and “you’ve got to keep it in the tracks Derek”. It’s funny to think that a serial Le Mans conqueror would need driver coaching, but as Bell was quoted as saying at a practice run before the main event, “it’s a camaraderie which you don’t get in car racing – I’m not used to having anybody sitting next to me telling me what to do, it's a totally different world for me”.

Sadly, a mechanical issue brought the duo’s rally to a premature end, but credit to Bell for giving it a go.

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