It is with great sadness that I must report the death at the age of 83 of John Surtees, the only man to be a World Champion on both two and four wheels. He died earlier this afternoon, having been in hospital for the last few weeks, having been admitted with a respiratory condition soon after his birthday on February 11. His wife, Jane and daughters, Leonora and Edwina were by his side.
Born in Surrey in 1934, the son of Jack Surtees, a sidecar racer who opened a motorcycle shop in Forest Hill, in south London in 1945, John grew up surrounded by bikes and inspired to race reading old race programmes and motorcycle magazines. He did his first race as his father’s sidecar passenger in 1948 in a race at Cockfosters, but they were disaqualified because John was only 14. He did his first solo race the following year on a grass track at Eaton Bray, riding a TT replica Excelsior-JAP. While working as an apprentice with the Vincent-HRD motorcycle firm he did his first road race at Brands Hatch in 1950 on 250cc Triumph, bought for £12. His first win came a few months later on a 500cc Vincent he had modified himself in a race at Aberdare Park in Wales. The following year he did his first season his racing and soon came to the attention of the Norton works team and then, in 1956, MV Agusta. By 1960 he was the holder of seven World Championships on two wheels and, having nothing left to prove, he decided to switch to four wheels. He did his first tests at Goodwood in 1959 and the same year was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In 1960 he began the year splitting his time between bikes and cars beginning his career at Monaco with Team Lotus and finishing second at the British GP. He then decided to join the Yeoman Credit Cooper Team for 1961 and stopped bike racing completely. This was not a great success and at the end of 1962, by which time he had been awarded an MBE for services to motor cycling, he signed for Ferrari. He won his first Grand Prix in Germany in 1963 and in 1964 won the World Championship in a spectacular showdown with Jim Clark and Graham Hill in Mexico City. He stayed at Ferrari until the middle of 1966, fighting back to fitness after suffering a badly broken leg when he flipped a CanAm Lola T70 at Mosport Park, but in the middle of 1966 he fell out with team manager Eugenio Dragoni and left, moving to the Cooper factory team. That year he won the CanAm Championship in a Team Surtees Lola. He raced for Honda in F1 in 1967 and 1968 and then BRM in 1969 before launching his own Team Surtees F1 team in 1970.
He retired from F1 after one final race in 1972 but the team went on. although it won a Grand prix, until it closed down at the end of 1978. Surtees went on to run his own motorcycle shop and a Honda dealership in Edenbridge, kent and competed in classic bike races and in the 2000s he was chairman of A1 Team Great Britain between 2005 and 2007. His son Henry was climbing the racing ladder when he was killed in a freak accidient at Brands Hatch in 2009, when hit on the head by an errant wheel. He worked tirelessly after that to raise money for The Henry Surtees Foundation. He was made an OBE in 2008 and a CBE in 2016, although many in the racing community believed it was a scandal that he was never knighted.
joeblogsf1 
When a giant falls, we are all lessened…
Such a great loss and very sad indeed. I also believe it was a travesty he was never knighted.
That’s my thought also.
So sorry to hear of John Surtee’s sad demise. In recent years I was honoured to meet and speak with him a number of times at Goodwood, he always had time for a chat and came over as a truly decent gentleman. I am also sad that he has left this earth before being awarded the knighthood he so richly deserved.
Garry
Very sad news indeed. My condolences to the Surtees family.
R.I.P. I never saw him actually race, but he was one of the greats.
R.I.P. John Surtees . One of the truly great men in motorsport history from two wheels to four as well as one hell of a mensch . May the memories of the man and his exploits live on . And as far as we’re concerned there will always be a Sir before his name .
That lack of a knighthood really sticks in the craw. And now, will never be redressed.
A real gentleman who never became a tax exile.
About to say he should have been knighted. A legend of Motorsport, world champion on 2 and 4 wheels. Sleep well, John.
Sad news of a man who dealt with tragically so positively for the benefit of others.
Despite all his achievements, is that not possibly his greatest? He has raised £millions including an air ambulance which itself has saved lives.
That is charity, not what these other “celebrities” call charity.
