F1 Legends - John Surtees

More than 60 years on from his Formula 1 title, John Surtees remains the only man to have been World Champion on two and four wheels. It was an astonishing achievement and one which seems increasingly unlikely to ever be matched. His father, Vincent, owned a motorcycle shop and thus Surtees grew up surrounded by the world of bike racing. By the age of 11 he had his own motorcycle and was able to build and repair it on his own. Aged 21, he was given his first sponsored ride by Norton and after impressing during his first year, winning 68 times in 76 races, Surtees was signed up by Italian factory team MV Agusta. Riding for the Italian outfit, Surtees won the 500cc World Championship in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960. Surtees got his first taste of single-seater racing in 1959 when Ken Tyrrell entered him in an F3 race at Goodwood. He finished a close second to a promising young driver in a Lotus by the name of Jim Clark. His performance at Goodwood clearly impressed Team Lotus boss Colin Chapman as a year later he hired Surtees for the final four races of the 1960 Formula 1 season. He made an immediate impact in F1, finishing second at Silverstone in only his second race and qualifying on pole in Portugal. The results made Surtees a driver in demand, and after turning down the chance to partner Clark at Team Lotus, he signed for Yeoman Credit Racing Team driving a Cooper in 1961, before moving to the Bowmaker Racing Team and a Lola chassis in 1962. The results were disappointing, but his motorcycling success with MV Agusta meant Surtees was still a star in Italy and Ferrari came knocking ahead of the 1963 season. Success followed the move and Surtees took his first F1 win around the daunting Nordschleife, before making history by winning the Drivers' Championship in 1964. It was a triumph made all the more remarkable for the fact that he retired from four of the season's ten rounds. With Ferrari uncompetitive in 1965, Surtees opted to run his own team in America using a Lola chassis ahead of the inaugural Cam-Am series. However, a suspension failure during one of the races at Mosport in Canada left Surtees seriously injured and ended his season. He fought back to fitness over the winter and stormed to victory in the wet at Spa the following season, in what turned out to be his last race for Ferrari. A disagreement with Team Manager Eugenio Dragoni led to Surtees leaving the Italian team and joining Cooper. He finished the 1966 season with the team, taking victory in the season finale in Mexico. Surtees moved to Honda in 1967 and despite an underpowered engine, managed to take victory in Italy, which was his final win in F1. After a couple of difficult seasons, Surtees decided to expand his own racing operation into Formula 1, and the team made its debut at the 1970 British Grand Prix. Surtees retired from driving in 1973 to concentrate on finding funding for his F1 team, but after years of struggling, the team exited the sport after the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix. He stayed involved with the world of motorsport and as recently as 2007 held the role of Team Principal with A1 GP Team Great Britain. In 2008, he was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's birthday honours list.