Stefan Bellof vs Jacky Ickx

Never heard of that. I was a big fan of Bellof but wouldn't blame Ickx. Eau Rouge is dangerous at full speed. **** happens.

Mass vs Villeneuve is a different story.

 

For all I remember, Bellof intended a very optimistic overtaking at the entry of Eau Rouge, trying to pass Ickx on the left, towards the apex of the first bend. This was the racing like, and exactly where Ickx was going.
The 2 cars made contact. Bellof's right front wing hitting against Ickx's left rear wing.
The blow sent Bellof's car sideway at 90° left with his Porsche hitting the guardrail at almost unabated speed.
The crash bend the Porsche chassis and the cockpit was absolutely crushed. Presumaby Bellof died instantly.
The other car spun and hit the guardrail backwards further down; protected by his engine, Ickx was conscious and got out by himself.

At that time, Jacky Ickx was somewhat aloof, and probably refused to comment or admit any responsability.
Probably Spa 85 was just a racing incident for him. Remember, this was a period where many drivers died.
Years later, he said he knew that Bellof was behind him, after looking in his mirrors between La Source and Eau Rouge, but no more.
It's possible that Bellof caught Ickx faster that expected and he was unaware of the intended pass.
Overtaking at Eau Rouge is possible for a car with superior speed, and it's seen quite often in races with mixed categories, as long as the driver who is overtaken doesn't defend his line.
Bellof and Ickx raced almost the same type of car; Ickx a 962for the factory car, Bellof a 956B for Walter Brun.
Bellof had been factory driver the year before (I believe), and won the endurance championship for Porsche.
A relatively newcomer at Porsche, Bellof may have upset some people, being faster than previous stars like Stuck, Bell or Ickx .
Bellof's contract with Porsche wasn't renewed in 1985 because of his commitment with Tyrrell in F1.

 

September 12, 2010.
https://www.dhnet.be/archives-journal/2010/09/13/ickx-chez-la-veuve-bellof-MCRZFC66SJDATGQIYP7PMRK4TU/

Lors d'une récente interview accordée à un quotidien allemand à l'occasion des 25 ans de la disparition de son mari, Angelika, la veuve de l'espoir allemand Stefan Bellof, tué en 1985 à la suite d'un accrochage avec Jacky Ickx au pied du Raidillon lors d'une course de Sports Prototype, a révélé : "Il y a trois ans, Mr Ickx a un jour sonné par surprise à ma porte. On s'est souvenu du passé et on a pleuré ensemble. Je ne lui en veux pas. C'était un accident, cela fait partie des risques de ce métier dangereux."

In a recent interview with a German daily newspaper on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of her husband's death, Angelika, the widow of German hopeful Stefan Bellof, killed in 1985 following a collision with Jacky Ickx at the foot of the Raidillon during a Sports Prototype race, revealed: "Three years ago, Mr Ickx rang my doorbell one day by surprise. We remembered the past and we cried together. I don't blame him. It was an accident, that's part of the risks of this dangerous job."

Later (= 2023), Jacky Ickx himself:

https://heroeslife.fr/2372-les-confessions-de-jacky-ickx/

« I was implied, even if I don’t feel guilty of anything ; but I regret not having had the thought that his attack would come, even if that was unpredictable, as we were both low on gas, and only just had to finish the race ; there was no reason for me to anticipate an overtake attempt, especially at this place of the track ; I don’t feel guilty, but sad »


https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-2011/78/lunch-with-jacky-ickx/

[…] In 1985, in the Spa 1000Kms, Jacky was innocently involved in the accident that cost the life of the young German charger Stefan Bellof. As Ickx’s factory Porsche led Bellof’s Brun car up the hill into Eau Rouge, Bellof tried an impossible overtaking manoeuvre and they collided. Both cars were destroyed: Ickx escaped with light injuries, but Bellof was trapped in the wreckage for 20 minutes, and died shortly after. Jacky was deeply upset: “There are some things you never forget. Although you are completely innocent, you are still part of it, you cannot stop saying to yourself, ‘If, if’. He was a charming boy, very promising, a rising star. Ken Tyrrell was promoting him, like he promoted me 20 years before. My decision to stop racing came naturally after that. If you are realistic you allow these things to push you towards a decision.” He scored his final Porsche victory, sharing a 962C with Mass in the Selangor 800Kms in Malaysia. Then, just before his 41st birthday, he retired. […]




Rgds

 

I watched the accident live as it happened back in the day. To me I never saw it any other way but a racing accident at very high speed in a dangerous section of track. I don’t see fault for Ickx

 

I had just spent the summer as a marketing trainee at Citroen Germany in Cologne/Koeln. I was on my way home to Paris and made a detour on that day, a Friday, to see Spa. I did not know the 1000kms were that weekend, pure luck. I was shocked and thrilled to see them practicing when I arrived and I watched part of the afternoon, before resuming my long drive to Paris that day. Bellof was mesmerizing to watch in Eau Rouge, really caning the car on the absolute limit.

A few weeks before I had managed to get a VIP pass at the German GP at the Nurburgring, August 4, where Alboreto won for Ferrari.

Before the race on the grid I saw Bellof up close waiting calmly near his car. Francois Hesnault, not the fastest blade in the drawer, drove a third Renault with an experimental camera, starting from the back. I was one of a circle of people looking at camera preparations when someone leaned on my shoulder and that of the next person and teased him hard out loud: "Don't break ze kaar and zee kamera ja!" It was Manfred Winkelhock. Hesnault responded furiously in English in a better accent: "F.U."

