Stefan Bellof Dies In Fiery Crash At Spa - September 1, 1985

November 20, 1957 - September 1, 1985
Stefan Bellof  

(Photo; autonewsinfo.com)

Born in Giessen, West Germany.

Best known for setting the fastest lap ever on the Nordschleife configuration at the Nürburgring in 1983, driving a Porsche 956. He was the winner of the Drivers' Championship in the 1984 World Sportscar Championship, driving for the factory Rothmans Porsche team. He also competed with the Tyrrell Formula One team during 1984 and 1985.

Regarded as a likely future Formula One World Champion, Bellof was racing at the 1000 km of Spa World Sportscar Championship race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on 1 September 1985, the seventh race of that season's championship. Bellof was making his fourth appearance of 1985 in the series, despite there not being any clashes with his Tyrrell campaign in Formula One. Partnering Thierry Boutsen as he had done in his other appearances during the season, their Brun Motorsport Porsche 956 would start the race from third on the grid, 0.86 seconds adrift of the pole position-winning Lancia LC2.

On lap 78, Bellof was racing Jacky Ickx's works Porsche 962C from the La Source hairpin on the run to Eau Rouge corner. Both drivers had just commenced their stints in their respective cars after Boutsen and Jochen Mass started them. Entering the left kink of Eau Rouge, Bellof moved to the left of Ickx in an attempt to set up a pass for the immediate right-hand Raidillon corner up the hill. Bellof's right front came into contact with Ickx's left rear, and both drivers spun into the barriers. Ickx's car hit the wall on the right rear side, while Bellof's car went straight into the barriers, breaking through and hitting a secondary wall. The Brun Porsche caught fire moments after the wreck, while Ickx was able to climb unaided from his car and attempted to help safety workers in extricating Bellof. During the caution period, members of the Brun team also arrived to aid in the rescue. With smoke pouring from the wreckage, the emergency medical team struggled for over 10 minutes before extricating him. Bellof was pronounced dead of massive internal injuries after he had reached the track hospital.

Out of respect for Bellof, the race organisers chose to end the event some 150 kilometres earlier than planned. The entire incident was recorded on an in-car camera that Ickx's 962C was carrying. Even after the accident, the camera continued to work, and was pointed in the direction of Bellof's wreckage. The accident involving Bellof was the second in the space of three weeks in which a driver was killed at the wheel of a Porsche. At the previous World Sportscar race at Mosport Park in Canada, Fellow West German and F1 driver Manfred Winkelhock died of severe head trauma after crashing into a concrete wall while at the wheel of a Kremer Racing-run Porsche 962C. Many of the customer teams had concerns with using the 956 for the remainder of the season, and the 956 was eventually withdrawn from the series by the end of the 1986 season, taking victory on its final start at the 1000 km of Fuji.

After Bellof's death at Spa, teams became unwilling to allow their expensive drivers to compete in other races that were not part of the championship. Fellow Formula One driver Jonathan Palmer was injured in an unrelated accident during a free practice session at the same meeting, with the result being that many teams would have drivers' contracts tightened to prohibit them from competing outside their respective championships. Bellof's talent had been noted by many of the rival teams that he had been competing against in Formula One, including an offer from Ferrari for the 1986 season, with a meeting scheduled with Enzo Ferrari before his death.

Today, he is often mentioned as Michael Schumacher's childhood racing idol, and during an interview for the January 2007 issue of the 911 and Porsche World magazine, teammate Derek Bell felt Bellof's death was caused by lack of discipline in his driving style, and that the blame for his death lay with those around Bellof, including team personnel, who should have allowed him to mature.

In 2010 Bellof's family donated his racing mementos to the local Sammler und Hobbywelt museum for public display. The donated items included his go-kart from his early racing days, his racing overalls and helmets from his works Porsche and Tyrrell days and trophies. There is a karting circuit named in his honour known as Motorsportarena Stefan Bellof, located in Oppenrod.

In 2009, a poll of 217 Formula One drivers chose Bellof as their 35th greatest Formula One driver, in a survey conducted by British magazine Autosport.

In August 2013, Bellof was honored after management of the Nürburgring renamed the section of the Nordschleife previously known as Pflanzgarten III as the Stefan-Bellof-S.

(photo credit: mangopulp2008 via photopin cc)
D Bell, S Bellof - Porsche 956-009 Rothmans Group C - 1984

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