JOHN SURTEES - 1934 - 2017
The only racer to win world championships on both two and four wheels, John Surtees, died aged 83 on March 10th 2017.
Surtees will be remembered for his extraordinary bike racing career, his F1 championship win in 1964, and his work to raise money for research into head injuries.
Surtees made his racing debut at the tender age of 14. His father, Jack Surtees, was a big name in car racing at the time, and John Surtees made his debut in his father’s sidecar, only for the duo to be disqualified as John was underage.
The love for racing never left, though, and, in 1952, Surtees enjoyed a successful season racing Norton factory bikes, winning 68 and of the 76 races he competed in. That caught the attention of MV Augusta, where he won his first world championship in 1956, only 22 years old. It was the first of many.
It’s Augusta we have to thank for Surtees making his car racing debut. The team didn’t like their star rider racing outside of his commitments with them, and they banned him from racing his own bikes outside of those commitments.
They didn’t say anything about racing cars, though.
In 1960, Surtees made his car racing debut in Formula Junior at Goodwood. He was spotted by Lotus’ Colin Chapman, and he made his F1 debut with the team later that year.
It wasn’t long before Surtees was catching the attention of other teams. The Brit saw plenty of success in his first season, including a second place finish in his second ever race, but he left Lotus after an argument with Chapman and Innes Ireland.
In 1962, Enzo Ferrari made him an offer to come and race with him, but Surtees turned him down. He wasn’t ready for Ferrari, he thought. A year later, Ferrari made the same offer, and Surtees accepted it.
1964, he became a Formula One world champion.
Not one to stay in one place for very long, Surtees raced in other series at the same time, as well as driving for multiple other teams after leaving Ferrari in 1966. The Brit even started his own team, but he didn’t find very much success and the team closed in 1978.
Outside of racing, Surtees had started a family. He married, and had three children: two daughters and a son, Henry Surtees. Henry followed his father into racing, but tragically died of injuries sustained in a Formula 2 accident. He was only 18 years old.
The accident prompted Surtees to set up the Henry Surtees Foundation, which raises money for research into head injuries, and supports educational programmes related to motorsport.
He was also an ambassador for the Racing Steps Foundation organisation, which aids young British drivers as they make their way up through the junior series in both car and bike racing.
Many people in motorsport believed Surtees should have been knighted for his racing achievements and charitable work, and he was given a CBE in the 2016 New Year Honours list.
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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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