Eight days later Winkelhock died on the 12th having crashed the day before during the 1000km race in Mosport Canada.

On the sunday of Spa, 1st September 1985, I was coming down the stairs in our house here in Burgundy, (having driven on down there from Paris on the saturday) when my father walking through the lobby said: "Bellof just killed himself." He could be blunt and that floored me.

Of course de Angelis, whom I saw retire during the GP back at the Nurburgring out on track and board a flatbed with his car, had less than a year to live and Alboreto about 16 years. Oh and there was that Brazilian chap in the black Lotus who led initially before retiring...he had another 10 years to live....

No one has ever accused Ickx, that would be nonsense. I also know someone who saw Ickx crying later in the paddock. Stefan tried a crazy move and paid the worst prize. What people don't realize is that back then there was the concrete corner of a grandstand base right behind the guardrail he hit head on having spun all the way around. See reference below:

http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=22

 

Here is a story about just how much of a Gentleman he is.

Some may recall that at Le Mans 1970 there was a bad nighttime accident around 1:30am when Ickx crashed a factory 512S longtail in the rain just before the pits, into a marshal's post. Unfortunately one of the marshals, Jacques Argoud, was asleep so unlike the others who were able to jump out of the way he was killed.

What few people know is that subsequent to that Ickx offered to the widow to pay the scholarship of her children. She turned him down but anyway he had made the offer which is a beautiful gesture. It was not his fault that marshal's post was so vulnerable. Different era...

Here he is is before the start, then during the race. 3rd photo was taken the morning after.



Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Lauda - Hunt "rivalry" was certainly exaggerated by the press and for its own benefit; after all, they knew each other well, having even shared a flat in England if my memory serves me well. Certainly their rivalry was tense, as there was a World Championship title at stake, and the press of both countries didn't help, plus the difficult consequences of the disqualifications in the Spanish, British, Italian Grand Prix didn't help either, making multiple rebounces during the season, nor did, of course, Niki's Nürburgring accident, but I don't believe there was a true "rivalry" between them as human beings. I think you are probably right by taking this one as a starting point, though.
But there were bitter rivalries even before that: remember Surtees and Parkes at Ferrari...

Rgds

 

Very very sad stories about drivers.
Thanks Marc !

 

I’ve met Ickx on several occasions, both he and his wife are about as nice and pleasant a people on earth. He is always first class and very gracious with his time, a first class gentleman.

 

That's the bottom line, IMO.

 

There were no front wings on those cars.

 

LOL They had enclosed wheels !

 

What is a "wing" to an englishman is a "fender" in the U.S...hence Pedro's confusion, I think.
(Same word in French than in English, by the way: "aile", which is "wing" also).
I'm told that nowadays what was once a "wing" in the U.K is now often called a "quarter panel" (?)

Rgds

 

Aileront in French...or spoiler in english, but i never hear front wing instead of fender, i confess that's new to me!

 

Trunk in the US, boot in Britain
Fender in the US, wing in UK
Hood in the US, bonnet in the UK
Two countries divided by the same language.

 

Skedule(schedule) in the U.S.

Chesdule(schedule) in the U.K.

 

Here the french and english langage differ somewhat:
"aileron" in french, as applied to cars, is "a small wing", meaning, the front, or rear, wing of an F1 car or any small aerodynamic surface, such as a roof spoiler, or a boot spoiler, etc... (or a control surface on the wing of an aeroplane) but it cannot be the quarter panel.
The "fender" (American english) does not allow for confusion either.
In the King's english, "wing" is always "aile" in french (= "wing") but not "aileron"; it is the same word as the wing of an aeroplane, but in french you cannot confuse l'aile et l'aileron: that is, "aile avant droite" is the front fender; l' "aileron avant" is the front wing (as "spoiler) but not a quarter panel. Whereas in the King's english, both are "wing".

Rgds'

 

1990's anecdote in Florida.

I knew this grease monkey technician who made fiberglass Porsche bodywork and alloy wings (aerofoils). I say grease monkey when someone has a very messy workshop, his was. He was European, very rough around the edges, very uneducated, based in Florida and spoke three languages very badly; his own, another European language and English.

A British privateer Porsche team contacted him a couple of months before the Daytona 24 hours to order wings to be delivered to them in the paddock when they arrived from the UK before practice.

You guessed it, typical linguistic misunderstanding, they had meant fenders and he delivered them rear aerofoils...!

 

I guess we never stop learning, and i honestly had no idea that a fender could mean wing, i knew a fender or quarter panel, but never imagined it could be the same as a wing (aerofoil)....no doubt this is one of the interesting things about being in a foreign forum.
For example in Portugal, a "fender" is named "guarda lamas" wich means "mud guard" in direct translation to english.

 

Car parts are not one of the main things we learn at school, and i had far less years of French classes than i did of English. So in this particular department "cars" i probably have more vocabulary in english than in french even if my proficiency is about the same on both languages.

 

"Mud guard" is still used for motorcycles in Britain.
Originally, both cars and bikes had "mud guards" very similar in appearance.
As mud guards progressively became part of the bodywork of cars, they became "wings" for us.

 

Exactly the same in french: we still have "garde-boues" (litt: mud-guards) on bicycles and motorcycles...

Rgds