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John Surtees, Mexican GP 1964.
(Image source: The Cahier Archive; grandprix.com)
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Like the zillions 'O stories languishing away
here in the fields of Nofendersville... This story has failed to escape the
gravitational pull of that all fearing No Fenders Wormhole Vortex and hence
I've just finally managed to pull I-T free!
The story was jogged back to thee top 'O my memory
box when recently reading about John Surtees 80th birthday, which I announced
briefly in;
As arguably Messer Surtees is the most famous
of the two-wheel warriors to cross over into the realm of four wheels,
specifically single seaters, since after all this is the supposed home of No
Fenders, Ja Volt!
Below is just a quick listing of various
Scooter Pilotes' who've made the leap, (in no particular order) as this list by
all means isn't complete, especially since it seems to grow constantly the more
effort I put into researching I-T! (As in having grown into a Three-part
Trilogy...)
MULTI-WHEELED
WARRIORS
John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, The Rodriguez
Brothers, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Francois Cevert, Johnny Cecatto, Damon Hill,
Mark Blundell and Mark Webber.
As here's the story from Grizzled Journo' Joe
Saward that I believe got me started upon this topic 'Wayback a long, long, time ago - like at least four
years ago; YIKES!
FORMULA 1
(Years Denoted are for only the respective years
raced in the Top categories)
John Surtees
Motorcycles: 1952-60
Teams: Norton, MV Augusta
Championships: 7
500cc: 1956, 1958-60
350cc: 1958-60
Wins: 38
Poles: N/A
Cars: 1960-72
Teams: Lotus, Cooper, Lola, Ferrari, Honda, BRM,
McLaren, Surtees
Championships: 1
F1: 1964
Wins: 6
Poles: 8
John Surtees is the only person to have won a world championship in
both disciplines, having won multiple Motorcycle titles along with capturing
the Formula 1 world championship for la Scuderia (Ferrari) in 1964.
Surtees who won a staggering 32-of39
motorcycle races between 1958-60 left for single seaters at the age of 26.
(Same age as Casey Stoner, I believe...) Winning multiple Grand Prix's - along
with giving Honda its last win as a Constructor in the late 1960's before their
eventual return to Grand Prix racing in the 1980's, first as an engine supplier
and then ultimately a Constructor before quitting F1 in 2008.
Surtees also went onto create his own F1 Team
Surtees Racing Organisation which also constructed chassis for F2 & F5000.
Sadly, John's son Henry, an aspiring Open Wheel Racing driver was killed at the
age of 18 in a freak F2 accident in 2009...
Mike “The Bike” Hailwood
Motorcycles: 1958-67
Teams: Honda, MV Augusta
Championships: 9
500cc: 1962-65
350cc: 1966-67
250cc: 1961, 1966-67
Wins: 76
Poles: N/A
Cars: 1963-65; 1971-74
Teams: Lotus, Lola, Surtees, McLaren
Championships: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
The rider was so naturally gifted that he was
bestowed the nickname "Mike-the-Bike," winning an astounding nine
motorcycle world championships plus 76-victories before switching over to
racing cars, where his results never matched his prowess upon two wheels.
Hailwood was awarded the George medal for gallantry
for helping save Clay 'regga Regazzoni
escape from his burning F1 car! And he also won the European F2 title in 1972,
along with an astounding 14 Isle of Man TT trophies, winning his final two
events 1978-79 after having been retired from motorcycle racing for eleven years.
Sadly Mike and his daughter Michelle were killed in a roadside traffic accident
of which Mike's son David survived, with his father perishing at the age of
41...
Damon Hill
Cars: 1992-99
Teams: Brabham, Williams, Arrows, Jordan
Championships: 1
F1: 1996
Wins: 22
Poles: 20
According to Joe Saward's long ago feature
story, Damon took up motorbikes 'cause he wanted to be different than his
father. (Two-time F1 world champion Graham) Damon pursued his Scooters career
in 1981 with modest success, but as Messer Saward points out, Damon was
encouraged to go racing upon four-wheels by his Mum' who thought it would be
safer!
