Racing Legends (2012) s02e03 Episode Script
John Surtees
My name is Paul Hollywood.
Baker, TV presenter and petrol head.
I want to share my passion for racing by telling the life story of one extraordinary man 'Surtees lives to drive and drives to win.
' .
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my hero, John Surtees.
'Dominating the race from start to finish was 'John Surtees of Great Britain.
' Hard-working and quietly spoken, John let his racing do the talking and became world champion on both two wheels and four.
'Going in great style is a Ferrari - number seven, John Surtees.
' To help me understand how he achieved what no other racer has done Hello, Paul.
.
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I'll meet my hero and ride the machines that made him a champion.
Woo-hoo! 'There's no faster man on two wheels in the world than John Surtees.
' King of the track but as far as I'm concerned, just a king.
I love motor racing.
Outside the kitchen, this is where I feel most at home.
Cal, nice to meet you, buddy.
And it's a passion which started when I was just 16.
Although nowadays I make doughnuts, I used to try and make doughnuts then, but with a tyre on the road.
And I think there's still a little mark on the road - I'm not going to tell you which road it is - there's still a little mark on the road.
I did it when I was very, very young.
These days I've graduated to something more powerful.
An Italian superbike which is my pride and joy and the envy of all my friends.
I love everything Italian.
The Italians know how to sculpture a bike to make it look very, very pretty.
BUT you still need a British rider to make it go quick! To me, the best British rider of them all is, without question, John Surtees.
'Undefeated in every Grand Prix race, Surtees is a winner every time he rides.
' By 27, he had won the world motorbike championship seven times.
John Surtees.
And when he jumped in a Formula 1 Ferrari, he became world champion at that too! 'They say motorcycling is the best training for a racing driver - John Surtees proves it!' Crowned the best on both two and four wheels - no-one had done that before - no-one's done it since.
John was a racer who preferred to be in the garage rather than the tabloids.
And I think it's a scandal that outside racing circles, he's not as widely known as this Great British sportsman deserves to be.
I've come to his home in Surrey to meet him - about as far away from the roar of the track as you can get.
Ha-ha! Lovely to meet you, John.
Hello, Paul.
Lovely to meet you, man.
What an amazing place! It's home.
It's such an honour for me to meet you because I love my motorbikes, I love my cars but what you took it to was a completely different level that no-one ever really is going to surpass.
You mentioned a word there - love.
It is basically a love affair, isn't it? You know, you come together with machinery and samesame time sometimes of course, it's a little bit of a hate affair when they don't work and don't go right but other times, things become special in your life.
John's love affair with high performance vehicles hasn't dimmed over the years.
At 80 years old, he can still be found tinkering away in his garage.
Although as you might expect, his is a little grander than most.
Little bit of my history's over here.
You look there immediately and see a Norton.
Obviously HRD Vincent.
Gorgeous.
Yes, MV Agusta.
Oh, ho-ho-ho-ho! Now you're talking, John! Cinquecento MV Agusta! Wow! 500 MV Agusta.
It's last of the type that I raced.
It's absolutely gorgeous.
'There's no faster man in the world than John Surtees.
' I'm standing next to the bike on which John won his last world championship title.
Can I sit on it? Is that OK? You can sit on it, yes.
PAUL LAUGHS And incredibly he has promised me a ride on it.
But remember, there's no electronics.
It's all down to you! And you've got to also to think - you'd have grown up with the gear-change over here.
I just noticed that! So don't go along prodding this one, because if so, you might find yourself on your backside, because it's the back brake.
I don't think I'm ready to take it on the track yet.
It's just Wow.
Yeah.
It is phenomenal.
Now, that looks as though you've just been tinkering with that five minutes ago.
I still - when I can - grab some moments because it's the one place where I can switch off other problems.
For a moment you switch back the clock and you start to synchronise in the way you once did.
It's who he is, really.
He's just always busy, all the time unless he's asleep.
And even then he gets up in the middle of the night and writes things down because he's thought of something and he's got to do it.
Lights will go on and I think, "Oh here we go.
" He just likes to lead a sort of straightforward ordinary life with his family and friends and try and get in the coach house as much as possible so he can fix whatever he's working on at the moment.
Probably a Norton! The guy is a god! I'm just so excited about all of this, the whole thing for me, it's just like a massive toy shop.
John's story began much more modestly.
Born in 1934, he grew up in a flat above his dad's motorbike shop in Croydon, South London.
Probably the most important thing which happened to me - in a way my education was when Dad came back and said to me, "There you are.
There's something there for you, lad.
"Put it together and you can ride it.
" I suppose that was the sort of kick start of my career.
