John Surtees

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John Surtees.JPG
John Surtees
Nationality 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png British
Years 1952 - 1960
Teams Norton, MV Agusta
Races 49
Championships 350cc - 1958,1959,1960
500cc- 1956,1958,1959,1960
Wins 38
Podiums 45
Points
Poles N/A
Fastest laps 34
First race 1952 500cc Ulster Grand Prix
First win 1955 250cc Ulster Grand Prix
Last win 1960 500cc Nations Grand Prix
Last race 1960 500cc Nations Grand Prix
F1 Years F1 1960 - F1 1972
Team(s) Lotus, Cooper, Lola, Ferrari, Honda, BRM, McLaren, Surtees
Races 113 (111 starts)
Championships 1 (1964)
Wins 6
Podiums 24
Points 180
Poles 8
Fastest laps 10
First race 1960 Monaco Grand Prix
First win 1963 German Grand Prix
Last win 1967 Italian Grand Prix
Last race 1972 Italian Grand Prix
Le Mans Years 24hLM 1963 – 24hLM 1965, 24hLM 1967
Team(s) Scuderia Ferrari
Lola Cars/Team Surtees
Best Finish 3rd (24hLM 1964)
Class Wins 0
Video John Surtees driving a Ferrari in the 1964 Grand Prix


John Surtees, OBE (born 11 February 1934 in Tatsfield, Surrey) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver from England. He remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels. He is also the ambassador of the Racing Steps Foundation.

Motorcycle racing career

Surtees was the son of a south London motorcycle dealer. He had his first professional outing in the sidecar of his father's Vincent, which they won. However, when race officials discovered Surtees' age, they were disqualified. He entered his first race at 15 in a grasstrack competition. In 1950, when he was 16, he joined Vincent as an apprentice whilst with them he bought his first car, a Jowett Jupiter. He made his first headlines in 1951 when he gave Norton star Geoff Duke a strong challenge in an ACU race at the Thruxton Circuit.

In 1955, Norton race chief Joe Craig gave Surtees his first factory sponsored ride aboard the Nortons. He finished the year by beating reigning world champion Duke at Silverstone and then at Brands Hatch. However, with Norton in financial trouble and uncertain about their racing plans, Surtees accepted an offer to race MV Agustas.

In 1956 Surtees won the 500cc world championship. In this he was assisted by the FIM's decision to ban Geoff Duke for six months because of his support for a riders' strike for more starting money. In the 1957 season, the MV Agustas were no match for the Gileras and Surtees battled to a third place finish aboard a 1957 MV Agusta 500 Quattro.

When Gilera and Moto Guzzi pulled out of Grand Prix racing at the end of 1957, Surtees and MV Agusta went on to dominate the competition in the two big classes. In 1958, 1959 and 1960, he won 32 out of 39 races and became the first man to win the Senior TT at the Isle of Man TT three years in succession.

John Surtees at the 1965 1000 km Nürburgring.
John Surtees (left) and Mauro Forghieri in 1965


Racing car career

In 1960, at the age of 26, Surtees switched from motorcycles to cars full time, making his Formula 1 debut racing for Lotus in the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. He made an immediate impact with a second place finish in only his second Formula One race, at the 1960 British Grand Prix, and a pole position at his third race, the 1960 Portuguese Grand Prix. After spending the 1961 season with the Cooper racing team and the 1962 season with Reg Parnell Racing, he moved to Scuderia Ferrari in 1963 and won the World Championship for the Italian team in 1964.

On September 25, 1965, Surtees had a life-threatening accident at the Mosport Circuit (Ontario, Canada) whilst practicing a Lola T70 sports racing car. A front upright casting had broken. Surtees made a full recovery and competed with a T70 in the inaugural Can Am series in 1966, winning three races of six to become champion over other winners Dan Gurney (Lola), Mark Donohue (Lola) and Phil Hill (Chaparral) as well as the likes of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon (both in McLarens).

The 1966 season saw the introduction of new, larger 3-litre engines to Formula One. Surtees' debut with Ferrari's new F1 car was at the 1966 BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, where he qualified and finished a close second behind Jack Brabham's 3-litre Brabham BT19. A few weeks later, Surtees led the Monaco Grand Prix, pulling away from Jackie Stewart's 2-litre BRM on the straights, before the engine failed. A fortnight later Surtees survived the first lap rainstorm which eliminated half the field and won the Belgian Grand Prix.

Surtees arrived at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans expecting to be partnered with Mike Parkes, instead Ferrari team manager Eugenio Dragoni had put "big John" with Ludovico Scarfiotti. Surtees was not happy and quit Ferrari. Surtees finished the season driving for the Cooper-Maserati team, winning the last race of the season and finishing second in the drivers' championship, 14 points behind Brabham.

Surtees moved to the new Japanese Honda team for the 1967 season. He took pole position for the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, but the car's V12 engine suffered from reliability problems in the race. At the Italian Grand Prix Surtees slipstreamed Denny Hulme to take Honda's second F1 victory by 0.2 seconds. Surtees finished fourth in the 1967 drivers' championship.

