Previous winners of the Derek Bell Cup

That opening contest was a dramatic affair, won by James King aboard a Chevron B17 in one of the closest finishes the Motor Circuit has seen. King started the race in third and quickly moved up to second as several drivers swapped positions in the early stages, though polesitter Simon Armer in the March 703 kept hold of his lead.

That was threatened, however, after debris on track called out the safety car and eradicated Armer’s 3.8-second lead from King and Peter Thompson in the Brabham BT21A. The podium places seemed settled until the dying stages of the race, when King had closed up enough on Armer to force a race to the line — one King won by just under 0.018 seconds.

After a year’s absence, the Derek Bell Cup returned for the 75^th Members’ Meeting in 2017 and had the honour of opening the weekend’s racing action. This year marked the start of a period of Brabham dominance, and the emergence of Andrew Hibberd as force in this fixture. He won the race at a canter, almost 40 seconds ahead of runner up Sam Wilson. And while the victor may have been certain, 20-minutes of wheel-to-wheel racing between those vying for second all the way down to fifth meant this curtain raiser was anything but dull.

The following year saw a much smaller field compete for the Derek Bell Cup at the 76^th Members’ Meeting. Though 28 cars qualified, only nine started 2018’s race amidst wet conditions. One thing that was unchanged, however, was that the winner drove a Brabham. This year John Milicevic converted his pole into the win, but being beating off the line by fellow Brabham driver Christophe Widmer threatened his hopes of a perfect weekend. As it was, Widmer took himself out of the equation with an early spin at Fordwater, after which Milicevic was unchallenged to take the chequered flag 11 seconds clear.

Brabham domination continued at the 77^th Members’ Meeting, but the 2019 edition of the Derek Bell Cup echoed with competitiveness of the inaugural race with a duel up front between Hibberd on pole and Ben Mitchell, that saw the pair split by just 0.158 seconds by the time it was all over. Michell was consistently right on Hibberd’s tail, the Brabham duo exchanging the lead as they raced away from the pack. While a gap of over 30 seconds was squashed by a late safety car, the final lap saw Mitchell get past Hibberd on the Lavant straight to win by the barest of margins.

After a two-year break, the Derek Bell Cup was back at the 79^th Members’ Meeting in 2022, as was Hibberd in his Brabham BT18. He qualified on pole, but had a poor start to the race and dropped down to third in the opening moments. A dive into Madgwick past the fellow Brabham of Steve Seaman set him on his way to retake the lead, and once he did so he was able to build up a convincing gap as the laps progressed. By the time the chequered flag was waved that gap was almost six seconds, ahead of runner up Jeremy Timms’s Chevron B15.

The most recent Derek Bell Cup took place at the 81^st Members’ Meeting in 2024 and saw a new winner crowned in the form of the Titan Mk3 of Michael O’ Brien. He qualified ahead of Peter de la Roche and Hibberd, though when it came to the race drama ensued right from the off as positions were swapped even before the first corner and O’ Brien was relegated to fifth.

Oil on the track bought out the red flag and when racing resumed one of the hardest fought contests of the weekend followed. O’ Brien worked his way back up to not only regain top position but establish an eight-second lead over Hibberd in second. After a shaky start, this proved to be a victory beyond any doubt.

Previous winners of the Derek Bell Cup

The 83^rd Members' Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport takes place on the 18^th & 19^th April 2026. Tickets are on sale now for GRRC Members and Fellows.

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Photography by Jayson Fong, Nick Dungan, Nick Wilkinson and Toby Whales.