Porsche is strongly represented among the new FIA Hall of Fame inductees.
In 2017, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, better known as FIA, started their own hall of fame at the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The first inductees of the FIA Hall of Fame were the 33 world champions Formula 1. One year later, in 2019 the 17 WRC Champions were decorated. We can only applaude the initiative of the FIA to induct some 29 more sportscar racing champions in their hall of fame. Quite remarkably, 27 of the 29 inductees were present in Paris. Stefan Bellof, who won the title in 1984 by Porsche and unfortunately lost his life in 1985 in a crash during the 1985 Spa 1000KM, was represented by his brother.
The list of drivers presented with awards spanned three decades of world championship sportscar racing from the 80s, 90s and 2010s, and included nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, F1 and FIA WEC champion Fernando Alonso and five time Le Mans winner and multiple World Endurance Champion Derek Bell.
The emotional speech of Jacky Ickx
Each of the inductees came on stage to speak and make a personal reflection on the past. The speech of Jacky Ickx may well have been the most emotional. He reminded the audience, and the world, that motorsport is dangerous. And the fact that he was involved in the fatal accident of Stefan Bellof is probably the worst moment in his career. Jacky Ickx said : “It’s nice to be able to remember and celebrate him, because the cars were simply not safe enough. But we have to be grateful to the FIA for making racing cars and tracks safer. We still have fatalities, because the job is never done.”
Furthermore Jacky Ickx honoured the men who usually aren’t in the spotlight, the team and men behind the scenes. Ickx said: “I would like to dedicate this to my teammates and those behind the scenes. 80% of success is from the job of those who work on the cars, that you rarely see, because you all see the glory of the drivers. Without them we are nobody.”
First FIA WEC Champion Bob Garretson
First man to come on stage was Bob Garretson, who became the World Champion 1981 with only one victory on his account. Garretson ran a Porsche 935 in partnership with Cooke-Woods Racing. Teaming up with Brian Redman and Bobby Rahal, he won the 1981 Daytona 24 Hours. At Le Mans he finished sixth, sharing with Anny-Charlotte Verney and Ralph Cooke.
It won’t be a surprise that Porsche was strongly represented among the inductees of the FIA Hall of Fame. Next to the earlier mentioned Bob Garettson, Jacky Ickx and Stefan Bellof, we find the following names who won the World Championship for Porsche : Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard, Mark Lieb,Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Earl Bamber.
Congratulations to all the FIA WEC Hall of Fame Inductees.
FIA WEC Hall of Fame Inductees
Bob Garretson (1981)
Jacky Ickx (1982, 1983)
Stefan Bellof (1984)
Derek Bell (1985, 1986)
Hans-Joachim Stuck (1985)
Raul Boesel (1987)
Martin Brundle (1988)
Jean-Louis Schlesser (1989, 1990)
Mauro Baldi (1990)
Teo Fabi (1991)
Yannick Dalmas (1992)
Derek Warwick (1992)
Andre Lotterer (2012)
Marcel Fassler (2012)
Benoit Treluyer (2012)
Allan McNish (2013)
Loic Duval (2013)
Tom Kristensen (2013)
Anthony Davidson (2014)
Sebastien Buemi (2014, 2018-19)
Brendon Hartley (2015, 2017)
Mark Webber (2015)
Timo Bernhard (2015, 2017)
Marc Lieb (2016)
Neel Jani (2016)
Roman Dumas (2016)
Earl Bamber (2017)
Kazuki Nakajima (2018-19)
Fernando Alonso (2018-19)
Pictures FIA Hall of Fame and Porsche AG
