If you wanted success at Le Mans during the 1970s or 1980s, then the easiest way to get ahead at La Sarthe was by getting Derek Bell in your car.

With five outright victories at Le Mans, four of those coming with Porsche between 1981-1987, Bell still stands as the most successful British driver at the global endurance classic. Add in three victories at the Daytona 24 Hours, two class wins in the gruelling Bathurst 1000km and a pair of World Sports Car Championship crowns and you get a sense of the sheer success Bell enjoyed in endurance racing.

Always considered a safe pair of hands, and with a turn of speed to match, his team-mate Hans Stuck called him “one of the best-liked drivers of his generation.”

Quite the accolade.