John Surtees, who has passed on matured 83, is the main man to have won a great prix big showdown on two and four wheels. A splendid motorcyclist who commanded the main 500cc class for a significant part of the late 1950s, Surtees proceeded onward to cars and quickly settled himself as a main figure, winning the Formula 1 title for Ferrari in 1964.
Through the mid-1960s he was one of the towering figures in F1 alongside Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Dan Gurney.
The child of a south London motorbike merchant, Surtees was a young wonder on racing bicycles and, in the wake of making his name in national races, he surprised the big showdown when he was given a processing plant MV Agusta ride in 1955.
His rankling speed earned him the epithet ‘figlio del vento’ – child of the wind – and he won the world title in 1956 and again from 1958-60.
Surtees had effectively become well known while as yet contending on two wheels. He completed second in just his second Formula 1 race, the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix while driving for Lotus, and toward the finish of the season he changed to cars full time subsequent to winning his fourth bicycle title.
Two years in privateer teams took after, in which he did what’s necessary to get the attention of Enzo Ferrari, who drafted him into his team in 1963. Promptly Surtees turned into a noteworthy contender.
Ferrari requested Bandini to let Surtees by into second place, which gave him the title by one point from Hill.
Through the mid-1960s, Surtees was one of the main drivers of a period especially rich in ability.
His Ferrari couldn’t rival Clark’s overwhelming Lotus in 1965, and regardless of 1966 beginning admirably with a win in the second race of the season, Surtees left the team taking after a line with team administrator Eugenio Dragoni.
Surtees was Ferrari’s team pioneer, however Dragoni dropped him from the line-up for the Le Mans 24-hour race after a govern change requested just two drivers for every car.
At the point when Surtees requested a clarification, Dragoni revealed to him that he didn’t think he was sufficiently fit to race for 24 hours subsequently of wounds he had maintained in a genuine mischance in a Can-Am race in the US in late 1965. Surtees quit on the spot.
