By Joe Murphy
Tom Belso became the first Danish Formula One driver when he was drive for the Swedish Grand Prix in 1973, however, he only took part in practice before handing the car over to regular driver, Howden Ganley. The reason he didn’t race was that his sponsorship money didn’t arrive in time, something not unheard of for that era but still a disappointment for the driver.
His race debut did happen though and came at the South African Grand Prix a year later. Unfortunately, this resulted in a first-lap retirement due to a faulty clutch.
He entered a further three races, all in that 1974 season, with the only other start and sole finish coming in Sweden where he achieved an 8th place finish.
Following the end of his racing career, in 1977 he founded Belso Cereals, a manufacturing company based in Peterborough. He also raced in other strands of motorsport before his death in 2020 from stomach cancer at the age of 77. When someone asks about Danish drivers, he may not be the first man you think of but he will always be the first Dane to do it, at the top level.
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