They don’t make them like that any more. The world is a lesser place without you. Rest in peace Mr Surtees
Very well said John, I read all of the other comments and yours really sums up my sadness and other feelings.
Absolutely.
One of the first names I could ever associate with motor sport. Sad news.
Thank you Piero. I appreciate your thoughts and comment. The world could use more people like Mr Surtees.
Amen to that John
A gentleman and a great champion. He will be missed.
As a boy I was fortunate enough to have met most of my heroes, John Surtees included, as access to the paddock was much easier in the 1970’s than today. I vividly remember being handed a bunch of Team Surtees promotional items (stickers, posters and so on) at Brands Hatch, and plastering them (along with swag from other teams) on my walls, satchel, exercise books and so on.
It was only a few days later that my parents noticed that I had stuck a large sticker with an adhesive front (designed to stick to car windscreens and the like) in the middle of the glass of my street-facing bedroom window proudly promoting their title sponsor in purple, gold and white “Durex Surtees Racing”, a brand not known to a ten year old (I think I thought it was a paint manufacturer).
Much time was spent with a wallpaper scraper and detergent removing it from the glass but the sticky residue persisted for many years.
Rest in peace, John. Your achievements will almost certainly never be replicated.
R.I.P. Mr. Surtees. I recall seeing him racing at Riverside Raceway driving a Lola. He will always be one of my heros as a gracious man and a truely gifted driver.
What sad news this is to hear. I am (just) too young to have ever seen him race in person, but his results and history show his towering achievements.
As others have said, it is enormously unjust that he was never recognised with a knighthood and I’m angered that he has now gone without that being bestowed. There has never been, as far as I know, any suggestion that he turned down an offer (I presume it would hardly be a secret, given the high profile of the comments about the topic) so I can’t understand it.
Very sad. A true great. RIP champ.
They never gave him a “Sir”; not that he ever needed it !!
Surely he ranks among the greatest of motorsport champions, British and otherwise.
I knew he was ill so I was afraid this news may come…RIP
Bah. Sad now.
RIP
A wonderful man revered in Italy for his achievements on Italian bikes and in Italian cars. At Monza a couple of years ago (the last of the noisy F1 era) I saw a tribute to him on the screens before the GP interviewing him with archive film of the banking. Guess it is in the FOM archive somewhere.
Previously, he was kindness personified as we all waited in the EasyJet lounge at Gatwick before flying to Italy.
As many have said, one of the true greats of motorsport and real gentleman. He handled Henrys death with dignity and turned it into a force for good with the foundation.
It is an absolute disgrace of the honours system that he was never knighted.
My thoughts and condolences to his family and close friends.
RIP; not just a great Champion, but a real Gentleman – one of the Old School. Condolencies to His Family. A shock… couldn’t help but shed a tear
Very sad to hear of the death of (should be Sir) John Surtees. Condolences to his family and friends. I saw him win the 1970 Oulton Park Gold Cup in his Surtees TS7 if I remember correctly. He won the two-heat race on aggregate after winning the first heat, with Jochen Rindt winning the second heat in what would be his last race before the Italian Grand Prix where he was killed. Jackie Stewart gave the Tyrrell 001 its debut, but I believe it DNF.
I enjoyed listening to John Surtees on the Motor Sport Podcast. He had some good stories.
R.I.P Mr Surtees. I raise my glass for thee.
🏁J Surtees the 🏆2 wheel and 🏆4 wheel Champion of The World 🏁 RIP 👑
Condolences to his family but congratulations to John on a life well lived. Surtees was a brilliant racer and a wonderful man, who I had the pleasure of meeting several times, he will be missed.
I’m surprised at just how sad I feel about the news. I never spoke with the chap but saw him at various events through the years. I was in the paddock at Brands in 66 when he came in after qually, all wide and wild eyed, trying to give some information to John Cooper but talking too fast. He’d obviously enjoyed himself. Many years later he looked almost the same after coming down from the hill at the GFoS.
I always looked forward to his interviews. He seemed to answer directly and honestly. As a previous poster said, good stories. As someone else said, an old school gentleman.
