John Surtees

John Surtees

Nation:	United Kingdom
Motorcycle world championship
statistics
Starts Victories Poles SR 49 38 - -
World title:	7th
World Cup points:	260
Podiums:	45
According to class (es): 250 cc class First start: 1955 Ulster Grand Prix Last start: 1955 Ulster Grand Prix Constructors 1955  NSU World Cup balance Seventh World Cup ( 1955 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 1 1 - - World Cup points: 8th Podiums: 1 350 cm³ class First start: Isle of Man TT 1955 Last start: 1960 Ulster Grand Prix Constructors 1955  Norton  • 1956–1960  MV Agusta World Cup balance World Champion ( 1958 , 1959 , 1960 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 22nd 15th - - World Cup points: 114 Podiums: 20th 500 cc class First start: 1952 Ulster Grand Prix Last start: Grand Prix of Nations 1960 Constructors 1952  Norton  • 1956–1960  MV Agusta World Cup balance World Champion ( 1956 , 1958 , 1959 , 1960 ) Starts Victories Poles SR 26th 22nd - - World Cup points: 138 Podiums: 24
Automobile world championship
First start:	1960 Monaco Grand Prix
Last start:	1972 Italian Grand Prix
Constructors
1960–1961  Lotus  • 1962  Lola  • 1963–1966  Ferrari  • 1966  Cooper  • 1967–1968  Honda  • 1969  BRM  • 1970  McLaren  • 1970–1972  Surtees
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Champion ( 1964 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 111 6th 8th 11
World Cup points :	180
Podiums :	24
Leadership laps :	290 over 2012 km

John Norman Surtees , CBE (born February 11, 1934 in Tatsfield , Surrey , England - † March 10, 2017 in London ) was a British racing driver.

He is the only rider in history who managed to become world champion in both the motorcycle world championship and in Formula 1 . He was also the owner of his own Formula 1 racing team ( Surtees Racing Organization ). His son Henry Surtees was also a racing driver.

Life

John Surtees, 2011

Motorcycle racing

John Surtees' father was a motorcycle dealer in south London. He competed in his first race at the age of 14 years in the sidecar of a Vincent - trailer combination along with his father. The two won, but when the race directors found out John Surtees' age, they were disqualified because Surtees was too young according to the regulations. When he was 15, Surtees competed in his first grass track race . In 1950, at the age of 16, he began training with Vincent. During this time he also bought his first car , a Jowett Jupiter .

In motorcycle racing , John Surtees first caused a stir in 1951 when, at the age of 17, he and the then Norton factory driver Geoff Duke , who was world champion in the classes up to 350 and up to 500  cm³ of the motorcycle world championship that year, had a car -Cycle Union races in Thruxton fought a tough battle for victory.

Surtees made his debut in the motorcycle world championship in 1952 at the Ulster Grand Prix in Northern Ireland . He started in the 500 cc class on a Norton and reached sixth place. It wasn't until three years later that he rode again in the motorcycle world championship. At the Tourist Trophy he finished fourth in the 350 cm³ class again on a Norton. At the following German Grand Prix on the Nordschleife , he achieved his first podium finish with third place behind Bill Lomas and August Hobl . A few weeks later, Surtees celebrated his first victory in the World Championships on a 250cc NSU at the Ulster Grand Prix. In the 350cc race he finished third again.

For the 1956 season, Surtees moved from Norton, who were in financial difficulties, to the Italian manufacturer MV Agusta , where he was a works driver at the side of Umberto Masetti in the classes up to 350 and up to 500 cm³. He celebrated his first victory for MV Agusta at his first 500cc event for MV, the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man . This was followed by two more in the Netherlands and Belgium . Surtees did not take part in the three remaining half-liter races of the season, but with 24 points he confidently secured the world championship title in the premier class ahead of German BMW driver Walter Zeller . The title win was favored by the fact that the 500 cc world champion of the previous three years, Geoff Duke, had been banned by the FIM until June 30, 1956 after he had supported a drivers strike for an increase in entry fees. In the 350s, Surtees was second in the Netherlands and fourth in Belgium.

In 1957 Surtees could not defend its 500 cc title - the MV Agusta were inferior to the Italian competition from Gilera . With second place in the TT and victory in Assen, he finished third behind the Gilera works drivers Libero Liberati and Bob McIntyre .

After Gilera and Moto Guzzi had withdrawn from the World Championship at the end of the 1957 season, the MV Agusta were almost without competition and dominated the Motorcycle World Championship at will. In 1958 , Surtees secured the titles in the 350 and 500 classes with six wins in seven races. In the following season he defended his title in the most sovereign way imaginable - he won all races of the season in both classes. In the same year he was named Britain's Sportsman of the Year .

Also in 1960 Surtees won both world championships, in the 350cc class he was tied on points with his Rhodesian teammate Gary Hocking at the end of the season , but won the title because of the higher number of third places. With his victory in the half liter race of the Tourist Trophy that year, Surtees became the first driver in the history of the race, which has been held since 1907, to win the Senior TT three times in a row.

