Derek Bell – a Porsche ambassador to this day
Derek Bell is Britain’s most successful sports car driver. He raced 26 times in Le Mans, winning five times – and four times in a Porsche.
Derek Bell is a great fit for the Porsche team. That was already true back in 1971, when he shared a Porsche 917 with Jo Siffert. Similarly, Bell won numerous victories between 1982 and 1987 – in the era of the Porsche 956 and 962 – with Jacky Ickx, Stefan Bellof and Hans-Joachim Stuck. He won the drivers’ title of the World Endurance Championship in 1985 and 1986. Porsche racing manager Peter Falk talks very highly of the Brit: ‘He was a constant and very reliable driver – not the fastest, but definitely the safest. We always knew that Bell would bring his car over the finishing line. And he could win, too.’ Falk rates the skills of the British racer on par with those of German Porsche works driver Hans Herrmann.
Derek Bell wanted to become Formula One driver. He moved to Ferrari, competing in Formula Two and then two Formula One races, even using the 512 S sports car. However, his career then faltered and he only raced for smaller Formula One teams. ‘I thought I would have some good years in Formula One. I wasn’t not good enough to become world champion, but finishing directly behind the leader was possible,’ he says in retrospect. He claims to have improved year after year throughout his career. When he ended up only marginally behind the extremely talented Stefan Bellof in 1984, he was already over 40 years old. Bell won at Le Mans in 1975, 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1987. In his view, his best race at the Sarthe circuit was in 1983, when Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell lost a lap at the start yet still came second. No Brit has been more successful than Bell at these motor races. The Le Mans in 1993 was an especially emotional experience because he shared the cockpit with his son Justin and Andy Wallace. This father-and-son undertaking ultimately resulted in a third-place finish.
Derek Bell, who has held the title of MBE (Member of the British Empire) for many years, still has close connections to Porsche today. He represents the company at many historic motor racing events. Furthermore, Bell regularly takes part in events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed, driving the same cars he used as one of the most versatile and popular racers of his generation when actively competing.
Timo Bernhard – Allrounder for Porsche
Porsche Junior, works driver, person: Timo Bernhard has won races with Porsche in all sports car categories. As Porsche brand ambassador, he also passes on his experience to young talents. Timo Bernhard and Porsche Motorsports – this connection easily belongs together. The performance of Timo and his successful career of 20 years in Porsche Motorsports is remarkable and unique. Timo is the only Porsche factory driver who counts victories in every offered sportscar category with Porsche. Timo started his Motorsport career in 1999 at the Porsche Junior programme. After being selected as factory driver Timo won the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in 2001. At the American Le Mans-Series he won the title at the GT class and has been the LMP2 champion in 2007 and 2008 with the RS Spyder sportscar. The biggest success in his career Timo achieved in 2017 by winning the overall victory with the 919 Hybrid at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – a team performance that impresses him until today. Timo also won five overall titles at the 24 Hours Nürburgring. In 2018 he positioned a new track racing record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 5:19,55 minutes with the 919 Hybrid Evo. As down-to-earth sportsman, Timo was always working hard for living his dream at Porsche Motorsports. He became one of the most successfull long distance driver and was honored in the FIA Hall of Fame in 2019. Early on in his career as professional driver Timo is working as instructor and coach on qualified trainees. Since December 2019 he was ending his career as Porsche factory driver and became Porsche brand ambassador where he can share his experiences and passion for Porsche.
Jochen Mass – From sailor to racing driver
Before Michael Schumacher or Nico Rosberg, Jochen Mass was the German with the most World Championship points. He contested more than 400 races and raced for the Porsche works team for eleven years.
Anyone who meets Jochen Mass is usually infected by his good humour. This is still the case decades after the end of his active career, when he visits classic car events all over the world as a prominent guest.
Between 1976 and 1987, Mass was a works driver for the Porsche team. His partner in many races was the Belgian Jacky Ickx. The duo won many races in various Porsches, including the 935, the 936 and also the 956 and the 962. Mass played a key role in Porsche becoming Manufacturers’ World Champion in the 1970s and 1980s. The man had nerves of steel. Even if he was harder on the material than Ickx, he rarely dropped out due to technical defects. And it was the urbane Mass who established contact between Rothmans and the head of development at Porsche, Helmuth Bott. This resulted in a close partnership over many years between the sponsor and the works racing team. Mass won for Porsche many times, just not at Le Mans. He made up for this in 1989 in a Sauber-Mercedes.
The cliché about Jochen Mass, the sailor who came from the vast ocean to the racetrack, really is true. For three years, from 1964 to 1967, the man from Bad Dürkheim was a member of the merchant navy before starting an apprenticeship as a mechanic at an Alfa Romeo dealership. When the team’s regular driver was unavailable, Mass stepped up. His career took a steep upward turn. European Touring Car Champion in a Ford Capri in 1972; a year later the European Championship runner-up in Formula 2, then the promotion to Formula 1. He drove for teams such as Surtees, McLaren and Arrows, netting 71 world championship points in 105 Grand Prix races. This makes him the most successful German Formula 1 driver in terms of points up to the Schumacher era.
