JOHN SURTEES PASSES AWAY AT 83
G
rand Prix legend John
Surtees, passed away in
London, March 10. He was 83.
Surtees is the only man to be
crowned world champion on
both two wheels and four, scor-
ing seven motorcycle world titles
for MV Agusta before winning
the 1964 Formula 1 World Cham-
pionship for Ferrari.
Born in 1934, Surtees grew
up working in the South London
motorcycle shop owned by his
father, Jack, a sidecar racer with
whom 14-year-old John made
his competition debut in 1948 by
passengering his dad to victory
on his outfit, only to be disquali-
fied for being underage. Upon
leaving school at 15, he began
competing in grass track races at
nearby Brands Hatch, but gradu-
ated to road racing after starting
an apprenticeship at the Vincent
factory, for which his father was a
dealer. By 1951 John was winning
regularly on a 500cc Vincent
Grey Flash he'd prepare himself,
establishing himself as a future
two-wheeled star.
Graduating in 1952 to a
500cc Manx Norton on which
he competed that year in his
first World Championship race,
finishing sixth in the Ulster GP,
John continued to dominate
British short circuit racing until
1955, when Norton's race chief
Joe Craig finally gave Surtees
his first factory rides in what
would be the British manufac-
turer's final season of racing its
now outclassed singles. John
won 69 out of the 75 races
he started in Britain that year,
including the 250cc Ulster GP
on an NSU Sportmax to record
his first-ever GP victory. With
Norton's end-of-season retire-
ment from racing, John began
a five-year association with MV
Agusta in 1956, winning the Se-
nior TT aboard the 500cc four-
cylinder MV to score his debut
IN
THE
WIND
P38
John Surtees in
1959 on the MV
Agusta 350.