At the end of the 1960 season, John Surtees ended his hugely successful motorcycle world championship career at the age of 26. He competed in 48 Grands Prix, celebrating 38 victories, a total of 45 podiums and seven world titles.

In the early 1980s he bought a BMW RS 500 , which he used in classic car races such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed , in Donington Park and in Montlhéry . In 2003, the BMW Group Mobile Tradition acquired the racing motorcycle, which is unique due to its original pre-war condition.

“I've got used to the motorcycle, I've grown fond of it and I've had a lot of great experiences with it. On the other hand, I am pleased that this vehicle is coming home to BMW. I know that it is in good hands there. "

- John Surtees : Mobile Tradition live, No. 03.2003

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​2011 Surtees drove this BMW again in front of an audience.

Automobile racing

John Surtees and Mauro Forghieri 1965

John Surtees at the 1000 km race on the Nürburgring in 1965

In 1960, Surtees made his Formula 1 debut for Lotus at the Monaco Grand Prix .

After several starts for Cooper - Maserati in 1961 and a successful season in 1962 with the Lola - Climax , which ended with fourth place in the World Championship , Surtees switched to Ferrari in 1963 and won the drivers' world championship in 1964 .

Surtees left Ferrari during the 1966 season because of what he believed to be too much pressure and personal differences with Ferrari racing director Eugenio Dragoni . Surtees competed in the following races for Cooper-Maserati and then switched to Honda for two seasons and later to BRM , before he founded the Surtees Racing Organization in the early 1970s , which took part in the World Automobile Championship from 1970 to 1978 .

In total, Surtees won six Formula 1 Grand Prix races in his career: Germany in 1963 and 1964 , Italy in 1964 and 1967 , Belgium in 1966 and Mexico in 1966 .

In addition, he was successful in sports car races both in the sports car world championship as a Ferrari works driver and in the American CanAm series, which he won in 1966 in its first year with a Lola T70 . He was also involved in the development of the vehicle as a test driver. In 1963 and 1965 he won the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring together with Willy Mairesse and Ludovico Scarfiotti .

In 1996 he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame .

Despite his success, Surtees was one of the more modest and had no talent as a "showman". On July 19, 2009, his son Henry had a fatal accident in a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch .

Since the death of Jack Brabham on May 19, 2014, Surtees has been the oldest living Formula 1 world champion. After he died on March 10, 2017 at the age of 83, Jackie Stewart became the oldest living Formula 1 world champion.

statistics

In the motorcycle world championship

• 350 cm³ world champion on MV Agusta : 1958 , 1959 , 1960
• 500 cm³ world champion on MV Agusta: 1956 , 1958 , 1959 , 1960
• 38 Grand Prix victories
• Induction into the MotoGP Hall of Fame

season	class	motorcycle	run	Victories	Second	Third	Points	position
1952	500 cc	Norton	1	-	-	-	1	18th
1955	250 cc	NSU	1	1	-	-	8th	7th
	350 cc	Norton	3	-	-	2	11	6th
1956	350 cc	MV Agusta	2	1	1	-	14th	4th
	500 cc	MV Agusta	3	3	-	-	24	World Champion
1957	350 cc	MV Agusta	1	-	-	-	3	10.
	500 cc	MV Agusta	3	1	1	-	17th	3.
1958	350 cc	MV Agusta	6th	6th	-	-	32	World Champion
	500 cc	MV Agusta	6th	6th	-	-	32	World Champion
1959	350 cc	MV Agusta	6th	6th	-	-	32	World Champion
	500 cc	MV Agusta	7th	7th	-	-	32	World Champion
1960	350 cc	MV Agusta	4th	2	1	1	22nd	World Champion
	500 cc	MV Agusta	6th	5	1	-	32	World Champion
total			49	38	4th	3	260	7 world titles

Isle of Man TT victories

year	class	machine	Average speed
1956	Senior (500 cm³)	MV Agusta	96.57  mph (155.41  km / h )
1958	Junior (350 cm³)	MV Agusta	93.97 mph (151.23 km / h)
	Senior (500 cm³)	MV Agusta	98.63 mph (158.73 km / h)
1959	Junior (350 cm³)	MV Agusta	95.38 mph (153.5 km / h)
	Senior (500 cm³)	MV Agusta	87.94 mph (141.53 km / h)
1960	Senior (500 cm³)	MV Agusta	102.44 mph (164.86 km / h)