The same year, Surtees drove in the Rex Mays 300 at Riverside, near Los Angeles, in a United States Auto Club season-ending road race. This event pitted the best American drivers of the day — normally those who had cut their teeth as professional drivers on oval dirt tracks — against veteran Formula One Grand Prix drivers, including Jim Clark and Dan Gurney.

In 1970, Surtees formed his own race team, the Surtees Racing Organisation, and spent nine seasons competing in Formula 5000, Formula 2 and Formula 1 as a constructor. He retired from competitive driving in 1972, the same year the team had their greatest success when Mike Hailwood won the European Formula 2 Championship. The team was finally disbanded at the end of 1978.


After Formula One

John Surtees in 2006

For a while in the 1970s Surtees ran a motorcycle shop in West Wickham, Kent. He continues his involvement in motorcycling, participating in classic events with bikes from his stable of vintage racing machines. He also remains involved in single-seater racing cars and held the position of chairman of A1 Team Great Britain, in the A1 Grand Prix racing series from 2005-7. His son, Henry competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Formula Renault UK Championship and the Formula BMW UK championship for Carlin Motorsport, before he died whilst racing in the Formula 2 championship at Brands Hatch on 19 July 2009.

In 1996, John Surtees was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. The FIM honoured him as a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2003. Already a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.


Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6
Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Points Rank Wins
1952 500cc Norton SUI
-
IOM
-
NED
-
BEL
-
GER
-
ULS
6
NAT
-
ESP
-
1 18th 0
1954 350cc Norton FRA
-
IOM
11
ULS
-
BEL
-
NED
-
GER
-
SUI
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
0 - 0
500cc Norton FRA
-
IOM
15
ULS
-
BEL
-
NED
-
GER
-
SUI
-
NAT
-
ESP
-
0 - 0
1955 250cc NSU FRA
-
IOM
-
GER
-
BEL
-
NED
-
ULS
1
NAT
-
8 7th 1
350cc Norton IOM
4
GER
3
BEL
-
NED
-
ULS
3
NAT
-
11 6th 0
500cc Norton ESP
-
FRA
-
IOM
29
GER
-
BEL
-
NED
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
0 - 0
1956 350cc MV Agusta IOM
-
NED
2
BEL
1
GER
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
14 4th 1
500cc MV Agusta IOM
1
NED
1
BEL
1
GER
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
24 1st 3
1957 350cc MV Agusta GER
-
IOM
4
NED
-
BEL
-
ULS
-
NAT
-
3 10th 0
500cc MV Agusta GER
-
IOM
2
NED
1
BEL
-
ULS
-
NAT
4
17 3rd 1
1958 350cc MV Agusta IOM
1
NED
1
BEL
1
GER
1
SWE
-
ULS
1
NAT
1
48 1st 6
500cc MV Agusta IOM
1
NED
1
BEL
1
GER
1
SWE
-
ULS
1
NAT
1
48 1st 6
1959 350cc MV Agusta FRA
1
IOM
1
GER
1
SWE
1
ULS
1
NAT
1
48 1st 6
500cc MV Agusta FRA
1
IOM
1
GER
1
NED
1
BEL
1
ULS
1
NAT
1
56 1st 7
1960 350cc MV Agusta FRA
3
IOM
2
NED
1
ULS
1
NAT
-
26 1st 2
500cc MV Agusta FRA
1
IOM
1
NED
-
BEL
1
GER
1
ULS
2
NAT
1
46 1st 5


