“RACING IS LIFE,” MCQUEEN SAID.
“ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS BEFORE
OR AFTER... IS JUST WAITING”
lenge of achieving as many laps as possible, without breaking down, in
24 hours. One of the first entrants was a Bentley driven by John Duff
and Frank Clement in 1923. They didn’t win the first time around. But
their cohort of gentlemen racers, the mythical, “Bentley Boys” went on
to win five times in the next seven years. And this year, for Bentley’s
100th anniversary, one of the streets of Le Mans that Bell and I whipped
‘round was renamed “Rue des Bentley Boys” in their honor.
As I sat in Derek’s passenger seat parading around this legendary
track, I had a lot to ponder. Derek won Le Mans overall five times. Vi-
sions of Steve McQueen and his 1971 film Le Mans, Porsche 917s, Enzo
Ferrari, Ford GT40s, and all the ghosts of legends past and present
flickered through my mind. He was showing me his form at the wheel
bedecked in leather driving gloves and a smile, regaling me with tales of
catapulting down the same straight at 246 mph in 1971. Strapped into a
voluptuous, wide-hipped, glorious, thundering, blue and orange Gulf
Racing Porsche 917.
A rumbling, slippery, missile that rolled and flexed and gave you a
nod and a wink before everything let go. Before you smacked into the
Armco barrier; or worse, the trees, engulfed in pyrrhic flames. The chi-
canes that were later added to the famed Mulsanne Straight did not
exist at the time. And neither did safety. Or Brembo brakes. Or com-
puters. But glory and glamour did, with plenty to spare. The aesthet-
ics established back then continuing to inspire every brand with macho
pretensions today. Just cast your eye over a photo of McQueen during
filming on Le Mans, sporting a racing suit and his now iconic Heuer Mo-
naco watch, surrounded by cars in bright popping colors and bold rac-
ing stripes. Then close your eyes and reopen them in 2019, and see. And
dream of owning Count Rossi’s early 1970’s street legal Martini Racing
Porsche 917.
Derek Bell was there in 1970. Flying down the track through the
Maison Blanche corner with McQueen tailing him just as fast. The liv-
ing, breathing, flesh incarnate of a line from the movie, “Racing is life.
Anything that happens before or after... is just waiting.” McQueen had
convinced the 1970 Le Mans race drivers to join his crew for the movie.
Who better to lap the track than the guys who actually did it for death or
glory, after all? And, of course, Derek confirmed what we already knew.
Steve was the real deal and could drive with the best of them.
McQueen came second in the 12 hours of Sebring in 1970 with Peter
Revson in a Porsche 908 and had wanted to enter Le Mans himself that
year. Rumor has it the company insuring the movie wouldn’t underwrite
it if he did. So he chose to film, not race. One day on set, after a day oflifting off to 70% on each take, Derek was bored. He decided full race
speed was in order for the final take. Flying through the corner at Mai-
son Blanche in his Ferrari 512 without lifting, he saw McQueen in his
shadow all the way. Then as he slowed to a halt and hopped out of his
car McQueen came running over, shouting, “ This bloody lunatic just
tried to kill me.” “You didn’t have to follow me,” Derek replied. McQueen
told Derek he would get him back. And he did. Egging him on in a
motorcycle challenge around the track while they were still filming theTop: Derek Bell giving Steve McQueen some racing tips; Bottom: McQueen and the Gulf Racing Porsche 917 in 1971’s Le Mans; Opposite:
scenes from the track at Le Mans including Princess Charlene of Monaco waving the starting flag; the actor and Porsche racer Patrick
Dempsey; and Fernando Alonso’s victory lapTOP^
TOBOTTOM
:^ STAFF/AFP/GETTYIMAGES;^ CBS/GETTYIMAGES.O
PPO
SI
TE:^1-^12
L
EFT^
TORIGHT,^ TOP,^ TO
B
O
TTOM:^ (1 ,^2,^5
)^ JAMESMO
Y^PHOTO
GRAPHY/GETTYIMAGES;^(^3,^4
,^9 )KERR
O
BERTSON/G
ETTYIMAGES;^ (7 ,^8,^12)^ CO
URTESYOF^
BREMBO;^ (
6 ,
10,^11)^ CO
URTESYOF^
ROLEX70 SEP/OCT 2019 MAXIM.COM