After more than 400 races, the career of one of the most successful and versatile German racing drivers came to an end in 1991.
Helmut Schmid – once Porsche, always Porsche
Not one to be at the centre of attention; Schmid feels much more comfortable at the test bench: During the indelible Group C times, Helmut Hans Schmid worked as a test engineer for racing engines and he is still raving about it now, even in his retirement.
Some things never change: Helmut Schmid always has and always will enjoy cycling through the forest – especially the route from Eberdingen, where he was born on 6 June 1952, to the development centre in neighbouring Weissach. He took early retirement in 2012 after 44 years of work, and fully retired in 2015.
On 1 September 1968, the then 16-year-old began his apprenticeship as a car mechanic at Porsche in Zuffenhausen. In 1972, after just under four years in the apprentice workshop, Schmid moved to engine construction in Weissach where he worked as a mechanic, and later joined the team of the engine developer Valentin Schäffer, where he worked in electronics.
He regards the 936 with aluminium tubular frame to be the most beautiful car of his career at Porsche. “Jacky Ickx really enjoyed driving that lightweight racing car and, together with his colleagues Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with it in 1977,” recalls the father of two. Motorsport from the seventies and eighties is still unforgettable for him today. “In the era of Stefan Bellof, Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Jochen Mass, I was at many of the racetracks looking after the electronics and mechanics of the engines,” Schmid says. “In February, we were mostly in the south of France for testing; and even now I can still feel the freezing wind there – the mistral – when I talk about it,” he says, laughing.
“We were very successful in the Group C and IMSA GTP times. I like to think back to the early days with Stefan Bellof as a works driver,” says the born and bred Swabian. He has particularly fond memories of the 1000 km of Silverstone in 1983. “Shortly before the race we were experiencing problems with the engine and urgently needed material from Weissach. A colleague organised the parts for us in next to no time and we built the engine overnight. The next day, Stefan Bellof and Derek Bell triumphed in the Works Porsche 956.” The following four placings also went to Porsche 956s.
Helmut Schmid is still associated with the company today. He is involved with the Porsche Museum in an advisory capacity.
Norbert Singer – Mr Le Mans
As a visionary racing engineer and gifted aerodynamicist, Norbert Singer was instrumental in development for all Porsche victories between 1970 and 1998 – from the 917 to the 911 GT1.
“At Le Mans, a lot of things are just down to luck – or bad luck. You can’t just say: ‘Right, we are going to go out there and win!’ There are so many aspects at play that you can't control,” says Norbert Singer. And he should know. After all, as a race engineer he contributed to 16 overall victories achieved by the Porsche works team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 1970 and 1998. He never left the pit lane for longer than absolutely necessary. The masterpieces of this easygoing racing engineer read like a who's who of racing: 917, 935, 936, 956, 962 – to name just a few.
Norbert Singer was born on 16 November 1939 in Eger in the Sudetenland and grew up in Würzburg in Lower Franconia. He studied mechanical engineering with a focus on aerospace and automotive engineering in Munich and graduated with a degree in engineering. He actually wanted to become an aerospace expert, but Porsche was lucky and managed to win him over. And motorsport really won him over: In March 1970, Peter Falk – who at this time was head of predevelopment and race car development in testing, as well as test manager in series development – hired him to work in Porsche's racing department. Fun fact: “On my first day of work, someone from Porsche called our house and asked my father where I was. They had completely forgotten to inform me that my interview had been successful,” says Singer with a smile.
His first project was working on the gearbox of the 917, which had to survive the 24 Hours of Le Mans at a reasonable temperature. “But the method of cooling couldn’t create any additional drag,” Singer reports, recalling his early days at Porsche in race development. The first overall victory at the Sarthe with Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood at the wheel of the 917 demonstrates how well he mastered the task. Singer continued to apply his aerodynamic expertise to the 917 by optimising the 917 long tail, as well as the 917/10 and 917/30 turbocharged models. In the years that followed, he was responsible for many outstanding Porsche racing cars, including the 911 Carrera RSR, 935, and 935/78 “Moby Dick” models.
Developing the Group C car 956 and its successor the 962, which was based on it, count as some of the highlights of his career. In the 956, the gifted aerodynamicist and project manager pioneered an aluminium monocoque, which helped the racing car achieve ground effect – thanks to a special underbody design featuring air ducts. “The faster they went, the more the vehicles literally stuck to the asphalt. Because of the high downforce, very high cornering speeds were possible, which in turn gave us the decisive advantage in races,” says Singer, who is also regarded as a excellent tactician and strategist. From 1982 to 1986, the 956 and 962 C models achieved seven overall victories at Le Mans and also won five drivers' world championships, three manufacturers' world championships and two team world championships. Finally, in 1994, the road-legal 962 Dauer GT took another overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Norbert Singer retired in December 2004. He continues to use his expertise to assist the Porsche Museum to this day, particularly when it comes to restoring racing cars.
