Surtees’ Segrave Honor

The Royal Automobile Club has awarded the historic Segrave Trophy to John Surtees OBE. Speaking at the award ceremony, RAC chairman Tom Purves said: “John is one of the most accomplished and versatile sportsmen of all time, winning seven motorcycle World Championships and then victory in the 1964 Formula One World Championship. He is the only person in history to have won World Championships on both two wheels and four yet, until today, John’s name was not on the distinguished list of Segrave Trophy winners. This award is made to John not as recognition of a lifetime of achievement, but as a somewhat overdue recognition of a unique sporting triumph that would, doubtlessly, have been recognized at the time had it not been for Donald Campbell, who broke the land and water speed records simultaneously the same year. It is therefore our great honor to salute John’s successes, albeit perhaps a little later than we should have done.”

Upon receiving the trophy, Surtees said: “Donald Campbell achieved his success on land and water in the same year, which perhaps overshadowed my having taken four years to put two- and four-wheel titles together. I am honored, as I approach the 50th anniversary of my Formula One World Championship title, to receive this prestigious Trophy on behalf of not only myself but also the world of two- and four-wheel motorsport.”