Damon's glory years in Formula 1 were with
Williams, where he began as its test driver before replacing the departed Nigel
Mansell - ultimately winning the 1996 F1 world championship after having
finished runner-up to his protagonist Michael Schumacher in '94.
Hill was summarily booted from Team Willy in
'97 and struggled on with lesser teams such as Tom Walkinshaw's Arrows outfit
and 'EJ's (Eddie Jordan) Jordan Grand Prix, where he scored the team's maiden
F1 victory in 1998 before retiring from racing at the end of the '99 season...
Mark Webber
Cars: 2002-13
Teams: Minardi, Jaguar, Williams, Red Bull
Championships: 0
Wins: 9
Poles: 13
Races: 215
Mark 'Handlebarz Webber grew up around motorcycles, as his father Alan
owned a local dealership. Webber began by racing motorcycles before working his
way up the Open Wheel ladder, with a stint as a tintop' driver for Mercedes,
before pirouetting twice down the Mulsanne straight in the Aero-deficient
Mercedes CLK GTR!
Webber finally reached his goal of F1; as I
still remember that incredible fifth place
finish at Melbourne upon his debut Grand Prix for fellow countryman Paul
Stoddart, Minardi's team owner.
Webber's best years as a Gran Primo Piloto
ultimately came during his tenure with Red Bull, albeit incredibly strained
with his junior 'Punk team-mate Seb' Vettel, as Webber's best quip ever after
crossing the finish line first was: "Not Bad for a No. 2!"
As the 'Aussie retired from Formula 1 at the
end of 2013 and now competes for Porsche's LMP1 squad in the FIA World
Endurance Championship...
Pedro Rodriguez
Cars: 1963-71
Teams: Ferrari, Lotus, Cooper, BRM
Championships: 0
Wins: 2
Poles: 0
Pedro, two year's Ricardo's elder, saw the
brothers gravitating to motorcycles due to the influence of their father being
chief of the Mexican Motorcycle Police. After being initially denied entry in
Sports Car racing, Pedro (Age 20) & Ricardo are claimed to have put the
fear of God into their competitors during a staggering drive aboard the N.A.R.T
Ferrari at Le Mans in '60, and would have won if the car had held together!
Pedro graduated to F1 machinery in 1963, and
scored the first of his two Grand Prix victories four years later - before
sadly being killed in a "minor" Sports Car race at the Nurburgring in
'71...
Ricardo Rodriguez
Cars: 1961-62
Teams: Ferrari
Championships: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
The younger of the two Rodriguez brothers was
apparently more successful upon motorbikes, having won a national championship
before setting his sights upon racing cars, where he and his older brother
Pedro were highly successful behind the wheel - most notably of Ferrari's, with
'Il Commendatore, nee Enzo Ferrari
signing Ricardo to a Formula 1 drive in 1961.
Unfortunately Ricardo was killed trying to
best Surtees time in his inaugural home Grand Prix in Mexico City in 1962 in a
non-Works chassis...
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Motorcycles: 1962-64
Teams: Kreidler
Championships: 0
Cars: 1967-74
Teams: Matra, BRM
Championships: 0
Wins: 1
Poles: 0
Jean-Pierre was a phenom on bikes, having won
eleven national titles before turning his attention to international motorcycle
racing, contesting the 50, 125 and 250cc classes.
Beltoise then shifted his attention to four
wheels, ultimately being drafted by "Uncle Chopper" (Ken Tyrrell) for
his Matra F1 squad whose lead pilot was somebody named Sir Jackie. (Stewart)
'and although his Formula 1 career was less than stellar, he later did much of
the testing for another French team named Ligier before focusing his attentions
on Tintops, winning two Touring Car titles for BMW and the French Rallycross championship aboard an
Alpine-Renault before ultimately retiring...
