Rob Bell is a professional racing driver who has been successfully competing across a range of sportscar categories and series, and one of the most accomplished GT drivers of his generation. Rob has won multiple races in GT3, GT2 and GTE competition, and following successes around the world at the wheel of a number of different machines, Rob was appointed McLaren Factory Driver in 2012.
Rob has campaigned at all blue riband endurance GT events, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Spa, Daytona 24 Hours, Bathurst 12 Hour, Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans.
Rob’s appointment as McLaren Factory Driver saw him involved in the development programme for the return to sportscar racing for the British marque with the 12C GT3 programme. Alongside the testing aspect of the role, Rob also campaigned the car with GT3 customer teams globally, continuing to race as a key part of the role which has fed in to each of the future projects.
2014 saw Rob working on both the development team for the new 650S GT3 and McLaren P1 GTR track cars, and the end of the 2014 season saw Rob in the line-up for the debut of the new McLaren GT3 contender at the Gulf 12 Hours event in Abu Dhabi. Rob, alongside teammates Kevin Estre and Alvaro Parente took a podium finish as the team completed the 12-hour endurance race as the final part of the development programme.
From here, Rob enjoyed much success on track with the 650S GT3 with 2016 a particular highlight. During the season, Rob secured the Asian Le Mans title and the highly-coveted Blancpain Endurance Championship, as well as other key race results throughout the year. 2017 then saw Rob take the Pro-Am honours in the International GT Open championship with the 650S GT3.
Outside of his successes with McLaren in the GT3 ranks, Rob Bell finished runner-up in the Le Mans Series GTE Pro class standings and he also won the Le Mans Series GT2 class in 2007 and 2008.
In parallel to on track racing activities, Rob has most recently been involved in the development programmes for the 720S GT3 - new GT3 challenger from McLaren – alongside the McLaren Senna GTR. With his extensive and unrivalled experience of modern McLaren track cars, Rob has been instrumental in the development of the most track-focused models McLaren Automotive has ever built.
The 720S GT3 is now racing and winning with customer teams globally, and Rob took the first victory for the car on British soil during the 2019 British GT season finale at Donington Park.
Alongside the development and racing with McLaren, Rob also provides coaching and mentorship to drivers of all abilities, including coaching three recent Autosport McLaren BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award winners.
