John Surtees driving a Ferrari 158 vintage Formula 1 Grand Prix racing car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2014
At Goodwood, a true champion took centre stage as guest of honour of the 2014 Festival of Speed. Someone not just ‘addicted to winning’ but a born racer able to win at the highest level – on two wheels or four. It’s a claim to fame that immediately calls up one name and one name only: John Surtees. This is a big year for John – or as he would prefer to have it, a big year for the charity he set up after his son, Henry, was killed in a freak accident at Brands Hatch in 2010. The Henry Surtees Foundation is the beneficiary of John’s public works this year, and there’s no shortage of those, at Goodwood and elsewhere. Perhaps more drives, rides, lunches, openings, book-signings and interviews since he was winning grands prix. Why this year? It’s his 80th birthday and 50 years since the seven-times motor cycle World Champion did what no one had ever done before and went on to win the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship. ‘This year gives me an opportunity to celebrate things I wouldn’t normally worry about, particularly the 80 years part, and make them work for the foundation,’ John tells us when we arrive at his Elizabethan manor house in Surrey for the Goodwood Road & Racing birthday interview. The foundation has raised almost half a million pounds to help air ambulance services and support youngsters find a career in motor sport. John is taking his FoS driving responsibilities seriously: we arrive with the dust still settling on the driveway after his own impromptu shake-down tests with the Ferrari 158 he will be driving at FoS. ‘I needed to make sure the clutch adjustment was correct,’ he says, quickly adding, ‘but don’t publicise that – if there’s any noise round here I always blame Gatwick…’ But you are driving the Ferrari 158 – your championship-winning car from 1964. What’s it like? We had highs and lows and at times I cursed the car but we did achieve the championship with it. We got the handling quite nice'
Size: 4399px × 2915px
Location: Goodwood, West Sussex, UK
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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