The EROAD Australian Rally Championship is saddened to hear of the passing of rallying legend, Wayne Bell.
Wayne was best-known for his remarkable talent behind the wheel of a rally car, as well as having a grand impact on Hyundai and the sport as a whole.
Born in 1952, it took just over 20 years for Wayne to get into rallying and make his competitive debut, driving a Mitsubishi Galant in the Total Oil – The Sun Southern Cross International Rally.
Although he retired from the rally, it didn’t take long for Wayne to become a household name in the sport – eventually joining the Marlboro Holden Dealer Team in the late 1970s.
Around a decade later, Wayne took his driving to another level when steering a Toyota Corolla Levin in the mid-1980s, picking up two victories along the way before eventually switching to a Mazda 323 in 1987 as the rallying entered the 4WD era.
The move rewarded Wayne with another two more victories over the next few years before the turn of the decade saw him change manufacturer once more – building the start for a strong 10-year partnership with Hyundai began.
Right from the get go, Wayne was at one with the Hyundai Lantra and produced many strong results, including a class win at Rally Australia in 1992 – the first World Rally Championship victory for the Korean manufacturer.
Over the next decade, Wayne would race all around the world for Hyundai, making it one of the more popular factory teams on the WRC circuit and building the foundations for its success today.
While he never won an Australian championship, Wayne was highly regarded as one of the best in the business and instrumental in rally’s international growth.
In 2019, Wayne was inducted into the Australian Rally Hall of Fame.
Wayne is survived by his wife Ricki and his children Patrick and Beckie.
