Family and friends of the late Ian Bell, the Northumbrian Yamaha dealer who lost his life in the 2016 Sidecar TT at Ballaspur, returned to the Isle of Man on 17 June for a memorial event celebrating what would have been his 60th birthday.
Besides his success as a TT racer, Bell was also an accomplished performer on the Island’s Billown circuit in Southern 100 meetings. He won the solo championship there in 1987 and had three Southern 100 sidecar championship victories to his credit — in 1999, 2000 and 2009.
To mark this connection, 60 balloons in Ian Bell’s red, yellow and blue racing colours were released on the Southern 100’s Castletown bypass start line, before his ashes were spread around the course.
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