Complete World Championship Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points
1960 Team Lotus Lotus 18 Climax Straight-4 ARG
MON
Ret
500
NED
BEL
FRA
GBR
2
POR
Ret
ITA
USA
Ret
14th 6
1961 Yeoman Credit
Racing Team
Cooper T53 Climax Straight-4 MON
Ret
NED
7
BEL
5
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
5
ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
12th 4
1962 Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing Team Lola Mk4 Climax V8 NED
Ret
MON
4
BEL
5
FRA
5
GBR
2
GER
2
USA
Ret
RSA
Ret
4th 19
Lola Mk4A ITA
Ret
1963 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 156 Ferrari V6 MON
4
BEL
Ret
NED
3
FRA
Ret
GBR
2
GER
1
ITA
Ret
USA
Ret
MEX
DSQ
RSA
Ret
4th 22
1964 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 158 Ferrari V8 MON
Ret
NED
2
BEL
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
3
GER
1
AUT
Ret
ITA
1
1st 40
North American Racing Team USA
2
MEX
2
1965 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 158 Ferrari V8 RSA
2
MON
4
BEL
Ret
FRA
3
5th 17
Ferrari 1512 Ferrari Flat-12 GBR
3
NED
7
GER
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
MEX
1966 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 312/66 Ferrari V12 MON
Ret
BEL
1
2nd 28
Cooper Car Company Cooper T81 Maserati V12 FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
NED
Ret
GER
2
ITA
Ret
USA
3
MEX
1
1967 Honda Racing Honda RA273 Honda V12 RSA
3
MON
Ret
NED
Ret
BEL
Ret
FRA
GBR
6
GER
4
CAN
4th 20
Honda RA300 ITA
1
USA
Ret
MEX
4
1968 Honda Racing Honda RA300 Honda V12 RSA
8
7th 12
Honda RA301 ESP
Ret
MON
Ret
BEL
Ret
NED
Ret
FRA
2
GBR
5
GER
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
Ret
USA
3
MEX
Ret
1969 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P138 BRM V12 RSA
Ret
ESP
5
MON
Ret
NED
9
FRA
11th 6
BRM P139 GBR
Ret
GER
DNS
ITA
NC
CAN
Ret
USA
3
MEX
Ret
1970 Team Surtees McLaren M7C Cosworth V8 RSA
Ret
ESP
Ret
MON
Ret
BEL
NED
6
FRA
18th 3
Surtees TS7 GBR
Ret
GER
9
AUT
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
5
USA
Ret
MEX
8
1971 Brooke Bond Oxo / Team Surtees Surtees TS9 Cosworth V8 RSA
Ret
ESP
11
MON
7
NED
5
FRA
8
GBR
6
GER
7
AUT
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
11
USA
17
19th 3
1972 Team Surtees Surtees TS14 Cosworth V8 ARG
RSA
ESP
MON
BEL
FRA
GBR
GER
AUT
ITA
Ret
CAN
USA
DNS
NC 0


External links


Formula One World Drivers' Champions
(1950Nino Farina ·(1951Juan Manuel Fangio ·(195253Alberto Ascari ·(1954,55,56,57Juan Manuel Fangio ·(1958Mike Hawthorn · (195960Jack Brabham · (1961Phil Hill ·

(1962Graham Hill · (1963Jim Clark · (1964John Surtees · (1965Jim Clark · (1966Jack Brabham · (1967Denny Hulme · (1968Graham Hill · (1969Jackie Stewart · (1970Jochen Rindt · (1971Jackie Stewart · (1972Emerson Fittipaldi · (1973Jackie Stewart · (1974Emerson Fittipaldi · (1975Niki Lauda · (1976James Hunt · (1977Niki Lauda · (1978Mario Andretti · (1979Jody Scheckter · (1980Alan Jones · (1981Nelson Piquet · (1982Keke Rosberg · (1983Nelson Piquet · (1984Niki Lauda · (198586Alain Prost · (1987Nelson Piquet · (1988Ayrton Senna · (1989Alain Prost · (199091Ayrton Senna · (1992Nigel Mansell · (1993Alain Prost · (199495Michael Schumacher · (1996Damon Hill · (1997Jacques Villeneuve · (199899Mika Häkkinen · (2000,01,02,03,04Michael Schumacher · (200506Fernando Alonso


3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Scuderia Ferrari
Personnel:
22px-Flag of France.png Jean Todt | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Mario Almondo | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Stefano Domenicali | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Luca Baldisseri
Current drivers:
22px-Flag of Finland.png Kimi Räikkönen | 22px-Flag of Brazil.png Felipe Massa | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Luca Badoer | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Giancarlo Fisichella (Test Driver) 22px-Flag of Spain.png Marc Gené (Test Driver)
Notable Former drivers:
22px-Flag of Germany.png Michael Schumacher | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Alberto Ascari | 22px-Flag of Argentina.png Juan Manuel Fangio | 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Mike Hawthorn | 22px-Flag of Austria.png Niki Lauda | 22px-Flag of South Africa.png Jody Scheckter | 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png John Surtees | 22px-Flag of the United States.png Phil Hill | 22px-Flag of Brazil.png Rubens Barrichello | 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Eddie Irvine | 22px-Flag of France.png Jean Alesi | 22px-Flag of France.png Alain Prost | 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Nigel Mansell | 22px-Flag of Austria.png Gerhard Berger | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Michele Alboreto | 22px-Flag of France.png René Arnoux | 22px-Flag of France.png Patrick Tambay | 22px-Flag of the Canada.png Gilles Villeneuve | 22px-Flag of Argentina.png Carlos Reutemann | 20px-Flag of Switzerland.png Clay Regazzoni | 22px-Flag of the United States.png Mario Andretti | 22px-Flag of Belgium (civil).png Jacky Ickx | 22px-Flag of Germany.png Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Lorenzo Bandini
Formula One cars:
125 | 275 | 340 | 375 | 500 | 553 | 625 | 555 | D50 | 801 | 412 | 246 | 256 | 156 | 158 | 1512 | 312 | 312B | 312T | 126C | 156/85 | F1/86 | F1/87 | 640 | 641 | 642 | 643 | F92A | F93A | 412T | F310 | F310B | F300 | F399 | F1-2000 | F2001 | F2002 | F2002B | F2003-GA | F2004 | F2004M | F2005 | 248 | F2007 | F2008 | F60 | F10 | 150° Italia | F2012