Ray Bellm

Last updated

Raymond Anthony Bellm (born 20 May 1950) is a racing driver from the United Kingdom.

Contents

Driving career

He began his racing career in 1980, running in historic racing series and winning the British Historic 2-litre GT class in 1983 and 1984 driving his Chevron B19 sports car. He made the move to modern sports car racing in 1984, driving for Gordon Spice. The pair founded Spice Engineering in 1985 and construct Group C chassis.

As part of the Spice team, Bellm would win the World Sportscar C2 Championship in 1985, 1986 and 1988. He was also able to share a Le Mans win with Gordon Spice in each of those three years, before finally leaving the team in 1990. [1]

In the early 1990s he moved to the British Touring Car Championship, driving for Vic Lee Motorsport, finishing fifth overall in 1991. Following Lee's arrest and imprisonment for drug trafficking, Bellm and Steve Neal co-founded Team Dynamics in 1993, eventually selling his share in the company to Neal. [2] He won the International GT championship in 1994, and the BPR Global GT Series in 1996 driving a McLaren F1 GTR to 11 wins in two years. He also won the 1991 Willhire 24 Hour at Snetterton in a BMW M3 co-driven with Kurt Luby and Will Hoy.

Since then he has returned to historics, including running the Le Mans Classic in 2004 and 2006. He also turned to rallying coming sixth in the 2000 London-Sydney Rally and in 2005 won three rounds of the British Historic Rally Championship in a Mk1 Ford Escort. [3] In 2005 he contested the British round of the World Rally Championship in Group N classed car finishing seventh. In 2006 he finished sixth in Finland and twelfth in Rally Great Britain.

He has served as chairman of the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) from 2004 to 2005, and was responsible for negotiations with Formula One Management which resulted in the successful resigning of the British Grand Prix in 2005.

Bellm also owned and ran the Silverstone based motorsport equipment retailer, Grand Prix Racewear, having bought a majority stake in 1994. [4]

In 2011, Bellm started the 106 Drivers Club, an event based company to run social road car tours for owners of the iconic 3 seater Mclaren F1. Celebrating milestone anniversaries, the 20th and 25th anniversaries attracted 22 chassis of the 103 that remain.

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

(key)

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLapsPos.Class
Pos.
1984 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Spice-Tiga Racing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gordon Spice
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Neil Crang
Tiga GC84-Ford Cosworth C269DNFDNF
1985 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Spice Engineering Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gordon Spice
Flag of Ireland.svg Mark Galvin
Spice-Tiga GC85-Ford Cosworth C231214th1st
1986 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Spice Engineering Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gordon Spice
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Jean-Michel Martin
Spice SE86C-Ford Cosworth C225719th6th
1988 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Spice Engineering Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gordon Spice
Flag of France.svg Pierre de Thoisy
Spice SE88C-Ford Cosworth C235113th1st
1989 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Spice Engineering Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gordon Spice
Flag of the United States.svg Lyn St. James
Spice SE89C-Ford Cosworth C1229DNFDNF
1994 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Bristow Racing
Flag of Norway.svg Erik Henriksen
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Harry Nuttall
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Charles Rickett
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR GT234DNFDNF
1995 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg GTC Gulf Racing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mark Blundell
Flag of Brazil.svg Maurizio Sandro Sala
McLaren F1 GTR GT12914th3rd
1996 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gulf Racing
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg GTC Racing
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Weaver
Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto
McLaren F1 GTR GT13239th7th
1997 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gulf Team Davidoff
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg GTC Racing
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andrew Gilbert-Scott
Flag of Japan.svg Masanori Sekiya
McLaren F1 GTR GT1326DNFDNF
Sources: [5] [6]

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCarClass1234567891011121314151617DCPtsClass
1990 Hawaiian Tropic Ford Sierra Sapphire B OUL
10
DON
Ret
THR
DNS
SIL
DNS
OUL SIL
DNP
BRH SNE BRH BIR
DNA
DON
DNS
THR SIL 32nd620th
1991 BMW Team Listerine BMW M3 SIL
6
SNE
2
DON
6
THR
7
SIL
5 1
BRH
7
SIL
4
DON
1

6
DON
2

2
OUL
6
BRH
1

14
BRH
2

Ret
DON
4
THR
5
SIL
6
5th90
1992 M Team Shell Racing with Listerine BMW 318is SIL
9
THR
Ret
OUL
10
SNE
12
BRH
Ret
DON
1

7
DON
2

10
SIL
6
KNO
1

6
KNO
2

8
PEM
DNS
BRH
1
BRH
2
DON SIL 13th15
1993 Team Dynamics BMW 318is SIL DON
Ret
SNE
DNS
DON
18
OUL BRH
1

13
BRH
2

12
PEM
17
SIL
14
KNO
1
KNO
2
OUL BRH THR DON
1
DON
2
SIL 29th0
Sources: [6] [7]
  1. ^ – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denny Hulme</span> New Zealand racing driver

Denis Clive Hulme was a New Zealand racing driver who won the 1967 Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his final race in the 1974 US Grand Prix, he started 112 Grand Prix, resulting eight victories and 33 trips to the podium. He also finished third in the overall standing in 1968 and 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Amon</span> New Zealand racing driver (1943–2016)

Christopher Arthur Amon was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand Prix. His reputation for bad luck was such that fellow driver Mario Andretti once joked that "if he became an undertaker, people would stop dying". Former Ferrari Technical Director Mauro Forghieri stated that Amon was "by far the best test driver I have ever worked with. He had all the qualities to be a World Champion but bad luck just wouldn't let him be".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Magnussen</span> Danish racing driver

Jan Ellegaard Magnussen is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula One World Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Newey</span> British Formula One engineer (born 1958)

Adrian Martin Newey, is a British Formula One engineer. He is the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team. Newey has worked in both Formula One and IndyCar racing as a race engineer, aerodynamicist, designer and technical director and enjoyed success in both categories.

