A week ago Phil Bell made his return to an F1 sidecar cockpit – and seven days on he lifted the Jock Taylor Trophy.
The Bedlington sidecar racer made the decision to return to the big F1 machines after retiring four years ago, and instead concentrating on the smaller F2 machines which the rest of the Bell dynasty are famous for.
But he had never managed to get to grips with the F2s completely and earlier this summer announced he was selling his F2 bike and buying himself another F1.
Picking up the LCR which Hegarty Racing won the 2014 British Championship with, Bell spent a month locked away in his garage transforming the outfit with a bright new colour scheme, opting to run the iconic red, blue and yellow livery his uncle Ian famously used.
Heading to the Melville Club’s East Fortune round just over a week ago, he used the event as a shakedown in preparation for the Jock Taylor event. Winning two races he was looking good to make a serious bid for the top prize which he won back in 2009.
As he headed to Knockhill at the weekend, the event got off to a good start when he won the first race, once again reunited with his passenger from 2009, Tony Belsey.
“It was actually a great day. We won the first race but retired in the second with fuel issues,” he said.
“But it wasn’t the end of the world. We were really happy with our lap times in the last one despite the issues, so we were looking forward to seeing what we could do on Sunday.”
Sunday proved to definitely be their day as they took the lead at the start and stretched a gap to win comfortably, also clinching the Steve Webster Trophy for the fastest lap.
“It’s been mint, it’s the best decision we’ve ever made racing wise, getting back in an F1 sidecar.
“I’m over the moon to have won it for a second time. It’s a race which has always been high on the list for our family so to win it twice is brilliant.”
Belsey later admitted he too enjoyed it. “It was alright, it was a nice steady ride around on a lovely day,” he joked.
