Stefan Bellof

[Bolton Midnight]

In 1985 he died.

The race where Senna came to the fore where he was catching Prost in the rain at Monaco.

Bellof was catching Senna !!

[tinchote]

1984. He is hailed by many because of that performance. He was no doubt good, but performance in the rain has also a lot to do with setup. If the race starts with rain, some drivers may gamble with a dry setup while others go for a full wet setup. This can cause a huge difference in performance, although I'm not sure this was the case in this particular race.

Interestingly, he lost the place at the end of the year when Tyrrell was disqualified for the whole season, for running their cars underweight.

[Bolton Midnight]

He won his first two F2 races, holds the unofficial fastest lap around the old Nordschleife http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordschleife_fastest_lap_times , Ferrari were alledgedly interested in him for 86 season and was of course World Endurance Champion.

[futuretiger9]

The sad thing is that we will never know Bellof's ultimate potential in F1. I would imagine he would have left Tyrrell at the end of '85, presumably for a bigger team (Ferrari?). He may have been forced to downscale his sportscar involvement from then on.

[BorderReiver]

Hey was certainly an extremely talented driver and I beleive futuretiger9 is correct in that Ferrari were certainly having a look at him (and let's not forget that initially at least the '85 Ferrari was a very good car indeed before losing its way at the end of the year).

I could just see Bellof alongside Alboreto making a real dent in McLaren's points for the year . . .

[Easy Drifter]

I have somewhere the in car tape of the accident. The tape kept running and filming. I don't really want to watch it again. :(

[BorderReiver]

I have somewhere the in car tape of the accident. The tape kept running and filming. I don't really want to watch it again. :(

From his car? Are you certain?

I know onboard footage exists from Ickx's car, but the front of Bellof's was totally destroyed, ripped to bits and caved in on itself. I can't imagine any camera surviving that.

[Easy Drifter]

Yes. Until the fire stopped the camera.

[futuretiger9]

Hey was certainly an extremely talented driver and I beleive futuretiger9 is correct in that Ferrari were certainly having a look at him (and let's not forget that initially at least the '85 Ferrari was a very good car indeed before losing its way at the end of the year).

I could just see Bellof alongside Alboreto making a real dent in McLaren's points for the year . . .


A really quick driver such as Bellof in the car would have boosted Ferrari in the mid-80s, and may also have inspired Michele to greater things....

[William Hunt]

"'"I beleive futuretiger9 is correct in that Ferrari were certainly having a look at him "[/QUOTE]

I always thought that Bellof had already signed a deal to join Ferrari in '86 before his death.

[keysersoze]

One of my all-time favorites. To me, Gilles-like in his bravery and willingness to throw his car around.

In this pre-internet era I recall learning of his death at least two weeks after the fact, and that he died just after Manfred Winkelhock's death that summer, also in a Group C car.

[AAReagles]

In this pre-internet era I recall learning of his death at least two weeks after the fact, and that he died just after Manfred Winkelhock's death that summer, also in a Group C car.

I saw his accident when ESPN was showing taped-delayed Group C races (perhaps 4-7 days old). I also didn't find out about Winkelhock's accident, until the following saturday while watching the then operational Motorweek Illustrated with Dave Despain :up: programed on TBS.