Derek Bell is the most successful British driver ever at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although his feat of five triumphs was equalled in 2007 by Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, only his former accomplice Jacky Ickx and Tom Kristensen, with six and nine respectively, have more wins to their name. He is also a member of the very select group of just seven racing drivers who have competed in the 24 Hours on 24 or more occasions.

In addition to Ickx, Al Holbert and Hans-Joachim Stuck, Bell’s co-drivers on his five wins, he also shared the wheel with other Le Mans winners: the Australian Vern Schuppan, Geman Klaus Ludwig and fellow Englishman Andy Wallace. However, it was his partnership with Ickx that thrust the man from Pinner into Le Mans legend.

“Jacky Ickx is probably the greatest driver I drove with”

Ickx and Bell form one of just four driver crews to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans on three occasions, the others being Phil Hill/Olivier Gendebien (1958-61-62), Frank Biela/Tom Kristensen/Emanuele Pirro (2000-2001-2002) and Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (2011-2012-2014). They competed in the race as a pair on four occasions, with a runner-up spot in 1983 following their three joint wins (1975-81-82).

“I have always had great respect and admiration for Jacky,” says Bell. "He is probably the greatest driver I drove with. Not everybody liked him but he is a shy person, somewhat of an introvert. He is a charming man, incredibly talented and very versatile. He never wanted to show he was better than me. Actually we could do the same lap times. When I took over the wheel after his stint, the car was always in just as good a state as I had left it. I remember Jacky telling me twice: ‘Derek, thank you so much for being such a wonderful teammate. I could not have won without you.’ I think he meant my contribution was equal to his.”

“I had a great relationship with Hans-Joachim Stuck and Al Holbert was as vital to my racing career as Jacky”

Before forming the Le Mans-winning trio of 1986 and 1987, Bell first partnered Holbert in 1980 (13th in a Porsche 924 Carrera GT), and subsequently Stuck (third in 1985 in a Porsche 962 C).

“I am pretty easy going; I always get along with my teammates,” Bell admits. “I had a great relationship with Hans-Joachim Stück. He drives incredibly fast [Stuck held the record for the fastest pole-winning time at the 24 Hours from 1985 until Kamui Kobayashi eclipsed it in 2017]. He is outgoing, he says what he thinks and talks to everyone. The complete opposite to Jacky. We see each other quite a lot, and a few years ago, he told me: ‘They put me in your car because they wanted a calming influence to make me a better driver!’ In his own way, Al Holbert was as vital to my racing career as Jacky. Al ran his own team, ran Porsche’s racing department in America, built, tuned and prepared his own cars, drove them incredibly well and never had an accident. That kind of driver is very rare.”

“Being together on Fathers’ Day on the podium was spectacular”

In 26 starts, Bell finished on the 24 Hours of Le Mans podium no fewer than nine times. But one year will remain etched in his memory for ever – his third place with his son Justin in 1995.

“Justin had been going to Le Mans with me since the age of five. I have pictures with him on the set of the movie Le Mans with Steve McQueen," recalls the proud dad. "He won in GT with the Dodge Viper [in 1998] and it was very emotional to see him do that. We drove twice together at Le Mans [in 1992 and 1995]. I was very nervous to see him drive in the rainy conditions, but I knew by then he was capable of doing it. We should have won in 1995, but we came third. Being together on Father’s Day on the podium with Andy [Wallace, the 1988 Le Mans winner] was spectacular. All we could see were people waving flags. Finishing third with my son was even more emotional than winning five times.”

PHOTOS: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1975–1995 24 HOURS OF LE MANS – FROM TOP TO BOTTOM (© ACO ARCHIVES): Five years after competing as Ferrari works drivers in two different cars in 1970, Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx won their first 24 Hours of Le Mans as a duo at the wheel of a Gulf-Mirage prototype; in winning for the second time with Bell (left), Ickx (right) broke the record for the number of individual Le Mans triumphs; the Porsche 962 C (pictured here in 1986) brought Bell his two final Le Mans wins; the McLaren F1 GTR that Bell Senior and Junior drove to third place in 1995 with Andy Wallace who, seven years earlier, had clinched Jaguar’s sixth success at the 24 Hours.