2010 marked the 50th anniversary of the successful move John Surtees made from motorcycles to cars, and he remains the only person to have won World championships in both. Goodwood brought together a large selection of Surtees machinery in a very moving tribute to mark the occasion.
The bikes ranged from the Triumph Tiger 70 on which Surtees had his first race at Brands Hatch, to his world title-winning MV Agusta 500 that Surtees insisted on push-starting himself. Cars included the Aston Martin DBR1, Ferrari GTO, the Championship-winning Ferrari 158, the Surtees TS7-Cosworth and various Surtees F2 cars. The F2 cars were driven in the tribute parades by Red Bull’s Adrian Newey and Christian Horner.
Vintage Racecar’s Ed McDonough was invited to drive the ex-Surtees BRM P139, as well as the P126 and the unique Vanwall VW14, the rear-engined car that was built after Vanwall had quit F1, and made a comeback at the Silverstone International Trophy, where Surtees was the only person ever to race it.
Lord Charles March gave the moving tribute speech that also remembered John’s son Henry, who was killed in an F2 race at Brands Hatch just a year ago.