I think knighthoods need someone like him for credibility more than he needed it.
Goodbye, John, and thanks.
I also was at the 1966 BGP. My first ever, aged 15. I still have the program. I was hoping the Cooper-Maserati would do well, living near Surbiton, but as I now understand it the engine was too heavy.
John Surtees was indeed a Champion not only for his exploits on wheels but for the way he rose to the challenge of his sons tragic death with his work for charity. My best wishes to him and my condolences to his family and close friends.
John Surtees *should* have been knighted years ago.
However, in recent times the whole honours system has become so devalued that to be deserving and not recognised, is *almost* a better accolade.
I believe that to most F1 fans he will always be known as ‘Sir Jack’.
RIP and condolences to his friends and family.
Of course the above *should* read – ‘Sir John’ – apologies.
What absolute crap news to wake up to.
One of the memories I will take away from Johns life was although established under tragic circumstances, the effort and determination applied in recent years to the Henry Surtees Foundation.
His tenacity over recent years especially must be admired. Combining that with the myriad of tragedies that would of affected him during the most dangerous era of F1, to see a man in his latter years with such enthusiasm, passion and grace is something I will never forget. Many a man would of died on the inside already.
RIP Big John. One of the few I can honestly say I would always walk away from in a better place than when I approached.
A colossal figure within the sport. What a shame that JS couldn’t have been recognised fully by his country. Still, I’m sure the establishment feels as though it recognises the right people……….. RIP ‘Sir John’
Damn. I was at a classic car show in London recently and realising when looking at a board that I’d missed a talk given by John an hour earlier, as well as a sure and certain chance to meet him and say hello. That bugged me all day, and now I won’t ever get the chance to spend a few seconds in the company of a complete and utter 100% dude.
If you are referring to the Classic Car show at EXCel at end of Feb than sadly “Sir” John was already in hospital.
Interesting show with some great cars but for me it didn’t have an atmosphere, felt very flat.
Yes I was there, and would tend to agree a little about the atmosphere. But it’s horses for courses really – shows like that only feature cars and exhibits by dealers, so the atmosphere is going to be very different from, say, the annual Bromley show on Kent which is full of blokea called Dave with their sons ogling the Minis. Personally I prefer the more glam shows like Excel, in the same way I prefer attending the Singapore GP to Silverstone…
In any case, I’mean certain it was the 2016 show I’d narrowly missed seeing John at.
I met him so briefly at Zandvoort in 1975 . I was there with a British Rescue Unit (a consequence of the Piers Courage accident) and we had been invited for tea and sandwiches in a caravan. Halfway through our lunch JS came in as if he owned the place (which he did!), asked who we were and went “You are doing a good job” or words to that effect and left. Later on we heard that we was “careful with money” – I think he showed then where his priorities always were.
It’s a strange world when the biggest of F1 losers, Stirling Moss, is knighted and John Surtees is ignored. It might have something to do with where Surtees lived. Edenbridge remains a forlock tugging part of the country. I wouldn’t put it past some of the nobs in the area not fancying the thought of “that working class chappie who runs the garage” receiving such a high honour and putting the boot in.
A friend of John’s told me that when John started to do well in motorcycle racing, he used to receive visits from sponsors and manufacturers management at the family home. John was concerned by the behaviour of his father who was known for his very earthy language. So John used to lock his father in the back of the house until the meetings have finished. Worried that he might be viewed in the same way as his father, John took elocution lessons and completely lost his south London/Surrey accent.
John Surtees was one of a kind. He never stopped being a sportsman until the last.
Always a ‘sir’ to me. Wickedly funny and irreverent in private and not that different in public. Terribly affected by Henry’s death and worked tirelessly for the charity. I’ll miss our off the cuff chats at Goodwood. A great man, sadly missed.
A genuinely great, talented, intelligent and straight-talking man who was always true to his own views yet gracious, hospitable and polite to his public. An object lesson to others, he will be sorely missed.
I was fortunate to meet him a good many times and he even invited my (late) father to his house to look at a recently acquired classic car (a Jowett) of mutual interest. Somehow the world seems emptier now.
