Surtees—A Personal Appreciation

It is an unfortunate fact of life that as we age, so we lose more and more friends to the ravages of time. As I sat in the church at the funeral of John Surtees—listening to the wonderful tributes from his daughters Leonora and Edwina, as well as a most moving eulogy from one of John’s best friends, Terry Regan—I reflected upon the fact that so many of the “great and the good” of motor racing have departed for that racetrack in the sky, a venue that all (or at least most) of us hope to visit in the afterlife.

When it comes to the “great” part, and indeed the “good” as well, there can be few greater than John. He is unique in being a World Champion on two wheels, many times over, as well as on four wheels. As the nature of top-level racing changes, it seems increasingly unlikely that anyone else will ever match that feat. The level of John’s entry into Formula One was just staggering—finishing 2nd in only his second World Championship Grand Prix, the 1960 British GP at Silverstone. He followed up with pole position in his next (third) Grand Prix, and by that time he had already established himself as one of the top Grand Prix drivers of his era.