Gerhard Berger’s opinion is king, regarding the demonstrated ability of a Formula 1 driver. It would be hard to argue against the man that sometimes won when his famous McLaren team mate Aryton Senna lost. Berger is quoted as saying
“I saw Stefan Bellof in the well proportioned Rothmans Porsche 956 compete in the 1983 Le Mans twenty four hour. The sight, the sound, the package was certainly a winning combination and it could have eventuated for Bellof and his experienced team mate Jochen Mass, if it were not for a persistent engine misfire that intervened and caused them to come to an unceremonious halt on the Sunday morning of the event”.
On that same Summer’s Sunday afternoon I personally stood and saw the team mates of Bellof and Mass driver’s Schuppan, Haywood and Holbert stand and celebrate their great win on the exalted step of the dais as Bellof and Mass could only look on and wonder:
why not us?
1994 could have been a good year for Stefan who with an F1 team mate named Martin Brundle were charged with the responsibility of making the light and nimble Tyrrell win when an opportunity arose. Instead of winning due to fuel and ballast regulatory irregularities, these unsuspecting F1 drivers had their entire points tally deleted from the scoreboard in their unexpected disqualification from that particular years Grand Prix competition.
1995 had to be a better year for Bellof, you would expect. But on September 1st, 1985 whilst attempting a high speed overtaking manoeuvre of Jacky Ickx’s Porsche 962C, Stefan’s Porsche 956 made contact. The resultant crash at Eau Rouge corner on the fabulous Spa-Francorchamps circuit culminated in the car being engulfed in flames, which hindered the rescue efforts of Ickx and the assisting track marshals. This dreadful event in claiming the life of Bellof came just three weeks after his compatriot Manfred Winkelhock died as a result of a crash at a World Sportscar race in Canada (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Bellof). Such is the history of motor racing: one moment a driver with great potential, another the story of the consequences of a sudden stop. What great memories exist of good drivers with great potential!