Statistics in the automobile world championship

Grand Prix victories

1963 Germany ( Nürburg )  1964 Germany (Nürburg)

1964 Italy ( Monza )  1966 Belgium ( Spa-Francorchamps )

1966 Mexico ( Mexico City )  1967 Italy (Monza)

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1960	Team Lotus	Lotus 18	Climax 2.5 L4	4th	-	1	-	1	1	6th	14th
1961	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper T53	Climax 1.5 L4	8th	-	-	-	-	-	4th	12.
1962	Bowmaker Racing Team	Lola Mk4	Climax 1.5 V8	8th	-	2	-	1	-	19th	4th
		Lola Mk4A		1	-	-	-	-	-
1963	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 156/63	Ferrari 1.5 V6	10	1	1	1	1	3	22nd	4th
1964	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 158	Ferrari 1.5 V8	8th	2	1	1	2	2	40	1.
	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 158	Ferrari 1.5 V8	2	-	2	-	-	-
1965	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 158	Ferrari 1.5 V8	4th	-	1	1	-	-	17th	5.
		Ferrari 1512	Ferrari 1.5 F12	4th	-	-	1	-	-
1966	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312/66	Ferrari 3.0 V12	2	1	-	-	1	1	28	2.
	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T81	Maserati 3.0 V12	7th	1	1	1	1	2
1967	Honda Racing F1	Honda RA273	Honda 3.0 V12	6th	-	-	1	-	-	20th	4th
		Honda RA300		3	1	-	-	-	-
1968	Honda Racing F1	Honda RA300	Honda 3.0 V12	1	-	-	-	-	-	12	7th
		Honda RA301		11	-	1	1	1	1
1969	Owen Racing Organization	BRM P138	BRM 3.0 V12	4th	-	-	-	-	-	6th	11.
		BRM P139		5	-	-	1	-	-
1970	Team Surtees	McLaren M7C	Ford-Cosworth 3.0 V8	4th	-	-	-	-	1	3	18th
		Surtees TS7		7th	-	-	-	-	-
1971	Team Surtees	Surtees TS9	Ford-Cosworth 3.0 V8	11	-	-	-	-	-	3	19th
1972	Team Surtees	Surtees TS14	Ford-Cosworth 3.0 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
total				111	6th	10	8th	8th	11	180

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13
1960
		DNF					2	DNF		DNF
1961
	11 *	7th	5	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	DNF
1962
	DNF	4th	5	5	2	2	DNF	DNF	DNF
1963
	4th	DNF	3	DNF	2	1	DNF	DNF	DSQ	DNF
1964
	DNF	2	DNF	DNF	3	1	DNF	1	2	2
1965
	2	4 *	DNF	3	3	7th	DNF	DNF
1966
	DNF	1	DNF	DNF	DNF	2	DNF	3	1
1967
	3	DNF	DNF	DNF		6th	4th		1	DNF	4th
1968
	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	2	5	DNF	DNF	DNF	3	DNF
1969
	DNF	5	DNF	9		DNF	DNS	NC	DNF	3	DNF
1970
	DNF	DNF	DNF		6th		DNF	9 *	DNF	DNF	5	DNF	8th
1971
	DNF	11	7th	5	8th	6th	7th	DNF	DNF	11	17th
1972
										DNF		DNS

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1963	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Ferrari 250P	Willy Mairesse	failure	accident
1964	SPA Ferrari SEFAC	Ferrari 330P	Lorenzo Bandini	Rank 3
1965	Ferrari SEFAC Spa	Ferrari 330P2	Ludovico Scarfiotti	failure	Clutch damage
1967	Lola Cars Ltd.	Lola T70 Mk.III	David Hobbs	failure	Ignition damage

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1963	SEFAC Ferrari	Ferrari 250P	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Overall victory
1964	SEFAC Ferrari	Ferrari 330P	Lorenzo Bandini	Rank 3

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1962	Maranello Concessionaires	Ferrari 250 GTO	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
													DNF				2
1963	Ferrari	Ferrari 250P	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
					1	DNF			1			DNF
1964	Ferrari NART	Ferrari 330P Ferrari 275P Ferrari 250LM Ferrari 250 GTO	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
				3					DNF		3	2			DNF
1965	NART Ferrari Lola Maranello Concessionaires	Ferrari 330P2 Ferrari 275P2 Lola T70 Ferrari 365P2	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
			DNF				2	DNF			1			DNF	2
1966	Ferrari	Ferrari 330P3	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
					1			DNF
1967	Lola	Lola T70	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
								DNF	DNF			DNF
1970	Ferrari	Ferrari 512S	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
						3		2	3

Web links

Commons : John Surtees  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• John Surtees on the Official Motorcycle World Championship website.
• John Surtees on the Isle of Man TT official website.
• John Surtees. In: BMW history. BMW AG, accessed on November 12, 2014 (dossier on John Surtees in the BMW Group Archive). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Markus Lüttgens: Former Formula 1 world champion John Surtees has passed away. Motorsport-Total.com, March 10, 2017, accessed March 10, 2017 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Fred Jakobs: Pre-war compressor returned home . In: BMW Group Mobile Tradition (Ed.): Mobile Tradition live . No. 03.2003 . Munich October 2003, p. 14-15 ( document in the BMW Group Archive [accessed November 12, 2014]).
3. ↑ ^{a b} Surtees and Haslam together at Goodwood. In: press release. BMW Group, June 24, 2011, accessed on November 12, 2014 : "At the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​2011 , among others, legend John Surtees and works driver Leon Haslam accelerate on historic and current BMW motorcycles."