opinionated ow
03-11-17, 10:20 AM
Very sad news out of England yesterday with the passing of John Surtees CBE. He is to this day the only person to win world championships on 2 and 4 wheels, taking the 500cc World Championship in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960 and the Formula One World Championship in 1964.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Surtees_at_1969_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg/640px-Surtees_at_1969_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg
This obituary from Autosport (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/128455/john-surtees-19342017) tells it well.
But by 1960 the lure had more appeal. MV's insistence that he could only ride the Italian bikes left him with too little racing and too many weekends free. But the agreement with Count Agusta didn't stretch to four wheels... "The first car race I ever saw was the one I was in!" he would often recall in later years, with that trademark wide smile.
Surtees found himself pitted against Jim Clark in a Formula Junior race at Goodwood, only for a rookie error to cost him a chance of victory. Lotus boss Colin Chapman took note and snapped him up to race in F1 - a rise beyond comprehension for drivers in the modern era.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Surtees_at_1969_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg/640px-Surtees_at_1969_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg
This obituary from Autosport (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/128455/john-surtees-19342017) tells it well.
But by 1960 the lure had more appeal. MV's insistence that he could only ride the Italian bikes left him with too little racing and too many weekends free. But the agreement with Count Agusta didn't stretch to four wheels... "The first car race I ever saw was the one I was in!" he would often recall in later years, with that trademark wide smile.
Surtees found himself pitted against Jim Clark in a Formula Junior race at Goodwood, only for a rookie error to cost him a chance of victory. Lotus boss Colin Chapman took note and snapped him up to race in F1 - a rise beyond comprehension for drivers in the modern era.