Hans-Joachim Stuck – a man with brains
For many years, Hans-Joachim Stuck was an integral part of the Porsche works team. Even as President of the German Motorsport Association (DMSB), he maintains close contact with fellow car enthusiasts working for racing manager Peter Falk.
Hans-Joachim Stuck, nicknamed ‘Strietzel’, has been part of the German motor racing world since 1970. The son of Hans Stuck, a master hill climber, he won the 24 Hours Nürburgring at the age of 19 with a BMW 2002. He was later a celebrated Formula Two winner at the Hockenheim circuit and went on to achieve good results in Formula One. In 1985, he joined the Porsche works team, succeeding Stefan Bellof, who focused on a career in Formula One.
For racing manager Peter Falk, this was a very good choice: ‘Stuck uses his brains and doesn’t react by putting his foot down. He understands every strategy and follows them consistently. Stuck is an exceptional driver and very popular in the team.’ The appreciation was mutual: originally from Bavaria, Stuck was a Porsche man through and through in those years. Whenever a driver was needed for tests on the track, Stuck was there.
It follows that there is a long list of convincing successes. He was endurance world champion in 1985 and winner of the highly paid Supercup with the Porsche 962 C. Additionally, he won at Le Mans in 1986 and 1987, again with the series winner in Group C. In 1993, Stuck became IMSA supercar champion in a Porsche 911. Between these victories, he was champion of the DTM in 1990 with an Audi V8 quattro. His career ended in 2011, after he came 15th in the 24 Hours Nürburgring, driving a Lamborghini with his sons Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck as well as Denis Rostek.
When asked about his major successes, Stuck first names winning the 1985 World Supercar Championship with partner Derek Bell in a Porsche 962 C. He is very satisfied with his career: ‘As a successful racer, you need to have won the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 or the 24 Hours of Le Mans at least once. With two victories in Le Mans, I am in quite a good position.’
Bernd Schneider – the late braker and his turbo career
He is one of the most successful German racing drivers of all. Many people only associate Bernd Schneider with the Mercedes-AMG brand – and yet the five-time DTM champion’s eventful past also ties him to Porsche.
He was still very young when he first started thinking about what it would be like to win. Most of all, he wanted to drive in Formula 1 and make the World Championship title his own. He first drove a kart as a five-year-old, and eleven years later, Bernd Schneider won the World Karting Championships. He honed his skills on his very own kart track, which his father built for him. A childhood dream.
Bernd Schneider was born on 20 July 1964 in St Ingbert in the Saarland. Following his success in karting, he joined the Formula Ford Junior Monoposto Series, going on to win the German Formula Three Championship in 1987. In 1988 and 1989, he participated in Formula 1 with Zakspeed. He then competed in the Sport Prototypes World Championship, driving the Kremer Porsche 962 C in 1990 and 1991. He won the Porsche Cup in 1990 and the Interseries. He then went on to join Mercedes for the last four races in 1991, competing in the Zakspeed DTM team, finding his racing home at Mercedes-AMG the following year.
“I like to think back to my time at Porsche with Erwin and Manfred Kremer. Me and the team became really fond of each other right away,” as Schneider says. “The Porsche 962 C suited my aggressive style of driving very well,” the father of three recalls. He was considered an extremely late braker, with excellent driving skills in the rain. “Because Bernd didn’t have any experience with Group C, we decided to compete in a number of additional races in the Interseries. This allowed him to get even more used to the Porsche 962 C,” as team manager Erwin Kremer said. Schneider won four races in the series, having started five times.
His move to Joest Racing in 1991 is still very much present in his mind when he describes it three decades later: “I was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the very first time, driving with Derek Bell and Giampiero Moretti, and really enjoyed competing in the IMSA sports car series.” The US had always had a great allure for him, even though, from today’s point of view, he considers his time there as possibly the most dangerous period in his life. “The cars were unbelievably fast, and the race tracks weren’t exactly safe. Nonetheless, I really had fun enjoying my life as a racing driver to the full,” says Schneider. At a race in the 1990s, he set a new speed record of 218 mph (350.8 km/h). “The fact that I reached the pole position in the same race was of no interest to the spectators – the Americans were simply too crazy about speed,” as he recalls, laughing.
With his more than 30 years as an active racing driver, Schneider will go down in history as ‘Mister DTM’. He won the German Touring Car Championship in 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006.
Schneider remains a Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador and a test driver to this day, and passes on his know-how as an instructor at the AMG Driving Academy. When he’s not at work, Bernd Schneider likes to ride his mountain bike, play golf, and enjoy being on Lake Constance in his boat. Or he kicks back and relaxes in his ‘man cave’ above the garage, a refuge for friends and his Bengal cat.