RIP.
A sad evening indeed, for one of motorsports true gentlemen. Had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times & a close friend drove him about for the GRTC in an AC Buckland at Goodwood in recent years.
My poignient memory being him stepping out of a car in the pit lane and asking me to step asside so he could greet his family, including a teenage Henry. A sobering time indeed, my express thoughts to those left behind. RIP a great British champion, sadly missing the deserved knighthood in his own lifetime.
I was privileged to work with John and Team Surtees in the early 1970s, when the much-missed Mike Hailwood was a real force to be reckoned with in F5000 and then F2 and F1 Surtees cars. John gave me the ‘break’ I needed to get involved in top-level single-seater racing (on the commercial side) at a very young age and when motor racing sponsorship was still in its infancy. Career-wise, everything I did in the ensuing 45+ years has followed from that opportunity . . . Thank you, John – and Rest in Peace.
I remember John speaking at Goodwood Festival of Speed, the year after losing Henry. His dignity brought tears to my eyes.
Gutted, a man I really wish I could have had the opportunity to meet and be in his presence . A true Motorsport hero. The British are lucky to call him one of their own.
A legend and a gentleman. He should have been knighted.
Although his driving career was almost over by the time I became a fan, I was always in awe of his achievement. Imagine, as reigning motorcycle world champion in 1960, he was leading F1 races — his first full season of 4 wheel motorsport! There’s nothing to compare, but today it would be like Marc Marquez turning up at Melbourne and finishing on the podium. In later years, l liked him because he gave my favorite, Rene Arnoux a drive, and showed tremendous courage after the death of his son. A rare person.
Let’s not forget he won six times at Isle of Man.
Lovely obituary Joe of a lovely man.
As you say some say it was a scandal he was not knighted, it was not only a scandal but a disgrace. Much like it was a disgrace Bobby Moore was not recognised.
Rest in Peace John Surtees, a giant of our sport.
I bet there aren’t any emails from John containing foul language and complaining why he hasn’t had a knighthood yet. ( eh Mr Beckham?)
I’ve always been impressed by that statistic – started in 1950 on a bike he prepared himself and only ten years later had seven world championships under his belt! I too think it disgraceful he was not knighted but then I also think he had something much more valuable – the respect, admiration and affection of many, many people (just look at the tributes here).
Those anonymous civil servants, unknown industrialists and tax exiled party funding donors who have been knighted will be forgotten overnight – John Surtees will most certainly not! On reflection I think I know which ‘commendation’ is the more meaningful!
Be assured that John Surtess life and achievements will last as long as there is a true motor racing fan alive.
I’m spanish and can’t think of any other “knight”, but have admired JS since I began reading about classic racing and will admire him as long as I have memory.
He was a real Sir. It’s just sad to hear such news. R.I.P.
Was it Cicero who said that when people in your life die, it is like ” walking down a road, you hear a noise behind you, turn and find someone has fallen, and a small piece of you goes with them”…?
Rarely do i feel this except with family and constant friends, but I feel this with the passing of Big John Surtees, who was a intrinsic part of my boyhood revelation at discovering the world of 2 and 4 wheel motorsport,
Another part of my youth slips away, leaving only memories of a Master racing driver and motorcycle Champion,and all the bikes and cars he raced including the Surtees machines, my favorites of which being the TS7 & 9 and the F2 TS10.
I do feel lucky to have found motorsport at the time and age that I did as, to me, it was just the best period ever in the sport.
Bloody shame,nice man…
Joe , I feel a lost for some of the older racers. As one who was at the first and many CanAm races I met John a few times :always had time for you.Missed in to- days world. From your Auto Week March 10 2017 obit. correction on the year of his accident not 1965.As the series started the next year,1966.
His accident was 25 September 1965.
I compete in one of the Karting Championships at Buckmore Park which he only took ownership of in the last couple of years. He has transformed the facilities and made massive improvements to the track and run off areas. Despite his age it truly showed how much passion he still had for the sport and to giving back to future generations. I will be thinking of this legend when my season starts there on March 26th. RIP John Surtees.