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.”
During his career as a rider/driver, John raced motorcycles and just about every type of car, with remarkable success in almost every discipline: Formula One, Formula Two, Can-Am, Formula 5000 and Le Mans. As an engineer it is widely recognized that his input was a key part of bringing success to Ferrari in 1964, and he then went on to start his own Surtees marque in 1970, building cars for F1, F2 and F5000.
As Vice President of the British Racing Drivers Club and a consultant to Buckmore Park Kart Circuit, Surtees has worked tirelessly to encourage British racing talent, and was team principal for A1 Team Great Britain. In 2008 Surtees was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honors list for “services to motorsport and charity.” He set up the Henry Surtees Foundation in memory of his son who was killed in a freak accident while driving in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch in 2009. The Foundation’s aim is “to give more young people from the community at large an opportunity to experience the emotion, disciplines and learning that the world of motorsport can offer.”
