Stefan Bellof: Schumacher's idol who died at Spa in 1985

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Born on November 20, 1957 in Gießen, German racing driver Stefan Bellof was the idol of the legendary racing driver Michael Schumacher. Stefan Bellof was considered the fastest and most promising racing driver of his generation and was seen by experts as the future Formula 1 world champion. From 1973, Bellof started in various racing classes until he finally got promoted to Formula 1 in 1984. On September 1, 1985, he died in a 1000 km race in Spa, Belgium.

Already, his father Georg Bellof started in rallies when he was young. Later, he was an official at the ONS, a forerunner of the "Deutscher Motor Sport Bund" (German Motor Sport Federation). Georg Bellof owned a body shop with a paint shop in Gießen, where Stefan worked until the 1980s. Early on, the Bellof brothers made their first racing attempts in old, discarded vehicles in the company's yard.

Stefan Bellof's motorsport career began in 1971. Together with his older brother Georg, called Goa, he joined the kart club in nearby Oppenrod. Both brothers took part in German and European championships from 1973. Brother Goa was initially the more successful. He won the German Kart Championship in 1978, switched to Formula 3 in 1979 and finished the season in 6th place. As the family could not finance both sons' racing careers, Goa Bellof gave up racing and became a dental technician. From now on, the family concentrated fully on supporting their younger son Stefan, whose sporting career took off at breakneck speed.

In 1980 Stefan Bellof became German Kart Champion and achieved his first successes in Formula Ford. In 1981 he competed in Formula Vee and took third place in the German Formula 3 Championships. In 1982 he got a place in the Maurer-BMW team in Formula 2, won the races at Silverstone and Hockenheim and finished the season in 4th place. In 1983 he got a place in the Porsche team and took part in sports car races. He drove faster than experienced drivers and became the first driver to lap the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring (race track in Germany) at more than 200 km/h. This record lasted until 2018. Finally, in 1984, Stefan Bellof got a place in the Tyrell team in Formula 1. Here he sometimes drove faster than Alain Prost or Ayrton Senna. He did not achieve a place at the World Championships because the team had violated the regulations regarding the weight of the racing car and was disqualified. However, in 1984 Stefan Bellof won the German championship and the world championship in sports car racing. In the 1985 season he continued to drive for the Tyrell team in Formula 1. At the same time he took part in sports car racing for the Bruns-Porsche team. For 1986, Stefan Bellof had a contract with Ferrari in Formula 1.

Before the tragic accident at Spa, some strange things happened. Stefan Bellof actually wanted to cancel his participation in the Spa Francorchamps 1000 km race because his car broke down on the way to the airport. Eventually, his brother Goa picked him up, the racing driver Thierry Boutsen gave him a ride, and Stefan reached Spa in time. Nevertheless, before the race, Bellof said to his best friend: “I don't feel like it. I would prefer not to drive the race.” During the race, even before the accident happened, the friend made his way to the scene of the accident and was one of the first helpers. Bellof's fiancée, Angelika Langner, had a dream the night before the race. She went for a walk in a meadow with Stefan and suddenly he was no longer there. Even Stefan Bellof's father asked his son before the race to be careful and back off because otherwise something could happen. Such warnings were not usually his style.

The accident happened at the infamous Eau Rouge corner in Spa. Bellof had been driving faster than his Belgian Porsche colleague Jacky Ickx for several laps, but was blocked by him when trying to overtake. Then Ickx was shown the blue flag, which prompted him to let a faster vehicle overtake. The flag was not seen or ignored by Ickx. Both drivers entered the Eau Rouge corner side by side. Until then, overtaking in this corner was considered impossible because it is extremely dangerous. Stefan Bellof had a serious accident at this corner in 1982. He mentioned in a pre-race interview that you can't overtake on this corner. Nevertheless, Bellof started to overtake right there. His car touched Jacky Ickx's car. The Belgian hit the crash barrier with the side of his car and survived the crash. Bellof's car spun several times, broke through the crash barrier head-on and rammed into a concrete pillar at around 250 km/h. He probably died instantly.

Three weeks before Stefan Bellof, the German Formula 1 driver Manfred Winkelhock died in an accident during a comparable race in Canada. At that time, many Formula 1 drivers also drove other races because they could not earn enough money with Formula 1. As a result of the accidents, Formula 1 teams banned their drivers from participating in such races, which is still the case today.

Stefan Bellof was buried on September 9, 1985 in the grave of his grandparents, Georg and Anna Bellof. Initially, the grave was decorated with a sculpture of Stefan Bellof's helmet. Unfortunately, this sculpture was stolen. After that, the grave decoration was redone. Today you can find a simple stone with a small symbol of the helmet and Stefan Bellof's signature. His father, Georg Bellof, has also been resting here since his death in 2019.