WEC: Derek Bell to serve as grand marshal for Silverstone WEC

Five-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Derek Bell has been named as grand marshal for the Silverstone 6 Hours World Endurance Championship round next month.

The sports car legend's duties at the WEC season opener on April 20 will include waving off the cars on their the parade lap ahead of the start of the event, which he won in its 1000km format with Porsche in 1983 (pictured).

Bell, 72, said: "It is very nice to be invited to be grand marshal of a race I competed in so many times. To be honest, I'm rather flattered.

"I have so many memories from the Silverstone world championship race, from finishing second in Steve O'Rourke's BMW M1 [in 1981], to winning it with Stefan Bellof [in '83], and even driving that Aston Martin thing [Robin Hamilton's RHAM/1 in 1979]."

The historic RAC Tourist Trophy, which dates back to 1905, will again be awarded to the overall winners of the Silverstone WEC round.

DID YOU KNOW...

Derek Bell's attempt to win the Silverstone 6 Hours with Jacky Ickx on the debut of the Porsche 956 in 1982 was spoiled by new fuel regulations. They gave the Group C fuel formula cars such as the 956 the same amount of fuel for a six-hour race as a 1000km event. The duration of the race, which was won by a Group 6 Lancia LC1, ended up at over 1100km.