David Paul Kennedy is a former racing driver from the Republic of Ireland. He was one of his country's first Grand Prix drivers, and is widely seen as having helped pioneer the Irish move into international racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW in motorsport</span>

Throughout its history, BMW cars and motorcycles have been successful in a range of motorsport activities. Apart from the factory efforts, many privateer teams enter BMW road cars in touring car racing. BMW also entered cars or provided engines in Formula One, Formula Two and sportscar racing. BMW is currently active in IMSA, the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200, the Superbike World Championship and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heikki Kovalainen</span> Finnish racing driver

Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and Lotus F1 teams, scoring a single victory at the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix. After leaving Formula One, he raced in the Japanese Super GT series between 2015 and 2021, where he won the championship in 2016.

Gary Patrick Ayles is a British racing driver.

Team Dynamics Motorsport is a UK-based motor-racing team based in Droitwich, Worcestershire; best known for their successes in the British Touring Car Championship, including winning the Overall Drivers title in 2005, 2006 and 2011 with Matt Neal and 2012, 2015 and 2016 with Gordon Shedden. The team was founded by Steve Neal and former driver of Vic Lee Motorsport, Ray Bellm when they acquired its assets in 1993. For the following season, Bellm, having bought a majority stake in the Silverstone-based motorsport equipment retailer, Grand Prix Racewear, also acquired a McLaren F1 GTR and went his own way.

Direxiv Co. Ltd. was a motorsports company that competed in Super GT and Formula Nippon. The company had links to the GP2 Series, then the feeder series for Formula One, and had submitted an entry to run a Formula One team in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren F1 GTR</span> Racing car

The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the naturally aspirated BMW S70/2 V12 engine. It is most famous for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where it won against faster purpose-built prototypes in very wet conditions. The F1 GTR raced internationally until 2005 when the final race chassis was retired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spice Engineering</span>

Spice Engineering was a British racing team founded by driver Gordon Spice with Raymond Bellm in the early 1980s, later becoming a successful sports car constructor in 1986. They competed in the World Sportscar Championship in Europe as well as the IMSA GT Championship in North America, at times partnering with major manufacturers such as General Motors and Honda as well as race engine manufacturer Comptech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorsport in the United Kingdom</span> Overview of motorsport in the United Kingdom

Motorsport is a popular sport in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is a key player in the world of motorsport, hosting rounds of the Formula One World Championship and Grand Prix motorcycle racing, amongst others. It is also the home of many of the current teams in Formula One, such as McLaren, Williams and Aston Martin, while teams such as Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, Alpine and Haas are also based in England. There are also a range of popular national series held such as the British Touring Car Championship and the British GT Championship amongst others. The Motor Sports Association is the official governing body of motorsport in the United Kingdom.

Robert Geoffrey Verdon-Roe is a British racing driver who has raced in various formats of motor sport throughout his career. He has won Formula Renault, TVR Tuscan and Historic Formula One Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Sugden</span> British racing driver (born 1964)

Timothy Philip Sugden is a British racing driver. He is both driver and manager for his own racing team, Tim Sugden Motorsport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Stevens</span> British racing driver

William Jonathan Richard Stevens is a British racing driver, who formerly competed in Formula One, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Toyota Racing Series and the British Formula Renault Championships. In Formula One, he made his debut at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Caterham F1, replacing Marcus Ericsson for the double points race. During the 2015 season he competed with the Manor Marussia F1 Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zak Brown</span> CEO OF THE McLAREN

Zakary Challen Brown is an American businessman and former professional racing driver, currently residing in England. He is chief executive officer of McLaren Racing.

Peter Hardman is an English racing driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Watson (racing driver)</span> British racing driver and commentator

John Marshall Watson, is a British former racing driver and current commentator from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One, winning five Grands Prix and was third in the 1982 championship. He also competed in the World Sportscar Championship finishing second in the 1987 championship. After his retirement from motorsport, he became a commentator for Eurosport's coverage of Formula One from 1989 to 1996. He currently commentates on the GT World Challenge Europe and commentated on the 2022 Miami F1 Grand Prix for F1TV.

Honda has been competing in a variety of racing series through the years, including Formula One, IndyCar, touring car racing, sports car racing and MotoGP. Currently they are involved in Formula One, MotoGP, Super GT, Super Formula, IndyCar, IMSA, BTCC, TC2000, Formula 3, Formula 4, off-road, WSBK, EWC, MXGP, TrialGP and various different GT3 and TCR series. All of Honda's motorsport activites are managed by Honda Racing Corporation (HRC).

References

  1. "Latest | McLaren Automotive".
  2. "RETROSPECTIVE>>BTCC SUPER TOURING YEARS PT.1 - Speedhunters". Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  3. "For Ray Bellm".
  4. Bio_Fiona Butterfield Archived 16 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Ray Bellm". Automobile Club de l'Ouest . Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Ray Bellm Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  7. "Ray Bellm race results". TouringCars.net. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
Sporting positions
Preceded by BPR Global GT Series
Champion

1996 with:
James Weaver
Succeeded by