Where Bell Racing began...
George & Brian Bewley - TT George & Geoff - Cadwell Park
The Bells started racing in the 1940's. George (Geordie) had been competing in Trials, Scrambling (Moto Cross) and Road Racing with success. In 1948 he started to specialise in road racing. He developed into one of the leading riders in the North, riding 350cc and 500cc Manx Nortons. He quickly became hooked on the Isle of Man road, racing at the Clubman’s TT (Manx GP) and in his last solo year at the TT itself he finished 15th in the Senior Race.
At the end of 1963 the Bells went Sidecar racing. George and Brian Bewley finished 4th in their first race at Charterhall in the Scottish Borders. In 1964 they finished 11th at the TT and rounded the year off with a 2nd place at the Scarborough International at Oliver’s Mount. A bad crash in the 1965 TT ended that era in Bell Racing.
1969 saw a second attack on the sidecar scene, this time it was a family affair with eldest son Geoff as the passenger. They raced as a team until George called it a day mid way through the 1977 season. Geoff had driven the outfit occasionally since 1973 but then started full time in 1977. In their time together they had become one of the leading teams in Scotland and the North of England.
In the meantime George’s youngest son Ian had started racing Solo’s. He very quickly became one of the leading riders in the country riding TZ750’s and later FZ750 Yamaha’s before two serious accidents ended that part of his career.
Geoff Bell - Driver...
Geoff & Keith Cornbill - TT 1992 Geoff & Craig Hallam - TT 1996 Geoff & Jake Beckworth - TT 2003
By 1989 Geoff had developed as driver and was at the TT for the 2nd time; 6th and 9th place that year meant the TT bug had bitten. By 1992 Geoff with passenger Keith Cornbill were lap record holders and double TT winners. Geoff also won the Southern 100 event nine times. On the short circuits Geoff narrowly missed out on the British F2 Championship in 1994. Geoff, with Nick Roche had finished equal 1st on points but lost the championship on count back. Two bad crashes at the southern 100 in 1992 and 2003 effectively ended Geoff’s racing.
Ian Bell - Sidecars...
In the winter of 1994 Geoff slipped on some snow and re-broke his leg injured in 1992. Brother Ian was tempted back into racing for his 1st attempt at sidecar racing until Geoff’s leg healed properly. Ian later went on to become British F2 Sidecar Champion, four times Southern 100 Sidecar Winner and won the Sidecar TT Race A in 2003. Ian still races today with his son Carl as passenger in the F2 class.
The Next Generation...
Phil & Tony Belsey - Knockhil 2010 Phil & Steve English - Knockhill 2005 Michael & Steve Charlton - East Fortune 2008
Like his dad before, Phil had the odd race as a sidecar driver on the family F2 outfit from 1999. He became a full time driver of a new Baker F1 outfit in 2004. It had been intended for Geoff and Phil to do the driving on a shared basis. However in Geoff’s last accident in 2003 he had broken some vertebrae and caused vision problems and he had to retire leaving Phil and Geoff’s younger son Michael to race together as a team. Michael had been Phil’s passenger and had done several races with his dad with quite a bit of success. In 2004 Phil and Michael won the Northern Championship and finished 2nd in the Scottish Championship, they were also NEMCRC champions. After 2004 Michael packed in as a back injury sustained playing rugby was causing problems. However in 2008/9 Michael has decided to have a go driving the LCR F1 outfit. He had never ridden a motorbike before and had four races in 2008 and three in 2009 and in his last race in 2009 he finished 5th in the Scottish Championship at Knockhill.
Since 2004 Phil and various passengers have had mixed seasons. A crash in 2005 at Cadwell Park on the newly acquired (Ex Steve Webster) LCR ended the season and left Phil with two crushed vertebrae. In 2006 Phil, together with Tony Belsey as passenger won the Scottish Championship along with many other race wins.
In 2007 Phil teamed up with James Neave and they were together for two years. They won the Mac Hobson Trophy, NEMCRC Championship and finished 3rd in the Castrol Oils/Eastern Airways National Cup Championship. They also very frustratingly finished 2nd in the Jock Taylor trophy race in 2007/8.
For 2009 Phil laid out his plans to try and get in the Top 3 in the National Championship proper, to win some rounds and also win the Jock Taylor Trophy. However just before the start of the season Phil and James parted company and during the season Phil would use six different passengers. The team finished 3rd in the Castrol Oils F1 Championship with race wins at Knockhill and Brands Hatch and teamed up with Tony Belsey to win the Jock Taylor Trophy and the Express Tyres Challenge at East Fortune. A frustrating and difficult season ended with the team achieving all the goals laid out at the start!!
In 2010 Phil teamed up with Ashley Hawes to compete in the newly formed Eastern Airways UK F1 Sidecar Championship, which would produce the most competitive grid of F1 sidecars for nearly 20 years. After a problematic start to the season with suspension issues the team finished in the top 6 in 6 of the 8 championship rounds and ended up 7th overall in the championship achieving a podium in the last race at Mallory Park. Phil and Ashley also finished runner up in the Jock Taylor trophy races close behind 3 x World Champion Tim Reeves. Overall it was the team's most successful season since 1994 when father Geoff finished runner up in the F2 British Championship.
Roll on 2011...