Matt Bell's endurance career, from karting and rugby to a Daytona class win

Matt Bell's career has taken in karting, rugby, single-seaters, GT3 and prototype racing. He now drives IMSA's GTD category for 13 Autosport, after titles in the IMSA Prototype Challenge and the Asian Le Mans Series. A class win at the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours added a North American highlight to a European record that already included Le Mans Cup and ELMS race wins.

How did Bell start out in motor sport?

Bell began karting at 11, and in 2004 he took the ABkC O Plate. A year later he won the Super 1 National Series and the ICA class of the British Karting Championship. Karting ended in 2006, and he then spent two years in rugby before a back injury stopped him.

Rugby took him to the Newcastle Falcons Academy and then to Blaydon RFC. When the back injury ended that path, he turned to cars, and in 2009 he made his debut in the Ginetta G20 Eurocup Trophy, and he ended third overall in the standings.

A karting champion turned rugby player turned endurance driver who now races GTD for 13 Autosport in the United States.

What did his early GT3 years with United Autosports bring?

In 2010 Bell debuted in GT3 with United Autosports, partnering Zak Brown and racing an Audi R8 in the FIA GT3 European Championship. He took his first podium with third at Algarve, and the season ended with him 24th in the points.

That same year he raced in British GT with his brother Rob. The brothers won their class at Silverstone in a Ginetta G50, and Bell also contested a Formula Renault UK winter championship with Atech GP.

The year after, he stayed with United Autosports in British GT and European GT3. The European series brought only two points, but British GT gave him his first overall win, at Snetterton, and a sixth place in the standings.

2012 was a split season in British GT alongside Charles Bateman. The Audi R8 went winless in the opening four rounds, so the pair moved to a McLaren MP4-12C for the last three and won all but one of them, finishing third in the GT3 standings. A one-off run in the LMGTE Am class at Shanghai for JWA-Avila rounded out the year.

How did Bell's British GT career develop?

The next step saw Bell and Mark Patterson take three podiums in the early rounds of British GT, then took the win at the Donington finale and finished runner-up by a single point. They stayed together in 2014, when Bell scored one podium, a third at the Donington finale.

In 2014 Bell also raced the endurance rounds of the North American series with Paul Miller Racing. He took the GTD win at the season finale, Petit Le Mans, in that programme.

The 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour was physically punishing for him with Bentley Team M-Sport. He suffered dehydration and fatigue, needed medical attention mid-race, and still led in the closing stages before dropping to fourth and then third in class.

For the rest of 2015 he raced British GT with TF Sport, a team linked to Aston Martin. He won the season finale at Donington Park and finished the year fifth in the points.

Did Bell move into prototypes and win in Europe?

He did. After third at the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour he moved into LMP3 with United Autosports in the European Le Mans Series, where he took three podiums and finished fifth in the points. His best results were second places at Silverstone and Estoril.

The 2017 season was split between the Le Mans Cup and British LMP3 racing, both with United. He took one Le Mans Cup podium, at Algarve, and finished seventh in that series. The British cup gave him four wins and the runner-up place.

In 2018 he won a Le Mans Cup race at Silverstone for the first time and finished third in that championship. His European LMP3 campaign was harder, with only five points. That winter he joined Jim McGuire and Kay van Berlo for an Asian programme that included a win at Fuji and a runner-up finish in LMP3.

Which titles did Bell win in Asia and the IMSA series?

Bell's first full-season championship came in the 2020 IMSA Prototype Challenge with K2R Motorsports, where he won two races and the title. He later took the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 title with Nielsen Racing, collecting two overall wins and the maximum points available.

The 2020 season also gave him an LMP2 debut in IMSA's top category, with Performance Tech Motorsports, and a win at Le Castellet with Cool Racing in the Le Mans Cup.

In 2021 he returned to Cool Racing for the European series and the Le Mans Cup. He won at Barcelona and at the Red Bull Ring, took two more podiums, and finished one point behind Laurents Horr. In the Le Mans Cup he was runner-up in LMP3, four points down on the champion.

His Asian work that winter with Nielsen in LMP3 brought two podiums, and the team kept him in its line-up for 2022, when he moved up to LMP2 in the Asian series. Bell took the title in Asia that year and also raced LMP3 in the Le Mans Cup.

What did 2022 at Le Mans and 2023 with AWA bring?

In 2022 Bell took part in his first Le Mans 24 Hours, with Nielsen Racing, and took second in LMP2 Pro-Am on debut. In the European series he ended fourth in the Pro-Am standings, having won at Monza, in a busy year across two continents.

In 2023 Bell raced in the Asian LMP3 class and the Le Mans Cup with Nielsen, and with AWA in IMSA. He won the penultimate Asian round at Abu Dhabi and finished third in that series, while his IMSA season produced three podiums and third in the points.

The Le Mans Cup brought him race one wins at Le Mans and Aragon, and he finished fourth in the standings. The IMSA results were his first full season in North America, and they laid the groundwork for the GTD programme that followed.

What did GTD and the Daytona class win look like?

Bell drove a Corvette in IMSA's GTD class for AWA in 2024, sharing the car with Orey Fidani through the season and with Lars Kern at the endurance rounds. His best finish was fifth at Road America, and tenth place in GTD points was his final standing.

That season he returned to Le Mans for a second time, racing for Cool Racing and taking fifth in LMP2 Pro-Am. He also began a European Le Mans Series programme with Team Virage, but after three races the team reshuffled its line-up and he was left out.

In 2025 he returned to AWA for a second GTD season and joined DXDT Racing for GT World Challenge America. He won in class at the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours, but he finished no higher than sixth in the next nine races and ended the year ninth in the points.

The GT World Challenge America programme brought five Pro-Am victories and six further podiums, plus the class runner-up spot. He also raced at Spa for AF Corse and at Le Mans for AWA that year.

Where does Bell's career stand now?

Bell's third season with 13 Autosport in GTD came in 2025, and he is set to stay with the team for 2027. He earned the newly renamed team its maiden podium at VIR and finished fifth in GTD points with team owner Fidani.

Late in 2025 he tested LMP2 machinery for Nielsen Racing in ELMS rookie sessions, and he continued in the Le Mans Cup LMP3 class with the same team. Bell also took a 2025-26 Asian programme with TF Sport, which brought a best finish of ninth at Sepang and 24th in the GT standings.

Career summary at a glance