Graeme Bell #1
What a weekend! What an absolutely cracking weekend! But let me not jump too far ahead — because the road to the Winton Festival of Speed was just as meaningful as the chequered flag moments themselves.
After my first test day, we had a couple of weeks of solid car prep. With four Bell cars heading out onto the track, I was determined that every one of us would arrive looking sharp and race‑ready. Sean spent days stickering his car and I mean days. The end result was worth every minute: a brilliant BMW art‑car‑inspired design with mirrored internal parts across the decals. It looked sensational.
Jess’s car had been prepped earlier, and thanks to our practice day, we’d already discovered and fixed a few brake issues. Chris had his car tucked away at his workshop, and seeing as it hadn’t raced for a few years, it needed a tidy‑up and a bit of love to get it back to race spec. My own car, my original car, was ready in spirit, but not in horsepower. My race engine blew up a few years ago, and with all my medical appointments, I simply hadn’t had the time or energy to build a new one. So, in went a standard 2.5 out of an E34, probably done 200,000km or more. Not ideal, but it would have to do. At this point, I was just grateful to be racing at all. Jo had designed a sticker which was a dedication to surviving both prostate and throat cancer, intertwining the two ribbons with a quote on there which I placed on my car with pride. Thanks Darl.
I’d been working hard on my body, doing the exercises my medical team recommended, and I genuinely felt good. Strong. Ready. With Sean’s help, we loaded three cars at my workshop for an early Thursday start, a full day of practice prior to the three-day race weekend. I was excited. Nervous. Proud. After everything I’d been through in the last 18 months, there were moments where I truly didn’t think I’d ever be strong enough to sit behind the wheel of a race car again. But there I was, up early, on the road, heading to Winton with Jo and my kids and my family behind me. It felt like a victory before I’d even turned a lap.
Jo and I arrived around 8:45, unloaded, and headed down to check in with the kids. Both of us are also scrutineers, one of the many hats we wear as Motorsport Australia officials, and the race secretary asked if we could help with logbook scrutineering until their appointed team arrived. So we did. Once we sorted the mountain of paperwork into audits and nil audits, Jo looked at me and said, “Go. Get out there with the kids. Blow the cobwebs off.” she had it covered, so off I went.
And oh, it felt good. I hadn’t lost it. The lines came back. The confidence came back. The joy came back. Being out there with 20 E30s and especially my family, it was something I’ll never forget.
We’d talked about recreating a photo taken 14 years ago at the end of a sprint day, a photo that sits proudly in my office. Jess checked with race control, got approval, and after our last session we lined up again, perfectly coordinated by Jess. Jo and Katie were appointed photographers, but Jo spotted one of the professional MA photographers nearby and asked her to help. The result? Stunning photos. Emotional. Beautiful. Memories captured forever.
After that, we headed to our accommodation for a good night’s rest. Qualifying was first session Friday morning, cold, slippery, foggy. We were combined with the Porsche 944s, making a grid of almost 40 cars. Traffic was heavy, but once I was out there, I felt good. Qualified well. And as I said before, I wasn’t out to break land‑speed records. I was out to celebrate 25 years of E30 Racing, something I helped start with two others and to be part of this milestone with my kids beside me.
I won’t bore you with blow‑by‑blow race battles, but with my lack of horsepower, the only way I could hold position was with race craft. Defending hard. Using knowledge. Making the car as wide as possible. It was fun, proper fun and great to debrief with the drivers afterwards. Good, clean racing. Shannon Cooper sat behind me for a bit and picked up a few tricks, which was great for his development.
All our E30s went home straight and running, except poor Zac, who blew two head gaskets and had to retire in Race 3. He did an amazing job to get an unknown car to the meeting in only a week only to have issues with how the engine had been built. But that’s racing, and part of the fun, having all the crew there to help try and fix it and keep it going.
The moral of the story? Never give up on your dreams. Work hard. Listen to your medical team. Exercise. Eat well. Surround yourself with your loved ones. Believe in yourself. This weekend will stay with me for the rest of my days and I hope with my children too, especially with that recreated photo as a beautiful memento.
And as a footnote: Chris and Katie’s baby is still cooking nicely. Thank you, Bump, for doing as instructed and not arriving early, allowing all the Bells to be out on or at the track together. It was wonderful having Katie, Jenna, Olivia, and especially Jo there with me, supporting me through the whole weekend. Jo was appointed E30 Category Rep for the weekend, spending much of her time up in the tower fixing issues and keeping things running smoothly all while recovering from shoulder surgery. She stepped in at the last minute and did an incredible job.
It was also fantastic to have so many DCM members come up too, some for the weekend, some for Saturday, some for Sunday, some for the display, some popping in to support us, some staying as pit crew. It meant a lot, and wonderful to have your support there. If you missed it, you can watch some of our races over the weekend on Blendline on YouTube, Saturday (afternon sessions only. E30 at abot 1:07) and Sunday (E30 at about 2:46 and 7:00), I actually got a bit of coverage on there too with my blocking skills.
Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed coming along for the ride. I’ll be back on track again soon, I don’t know when yet, but the bug has definitely bitten again. There’s an E30 Racing enduro at Sandown later in the year, and I definitely want to do that.
