John Surtees: Two and Four Wheel World Champion

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A Champion on Bikes and in Cars

Sir John Surtees won the Grand Prix Motorcycle World Championship, the Formula One World Championship and the inaugural Can Am Championship.

Surtees's father was a three-time British motorcycle sidecar champion and motorcycle shop owner. By the time John was 11, he had his own bike that he could both ride and repair.

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He began racing motorcycles with his dad at the age of fifteen and seven years later, in 1956, Surtees won the 500cc World Championship riding a MV Agusta.

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From 1958 thru 1960, he won 32 out of 39 races for MV.

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In 1960, Surtees transitioned to car racing, beginning his Formula One career at the age of 26. He made his Formula One debut at the Monaco Grand Prix driving for Colin Chapman and the Lotus Racing Team. In his second race he finished in second place, and he qualified for the pole position and finished third in only his third Formula One race. John went on to drive for a variety of teams including Honda, pictured above.

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After moving to the Ferrari factory team, John Surtees made history winning the World Championship in 1964.

After recovering from a life-threatening accident, Surtees went on to win the inaugural Can Am series in 1966 beating illustrious drivers such as Dan Gurney, Mark Donohue, Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon, and Phil Hill.

In 1970, Surtees went on to form his own team and for nine years fielded cars as a constructor in Formula 5000, Formula Two, and Formula One. He retired from driving in 1972 and continued to run his team until 1978.

John Surtees remains the only person to win World Championships in both cars and on bikes. He is considered by many to be the greatest racer of all time.