REAL ACCIDENT OCCURRED DURING THE SHOOTING OF THE FILM
Looking at Derek Bell's scorched face one can understand why wearing a full-face helmet would be painfull
1970 - " It was sometime in August and I was doing a sequence with Steve. He was driving his 917 and I was in the 512 I normally drove, which belonged to Jacques Swaters. I was playing the Erich Stahler character and wearing an open-face helmet with a Nomex mask. It was quite a long sequence starting at the Mulsanne corner and running all the way to the Ford chicane. We were to follow the GT40 camera car, which Rob Slotemaker was driving, part of the way, then pass him at some point and he would follow us as we diced back and forth. "
Black smoke billows from the burning 512, "I don't think Jacques Swaters is going to be pleased about this", Derek remembers thinking.
They completed the run without any problems, and when the two reached the Ford chicane they radioed back with their walkie-talkies that they were returning.
Steve McQueen started off on the return run, but Derek couldn't get his car in gear. He fiddled with it for a bit and finally managed to find first. Knowing there was a problem with the box, he stayed in that gear and drove slowly back around the track.
The smoldering remains of Jacques Swater's Ferrari 512S is hosed down by the fire crew. French Ferrari collector Pierre Bardinnon bought the wreckage for $5,000.
He'd just gone through Indianapolis in the opposite direction when he heard a loud WHOOMP and the cockpit was engulfed in flames. Derek hit the fire extinguisher several times, but the safety pin was apparently still in and it didn't go off. The crews had been constantly working on the cars and there'd been numerous occasions when the extinguishers had been set off accidentally.
It took Derek almost ten seconds to get his belts off, open the door, and tumble out. When he got to his feet he saw one of the film crew who'd been filming the sequence running out of the woods.
"I shouted 'Call the fire brigade!' Derek says, "and as soon as I said that I felt pain on my face and realized I'd been burned, so I added, "And an ambulance as well!".
Derek Bell as "Erich Stahler"
Derek believes that something shorted out on the Ferrari's instrument panel. There may have been a little fuel on the floor and all that was needed to set things off was a spark.
"It was bloody painful for the first few days and I had to keep the burns covered with cream and dressed properly, which was a nuisance, " Derek says, "But the main problem was that I had a Formula 2 race to do that weekend at Enna down in Sicily. I was leading the championship and didn't need this."
