John Surtees ‘Il Grande John’ 1934-2017
The motorsport world mourns the loss of an extraordinary figure with the passing of John Surtees who passed away peacefully aged 83 on March 10.
John Surtees is most notably known as the only racer to ever win world championship titles on both two wheels and four, a distinctive title that will most likely be retained for a long time. He was also one of the few who lived through Formula One’s most dangerous eras.
Surtees spent 12 years in Formula One, clinching a World Drivers’ Championship for Ferrari in 1964 and winning a total of six grand prix.
It was, however, on two wheels, where a young John Surtees made a mark in his early racing career. His father, Jack was a bike dealer in South London and was a big name in sidecar racing. It was in his father’s sidecar that he made his debut at 14 years old at a race at Trent Park in London, only for the father-son duo to be disqualified on grounds of the young Surtees to be underage.
In 1952, he progressed to Norton factory bikes, developing and proving his undoubtedly talented skills by winning 68 out of 76 races.
He signed on with the renowned MV Agusta team that led to his first world championship win in 1956 at only 22 years-old. He won a total of seven world championships, three in 350cc and four in 500cc. He was fondly named by the Italians as ‘Il Grande John’ (Big John), a nickname that had stuck even into the later years in his life.
His relationship with Agusta, however, turned sour in 1959 when the Italian team didn’t allow the young Brit to race his own bikes in between commitments, they didn’t however, mention anything about racing cars, and following the advice from his good friend, Mike Hawthorn, (“John, give cars a go, they don’t fall over as easily!”), Surtees made the switch to four wheels.
Surtees made his race car debut in a Formula Junior race at Goodwood in 1960. His driving skills were quickly spotted by Lotus’ Colin Chapman and he then made his Formula One debut in the Lotus 18 that same year.
Outstandingly, he finished second in his second race at the British Grand Prix and even more amazingly, set pole at the Portuguese GP, only to be slowed down due to a fuel leakage. Conflict arose at Lotus after a spat with Chapman and Innes Ireland that led Surtees to walk away from the British team.
At this point, Enzo Ferrari had been keeping his sights on the British racer, but Surtees turned down an offer to drive for the Prancing Horse in 1962, stating that he didn’t feel ready. He changed his mind and took up the offer when Enzo approached him again the following year.
He gave Ferrari a World Championship win in 1964.
Surtees also had a hand in the Can-Am, series, running in a Lola sportscar in 1965. It was while racing in the Lola that Surtees had suffered a major crash when the car hit a suspension failure, leaving him heavily injured. He nursed himself back to health for the Belgian GP at Spa in 1966 which happened to be his last race for Ferrari.
He then joined Cooper-Maserati later that year, winning the F1 season finale in Mexico, then went on to Honda and BRM. The frustrations he faced during those times led him to build his own Team Surtees, only for the team to last a disappointing and unfruitful nine seasons in Formula One. He however persevered with the team until it was forced out of business in 1978.
A few years was spent away from the world of racing after that endeavour- he married his second wife, Jane with whom he had three children, two daughters and a son, Henry, who later went on to start his own racing career. Tragically, Henry died from injuries sustained in a Formula 2 accident at Brands Hatch. He was only 18 years-old.
The tragedy prompted Surtees to create The Henry Surtees Foundation, a charity that would raise money to provide research for head injury research and aid patients recovering from brain injuries as well as to support educational programmes related to motorsport.
Surtees remained very close to the sport throughout his life, he made appearances at Goodwood Festival of Speed as well as the Goodwood Revival, showing the fans his incredible talent behind the wheel of historical cars.
A statement on the Henry Surtees Foundation website perfectly describes how we will all remember the remarkable John Surtees by: “We deeply mourn the loss of such an incredible, kind and loving man as well as celebrate his amazing life. He has set a very real example of someone who kept pushing himself at his peak and one who continued fighting until the very end.”