Francois Cevert
Cars: 1970-73
Teams: Tyrrell
Championships: 0
Wins: 1
Poles: 0
Have already
briefly chronicled Monsieur Cevert's career, who interestingly was the Brother-in-Law
of Monsieur Beltoise...
Johnny Cecotto
Motorcycles: 1975-80
Teams: Yamaha
Championships: 2
350cc: 1975
Formula 750: 1978
Wins: 14
Poles: 22
Cars: 1983-84
Teams: Theodore, Toleman
Championships: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
I've had a soft spot for this Venezuelan
racer ever since seeing a bevy of his BMW Touring Cars on display in a little
town called Nurburgring, Ja Volt! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
After winning the Venezuelan National Road
Racing championship twice between 1973-74, Johnny captured global attention by
first taking Pole position and then coming from dead last to finish third in
the '75 Daytona 200 aboard a "mystery" Yamaha, before returning the
following year with full factory support and defeating some Dude called
"The King," aka Kenny Roberts for the victory!
Ultimately, due to numerous bad racing injuries,
Cecotto shifted his attention to four wheels by beginning in F2 in 1980 before
tying for the title with Corrado
Fabi, (Teo Fabi's younger brother) who won the title via tiebreaker.
Cecotto graduated to Formula 1 the following
year, but is mostly known for being the late Ayrton Senna's team-mate at
Toleman in 1984 before breaking both of his legs at the British Grand Prix, effectively
ending his F1 career. Cecotto would recover from his injuries and go onto
further prominence as a championship winning Touring Car driver...
Mark Blundell
F1: 1991, 1993-95
Teams: Brabham, Ligier, Tyrrell, McLaren
Championships: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
CART: 1996-2000
Teams: Pacwest Racing
Championships: 0
Wins: 3
Poles: 0
At the tender age of 14, Blundell took up
Motorcross riding and progressed into a blossoming talent - winning
championships before switching over to four wheels at 17. Mark showed prodigious
talent with multiple FF1600 & FF2000 championship crowns before going
international by jumping straight into F3000 along with driving Sports Cars.
Blundell struck deals as a Williams and
McLaren test driver while having largely unsuccessful results with Mid-pack
runners due to his lack of budget.
Yet I mostly remember this Englishman for two
reasons. Firstly he replaced Bloody 'Nige at McLaren after Mansell's backside
couldn't fit into the MP4/10!
Then Blundell, out of a Formula 1 ride came
Stateside and joined my local IndyCar Pacwest Racing team, alongside another
ex-F1 Piloto named Mauricio Gugelmin, with the team's and Blundell's best
season being 1997 when Blundell scored three victories en route to sixth place
in the CART/PPG championship...
LE MANS
Although the majority of today's top F1 Starz
don't participate in extra-curricular activities such as Sports Car endurance
racing, nevertheless many of the drivers above have tried their hand at le
Circuit de la Sarthe, better known as Le Mans - to varying degrees of success.
John Surtees and Mike Hailwood both stood
upon the Le Mans podium, each scoring a third place finish - Surtees for Scuderia
Ferrari in 1964, while Hailwood co-drove to third place in the 1969 classic
aboard a John Wyer Ford GT40 with some chap known affectionately as 'Hobbo, aka
David Hobbs.
Mark Webber's pursuits at Le Mans haven't
been exactly encouraging to date, best known for somersaulting a Mercedes CLK
GTR twice! Along with his high flying pirouette in Formula 1, perhaps he'll
wish to become a "Wing Walker" in his next career? Preferably after
his stint with Porsche in WEC.
Pedro & Ricardo made waves during the
1960 24 Heurs du Mans before Ricardo finished second for Ferrari and Pedro won
co-driving with Jacky Ickx in the epic '69 event behind the wheel of those
iconic J.W. Wyer-Gulf Ford GT-40's.
Johnny Cecotto raced multiple times at Le
Mans while Mark Blundell won the race in 1992 with Peugeot...