Formula One Legend John Surtees passes away aged 83 essentiallysports.com

The British racer was born in Surrey, United Kingdom on 11th February 1934. He is only person to win a Formula One world championship and a MotoGP world championship. Surtees made his motorcycling debut in 1952 riding the Norton in the 500cc class. In 1955 he won his first race in the 250cc class and finished the season in 7th place. A year later, in the 500cc category, he won the world championship with 3 wins at Isle of Man, Netherlands and Belgium. During the 1956 Isle of Man T race, he ran out of fuel in the 350cc race and hit a cow in the 500cc race., but he comfortably won the TT race. In 1958, he won the 350cc and 500cc world championships for MV Augusta by winning all the races except for Sweden. The Briton would go on to win the Championship for another two years.

He then switched two wheels for four with his debut in Formula One in 1960. That very year, in just his fourth appearance he qualified on pole position in Portugal for the Lotus team. In 1963, he won his first race for Ferrari in the German Grand Prix. A year later, he would go on to win the world championship for the Italian marquee. That would be the only championship he ever won, but he did come close in 1966 when he finished 2nd in the championship despite switching teams by the third race. In 1970, he entered the Formula One world championship with his own privateer team ‘Team Surtees’. He retired from racing after the 1972 season with six Formula One career wins and 38 MotoGP career wins to his name.

His privateer team, Surtees Racing Organisation competed for eight seasons. But they only had one podium in their entire career, courtesy of José Carlos Pace in 1973. He was inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996. He was a Member of the Order of the British Empire and was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2008. In 2016, he was appointed as the Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 2013 he was awarded the Segrave trophy in recognition of his world championships on two wheels and four wheels. Finally he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Engineering by Oxford Brookes University in 2015. Surtees died at the age of 83 at St. Georges Hospital in London. His son Henry Surtees died in 2009 after a tire from another car struck him on the helmet.