A very happy birthday to Le Mans legend Derek Bell. He might have beena dab hand in sports cars, but his F1 tenure didn't go quiteso well – through no fault of his end. Gary Watkins explains the misfortune of Martini-backed Tecno, in only its second season, that had two different cars — made by two different firms — on the go.
No doubt there were occasions when Derek Bell secretly wished for an engine failure and an early bath. Perhaps in the middle of a dark, dank night at Le Mans, his name languishing down the order after innumerable delays. But on the first run of a brand new Formula 1 car? Surely not.
It may sound unlikely, but when Bell travelled to Italy in December 1971 for the maiden test of Tecno's first grand prix contender, that was exactly how he was thinking. In his defence, he had already been offered a Brabham drive when first approached by David Yorke, his team manager at the JVV Automotive Porsche sports car squad that year...
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