A Barren Year
Norton did not officially contest the 1949 season; instead they loaned last year’s bikes to a syndicate of Daniell, Bell and Lockett with Steve Lancefield supervising their maintenance. Apart from a win in the Senior North West 200 and second place at the Ulster Grand Prix behind Les Graham’s AJS, Bell did not feature strongly in other classic events. He experienced problems in both the Junior and Senior TTs, finishing third in the Junior and fourth in the Senior.
Isle of Man Success
In 1950 there were two events that elevated Norton’s fortunes. One was the McCandless ‘Featherbed’ frame, which prolonged the Manx Norton’s life more than any other factor. Second was the signing of Geoff Duke; few riders have risen to the peak of their profession so rapidly and so convincingly. His first outing on the new model was at Blandford, where he won the 500 event. More success came at the North West 200; with a 350 win for Duke and victory for Bell in the 500.
Norton continued their success at the TT with a clean sweep in both Junior and Senior TTs. In the Junior it was a Bell, Duke, Daniell 1-2-3 and a new lap record to Bell at 86.49 mph. Duke reversed the tables in the Senior with Lockett in third place. In the process of winning, Duke raised the lap record to 93.33mph to finally eclipse Daniell’s 1938 record of 91mph.
Disaster at Spa
Next event was the Belgian Grand Prix, held on the ultra-fast Spa Francochamps circuit. In the 350 event the Nortons were outpaced by Bob Foster’s ageing but rapid Velocette, with Bell second and Duke third; it was to be Bell’s last race finish. The Senior developed into a furious 3-way battle between Bandirola (MV) Graham (AJS) and Bell. At the corner before La Source hairpin all three were doing over the ton when Bandirola suddenly backed off. Taken by surprise Graham was forced to brake violently, and was brought down when his front wheel locked. Bell had no option than to take to the dirt verge to avoid Graham. The AJS continued to slide along the road and was hit by Bell’s Norton. Bell disappeared with both bikes in a cloud of dust beneath an elevated observation post. By a miracle Graham was practically unhurt but poor Bell received terrible multiple injuries.
A Slow Recovery
For weeks he was in grave danger, but thanks to dedicated medical care and his splendid physique and high courage he made a reasonable recovery. Artie Bell never raced again but will always be remembered as a man who was never content to accept second place; whatever the odds against him. His TT record was a model of efficiency; where from just 8 starts he scored 2 wins; the 1948 Senior and 1950 Junior; 2 seconds; the 1947 and 1950 Senior and 2 thirds; the 1948 and 1949 Junior. His lowest finish was 4th place in the 1949 Senior; with just one retirement; the 1947 Junior.
Speculation
It is a fascinating exercise to speculate on how the record books may have read, had Artie Bell’s career not come to a premature end. There is no doubt he would have been a serious rival to the aspirations of Norton’s new superstar, Geoff Duke. Bell never fully recovered from those injuries, having lost the use of his right arm plus other problems, but he still maintained an involvement in racing, and acted as entrant for promising riders He died of a heart attack in 1972, brought on by massive doses of pain killers he was taking. Artie Bell was 57.
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