Bellof, Stefan

[Lee Janotta]

Stefan Bellof's record on the Nurburgring Nordschliefe still stands, set in a works 956.

The guy died young, but he was phenomenal in those few short years he was on the scene.

[paulzinho]

Ah yes, who could forget Bellof!

Such a shame he went so young but he did so attempting the seemingly impossible, a move around the outside of eau rouge, that takes balls and sadly it cost him his life.

[TimD]

Bellof - one of my absolute favourites from the mid-eighties. And he was the only F1 driver who gave me the time of day as a teenage fan snooping round the Brands Hatch garages.

[Peter Mallett]

Sadly Bellof was a star who had his career cut short. So whilst I believe he would have achieved greatness he didn't so I don't look at him in the same light as other great drivers.

[John Turner]

Stefan Bellof was born in Giessen, Germany, on 20 November, 1957, and died during the 1985 Spa 1000kms, on 1st September. His death was the result of a highly risky overtaking manoeuvre which rather defined him, as a driver. In the current F1 Racing issue (January 2007), he is placed 19th in their list of Top 50 quickest drivers ever, but in reality, I think he should be top. He was, as I have said earlier, simply too fast for his own good.

He started 20 GPs and had point scoring finishes in just 2.

In the F2 Chanpionship, he finished 4th in 1982 and 9th in 1983. He scored two fine wins in 1982, at Silverstone (International Trophy), and Hockenheim (The Jim Clark Trophy).

His best results were in sports cars however, winning at Silverstone, Fuji, and Kyalami in 1983 and at Monza, Nurburgring, Spa, Imola, Fuji and Sandown Park, in 1984, a year which saw him crowned World Sports Car Champion and German Racing Champion.

[minimangler]

Originally Posted by John Turner

In the current F1 Racing issue (January 2007), he is placed 19th in their list of Top 50 quickest drivers ever, but in reality, I think he should be top. He was, as I have said earlier, simply too fast for his own good.

Agreed; he was stupidly fast! But that is the kind of driver we miss in motorsport; like Gilles and, to an extent, James Hunt.

[davyboy]

Stefan Bellof was a driver of prodigious talent. Ken Tyrrell rated him as one of the greatest pilots that he'd seen, however as John T. said, Bellof only knew one way to drive and that was totally flat out. In the 'economy run' days of Group C, Bellof often ignored fuel strategies thereby making his team-mates look far inferior as they tried to keep the gas in check through the length of a 1000Km endurance race. Sadly, many people agreed that it would have only been a matter of time before he would have killed himself and tragically that's what happened as he clashed with Jacky Ickx at Eau Rouge behind the wheel of the Schiesser Porsche. A few years before that he had a monster off in an F2 car at the same place. I think it was a Maurer or something. Its often said that Bellof could have been the great rival to Senna in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Though it makes for a wonderful ideal, I really don't think he would have ever adjusted his all or nothing style to match the consistency of the Brazilian... but as a raw driving talent goes... he was one of the greatest.

[krt917]

I do feel inclined to agree with those that suggest Bellof was too fast for his own good. The '83 Nurburgring Sportscar race perhaps sums him up best. Blindingly fast in qualifying with a 6m11s lap (still the all-time record I believe), he and Bell were leading the race when he pumped in a fastest lap of 6m25s. The next lap he wrote the car off. As has been said, he didn't know when not to be fast.

[Andy77]

I liked the Monaco 84 GP. It was quite amazing how Senna and Bellof, who came from the back of the grid, hunted Prost in the heavy rain. After 30 laps or similar, the race got stopped, and wasn't restarted, at a point where Prost got under heavy pressure from Senna and Bellof. Bellof was even faster than Senna and most probably would have got both Senna and Prost a bit later....

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by Andy77

I liked the Monaco 84 GP. It was quite amazing how Senna and Bellof, who came from the back of the grid, hunted Prost in the heavy rain. After 30 laps or similar, the race got stopped, and wasn't restarted, at a point where Prost got under heavy pressure from Senna and Bellof. Bellof was even faster than Senna and most probably would have got both Senna and Prost a bit later....

One of Prosts luckier wins. I sometimes wonder what Stefan Bellof would have acheived if he had lived. A real talent and racer.

[chunterer]

Bellof almost certainly would have joined those two as one of the top 5 or 6 drivers throughout the remainder of the 80's and into the 90's.

But then we don't know what he would've done given top line equipment - i refer you to the many cases of when drivers with potential flop when they get the big chance. I suspect Mr Bellof wouldn't have had a problem though he was quite fearless and had ability to spare.

Yes Monaco '84 was a good race even Mansell could've won if he'd kept away from those white lines!!

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Bellof almost certainly would have joined those two as one of the top 5 or 6 drivers throughout the remainder of the 80's and into the 90's.

But then we don't know what he would've done given top line equipment - i refer you to the many cases of when drivers with potential flop when they get the big chance. I suspect Mr Bellof wouldn't have had a problem though he was quite fearless and had ability to spare.

Absolutely!!

[John Turner]

I think the trouble with Bellof, though, was that he just didn't know when not to push too hard. He was simply too fast for his own good (ask Derek Bell amongst others). You can't drive as close to the edge as he did virtually all the time without the tragic consequences that eventually caught him out. Rather unusually, I find myself disagreeing with Alan about Monaco, since had Bellof caught Senna, I think the likelihood was that you had the irrestible force meeting the immovable object, taking each other off, so Prost would still have won!