AUTOMOBILSPORT #42

RACING | HISTORY | PASSION

ISSUE #42

COVER STORY

Stefan Bellof

Hope, lost too soon – The rapid rise of Stefan Bellof
World champion – The 1984 season
“Stefan really was exceptional” – Interview with Peter Reinisch
956 009 – Guaranteed success in endurance racing – Stefan Bellof’s world championship-winning Porsche 956
All or nothing – Derek Bell on Stefan Bellof
Cut short – Stefan Bellof’s (too) brief Formula 1 career

On its way to all subscribers on 06.12.2024.
Available in stores within the EU from 13 December 2024
Available in stores outside the EU from 10 January 2025

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Hope, lost too soon

The rapid rise of Stefan Bellof

‘He carried all of our hopes’ was the headline of Stefan Bellof’s obituary in German motorsport magazine Rallye Racing [xx Titel kursiv], following his death on 1 September 1985 at Spa-Francorchamps. And those hopes were high. A lot of people had been inspired by the young man from Giessen, with his cheerful manner, his spectacular driving style and his incredible commitment. His career was far too short, yet he still made it to the highest level, and his rise had been very quick. For Bellof, everything seemed to happen in fast forward.

The early 1980s were tough for German Formula 1 fans. Hans-Joachim Stuck’s F1 career had come to an end after the depressing 1979 season that yielded just two points for the ATS squad. Jochen Mass had returned to F1 in 1982 after a year off, but had no chance in the uncompetitive March-Ford. There was, however, hope on the horizon as Stefan Bellof won the 1982 European Formula 2 Championship opener at Silverstone. For his home race, the Jim Clark Race at Hockenheim, he put his Maurer-BMW on pole, even though the circuit with its long straights was more suited to the powerful V6 Honda motors. In the race, Thierry Boutsen charged into the lead early on, but that only lasted six laps, before Bellof took charge again and beat Boutsen by more than five seconds after the full 30 laps. Two races, two wins. Bellof had made a dream start to his F2 career. Of course, the F1 paddock took notice.

In the mid-1960s, two brothers found a new favourite toy in the yard of their parents’ panel shop: a 260 Goggomobil microcar. Georg and Stefan Bellof had been through football, skiing, squash and tennis. Now it was time to go racing. The old car didn’t last long before it ended up on the scrap heap. But the passion for motorsport had been awakened. Support in a family that loved racing was plentiful. Their grandfather had raced before the war, on a bicycle for the Opel team. Their father had taken part in hillclimbs.

Eventually, their grandfather caved in and bought the boys a cheap kart from a fun fair. In no time, ‘Goa’ Bellof and his brother Stefan (younger by a year and a half) were setting lap records around the company premises. Their mother once described the differing natures of the boys: ‘When Stefan and Georg were skiing and the slalom course opened for inspection, Georg would walk the course, very focussed, and then ski down it with confidence. Stefan, on the other hand, would end up in a snowball fight or something, and would then either win the slalom or mow down every single pole.’ …

Cut short

Stefan Bellof’s (too) brief Formula 1 career

‘Only the good die young,’ sung Billy Joel back in 1978. Lyrics that apply perfectly to Stefan Bellof. Like so many famous musicians (Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain), Bellof is part of the 27 Club, those who passed away at 27 years of age. He only had a year and a half to showcase his skills in Formula 1. To this day, many experts are adamant that with more time, he could have been Germany’s first F1 world champion. Possibly with Ferrari. But it wasn’t meant to be.

‘What Formula 1 is missing,’ Bernie Ecclestone quipped in 1988, ‘is a black man, a woman, a Chinese and a fast German.’ He was never known for his political correctness. Ecclestone had already had a fast German, but unfortunately, Stefan Bellof’s time in F1 was too short to have prompted a wave of popularity for the sport throughout Germany, as was the case with Michael Schumacher years later.

The German Formula 3 series wasn’t necessarily on the radar of the mostly British F1 team owners in the early 1980s, but Bellof did manage to catch their attention by winning the first two races of his debut Formula 2 season, something nobody had ever achieved. His first chance at the big time was a test with McLaren at Silverstone at the end of 1983, where he was joined by the two top finishers from British F3 that year, Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle. ‘I’m not sure any of us were entirely ready for that test,’ said Brundle in a 2010 interview with Autosport [xx Titel kursiv] magazine. ‘I remember getting in the car after Stefan and he’d taken the corners off the dog rings in the gearbox.’ …

Special stage

The Ferrari 308 in rallying

A Ferrari on a rally special stage seemed inconceivable in the 1970s. After the 1973 season, when the 312 PB was beaten by Matra in the World Championship for Makes, Ferrari agreed with Fiat to concentrate solely on Formula 1, directing all their resources towards winning another F1 title, something they had not achieved since 1964. GT racing saw some privateer 365 GTB4 Daytonas during the period, but the works programme was all about Formula 1.

There had been a spectacular participation of a 275 GTB at a snowy Rally Monte Carlo in 1966; driven by Giorgio Pianta and Roberto Lippi, despite the weather being decidedly unsuited to a powerful GT, the yellow 275 had proved to be surprisingly fast until retiring on the third stage with transmission failure. Needless to say, the unique Ferrari, with chassis number 06003, achieves top results at auctions today. After 1966 more than 10 years passed before there was another Ferrari entry at an important rally.

Giuliano Michelotto operated a small but quite successful workshop in Padua since 1969, specialising in the preparation of various cars, the last of which was the Lancia Stratos. The partnership was highly successful, with Michelotto Stratos scoring 30 wins and three championship titles with drivers such as Adartico Vudafieri, Antonio Fassina and Giuliano Altoé. Since he had experience working on the Ferrari Dino engine used in the Stratos and was by now operating a Ferrari service point, Giuliano Michelotto began considering a switch to preparing Ferraris instead of the Stratos. In addition to the honour of working for the illustrious brand from Maranello, the prospect was enticing in other ways as well: Michelotto believed that the 308 GTN would be superior to the Lancia in several key areas. A longer wheelbase was expected to provide better handling on fast sections, while the windscreen allowed for better visibility than the attractive but somewhat impractical solution used on the Stratos …