Rob Bell (racing driver)

Rob Bell
Rob Bell
	Bell on the podium at Donington Park
Nationality	British
Born	Robert Bell; 30 April 1979; Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
Relatives	Matt Bell (brother)
British GT Championship career
Debut season	2018
Current team	Balfe Motorsport
Categorisation	FIA Platinum
Car number	22
Starts	12
Wins	1
Poles	2
Best finish	3rd in 2019
Previous series
2017	International GT Open
Championship titles
2001; 2002; 2007; 2008	Formula Renault UK (Winter); Formula Renault UK (Winter); Le Mans Series (GT2 class); Le Mans Series (GT2 class)
Years
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2007–2011, 2013, 2015–
Teams	Team LNT; Virgo Motorsport; JMW Motorsport
Best finish	23rd (2007, 2009)
Class wins	0

Robert Bell (born 30 April 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is a British former professional racing driver.^[1] He has competed in such series as the FIA GT Championship, the British GT Championship and Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, and is best known as the winner of the 2016 Blancpain Endurance Series with Shane van Gisbergen and Côme Ledogar. He has also won the Winter Series of Formula Renault UK in both 2001 and 2002.

Bell was the Le Mans Series GT2 class champion for Virgo Motorsport in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, and vice-champion for JMW in 2009 and 2011. In 2009, he also finished seventh at the FIA GT Championship GT2 class for CRS Racing, collecting a second place at the 24 Hours of Spa. Since 2012, Bell has competed at the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro Cup class with a McLaren MP4-12C for Gulf Racing UK.

Bell also finished second in the GT class at the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona as a Paul Miller Racing driver. He returned to the team for the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring, resulting fifth in the GT class.

Bell competed in the 2019 British GT alongside Shaun Balfe in a McLaren 720S GT3.^[2] He finished third in the GT3 standings after winning at the final round at Donington Park. In 2021 Bell also set the fastest time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed shootout with his McLaren 720S GT3X recording a time of 45.01 seconds.

Bell's brother Matt also races internationally in GT3 and LM prototypes.

Racing record

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2007	Team LNT	Lawrence Tomlinson Richard Dean	Panoz Esperante GT-LM	GT2	308	22nd	5th
2008	Virgo Motorsport	Tim Mullen Tim Sugden	Ferrari F430 GT2	GT2	289	DNF	DNF
2009	JMW Motorsport	Andrew Kirkaldy Tim Sugden	Ferrari F430 GT2	GT2	320	23rd	4th
2010	JMW Motorsport	Tim Sugden Bryce Miller	Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	GT2	71	DNF	DNF
2011	JMW Motorsport	Tim Sugden Xavier Maassen	Ferrari 458 Italia GTC	GTE Pro	290	24th	9th
2013	Aston Martin Racing	Frédéric Makowiecki Bruno Senna	Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	GTE Pro	248	DNF	DNF
2015	Aston Martin Racing	Darren Turner Stefan Mücke	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	GTE Pro	110	DNF	DNF
2016	Clearwater Racing	Keita Sawa Weng Sun Mok	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	GTE Am	329	30th	4th
2017	TF Sport	Salih Yoluc Euan Hankey	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	GTE Am	329	35th	7th

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2013	Aston Martin Racing	LMGTE Pro	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	Aston Martin 4.5 L V8	SIL	SPA 2	LMS Ret	SÃO Ret	COA	FUJ	SHA	BHR	24th	19
2015	Aston Martin Racing	LMGTE Pro	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	Aston Martin 4.5 L V8	SIL	SPA 5	LMS Ret	NÜR	COA	FUJ	SHA	BHR	24th	10

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2014	SRT Motorsports	GTLM	SRT Viper GTS-R	Dodge 8.0L V10	DAY 6	SEB 2	LBH	LGA	WGL	MOS	IMS	ELK	VIR	COT	PET 6	20th	85

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Points
2013	Hexis Racing	McLaren MP4-12C GT3	Pro	NOG QR	NOG CR	ZOL QR	ZOL CR	ZAN QR	ZAN CR	SVK QR	SVK CR	NAV QR	NAV CR	BAK QR 3	BAK CR 3	NC	0‡

‡ — Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos.	Points
2010	United Autosports	Ginetta G50	G4	OUL 1	OUL 2	KNO 1	KNO 2	SPA 1	ROC 1	ROC 2	SIL 1 15	SNE 1	SNE 2	BRH 1	BRH 2	DON 1	12th	20
2016	Black Bull Ecurie Ecosse	McLaren 650S GT3	GT3	BRH 1 7	ROC 1 7	OUL 1 8	OUL 2 2	SIL 1 4	SPA 1 Ret	SNE 1 Ret	SNE 2 Ret	DON 1 1					7th	95.5
2018	Balfe Motorsport	McLaren 650S GT3	GT3	OUL 1 8	OUL 2 12	ROC 1 Ret	SNE 1	SNE 2	SIL 1 8	SPA 1 Ret	BRH 1	DON 1					17th	10
2019	Balfe Motorsport	McLaren 720S GT3	GT3	OUL 1 WD	OUL 2 WD	SNE 1 31	SNE 2 3	SIL 1 11	DON 1 2	SPA 1 4	BRH 1 2	DON 1 1					3rd	126
2020	Balfe Motorsport	McLaren 720S GT3	GT3	OUL 1	OUL 2	DON 1	DON 2	BRH 1	DON 1	SNE 1	SNE 2	SIL 1 Ret					NC†	0†
2022	Fox Motorsport	McLaren 720S GT3	GT3	OUL 1	OUL 2	SIL 1	DON 1 9	SNE 1	SNE 2	SPA 1	BRH 1	DON 1					29th	3
2023	Optimum Motorsport	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	GT3	OUL 1 7	OUL 2 10	SIL 1 3	DON 1 8	SNE 1 3	SNE 2 11	ALG 1 2	BRH 1 7	DON 1					10th	86.5

† Not eligible for points.
^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)


Year	Team	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	Pos.	Points
2015–16	Clearwater Racing	GT	McLaren 650S GT3	McLaren M838T 3.8 L Turbo V8	FUJ 1	SEP 1	BUR 5	SEP 3		1st	78
2023	Garage 59	GT	McLaren 720S GT3	McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8	DUB 1 12	DUB 2 5	ABU 1 11	ABU 2 10		13th	11
2023–24	Optimum Motorsport	GT	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8	SEP 1 17	SEP 2 3	DUB 6	ABU 1 3	ABU 2 14	6th	38

↑ "Driver Biography – Rob Bell". Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
↑ "Balfe Motorsport To Race 720S GT3 in British GT". Dailysportscar. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.