John spent many, many hours in a workshop, and that formed in him a real feeling for metal and how machines respond and how they've actually got they're not just cold pieces of metal, they've got a soul that the rider can interpret if he is that sensitive.
By 15, John was good enough to ride a bike he built himself.
When he was invited to try it out on the newly opened local circuit of Brands Hatch, the racing bug bit.
It was enough to come along and I suppose say those same words that my son would say to me many years later.
And they wereI went back and said, "Daddy, that's what I want to do!" Surtees senior, a biker himself, took young John along to racing events and occasionally allowed him to ride his bikes.
I recall one time that I did a rather adventurous overtaking manoeuvre and I went into the bank.
My father came running down there from the pits, picked me up, Boom - gave me a clip around the ears for having been so stupid! At 16, John was old enough to ride a 500cc bike and he made his official racing debut on a machine he had built himself.
And this is it.
A race-tuned Vincent Grey Flash.
Ha! I love it.
I'm just doing a few final checks.
This is just Wow! It feels such a beautifully poised bike.
I mean, I'm looking at that, is that where your chin went? Yes, yes.
My helmet would probably hit this.
You've got quite a long seat.
I know, I know.
But remember, both for you and I - with me, a little more, time has passed by - if you were 16 years of age, you'd have your chin on that! I'm just thinking - I feel like a contortionist now! In March 1951, Surtees signed up to race at Thruxton, where he got the chance to compete against the fastest man in the world.
'From the time the flag sent him on his journey, he's been going like the wind.
'He's perceptibly faster than the others.
' The king of motorcycle racing at that time as John was coming up was Geoff Duke.
'Geoff has a rare and natural genius for racing that has made him 'the finest rider in the world today.
' My dad was the first sort of motorcycling superstar, I suppose - the best in his field without question.
Duke was obviously the number one rider at that time, therefore Surtees had him in his sights, even at the young age that he was.
Duke rode a Superior Works bike, but John had spent months perfecting his Vincent, squeezing every ounce of horsepower he could from it.
A lovely quote of his was, "I love the feel of a spanner in my hand.
" You know, so he just really did know what he was doing.
That's a hell of a noise! I wasn't there 63 years ago, but seeing John today shows what a formidable opponent he must have been.
The guy is 80 years old and he's riding a bike which he rode when he was 16 years old and challenging some of the best riders in the world.
He's still has got this race thing, this energy, this huge, in-buckets amount of energy just to crack on.
At the Thruxton race, Duke was to be treated to a view he was not familiar with - looking up the exhaust pipe of the bike in front of him ridden by Surtees.
I can't wait.
'And now it's my turn to see what it was like!' ENGINE REVS Also at that first encounter between John and Geoff was a young reporter on one of his first assignments.
Geoff Duke was my god, and I was expecting to be talking about nothing else but Geoff Duke.
Instead, I found myself eulogising about this young John Surtees.
John took the lead from the flag, leaving Duke to play catch up.
It wasn't until the seventh lap that Duke hit the front, sweeping past Surtees.
'He was absolutely brilliant.
' John finished second to him in two races, and he became an instant sensation.
That was incredible, John! I now know what Geoff Duke would have felt like trying to follow you.
HE LAUGHS Between 1951 and 1955, John toured the UK in his dad's van, taking part in more than 200 races.
Winning had become an obsession.
COMMENTATOR: On the field, John Surtees, a newcomer with a grand record of success.
On one weekend, he won ten races at three circuits, It was a phenomenal pace of life.
He knew what he had to do and he knew where he was going, and that was the special thing about John, I think.
Meanwhile, Duke had been racing abroad for years.
When he came back to England in 1955 to race at Brands Hatch, he may have been world champion, but Surtees was no longer the young upstart.
He was a champion in waiting.
COMMENTATOR: Although he's only 21, Surtees holds every Brands Hatch solo record.
He's right on form now, holding the lead all the way through.
Over the 51 laps of the Brands' circuit, the two fought it out, spurring each other on.
COMMENTATOR: What a race, and what speeds! The fastest ever seen on this circuit.
But this time, it was Surtees who took the chequered flag.
COMMENTATOR: Duke couldn't catch young John.
It was the passing of the crown.
Duke never won another World Championship.
British motorcycling had found a new king.
Surtees' reputation spread beyond the UK and across mainland Europe.
In 1955, it reached the court of an ambitious Italian count.
COMMENTATOR SPEAKS IN ITALIAN The Agusta family had been making helicopters at their base in northern Italy since the early '20s.
Now in the hands of Count Domenico, they had branched out into motorcycles.
Their aim was to be the best Grand Prix racing team in the world.
And so the Agusta MV was born, a classic of Italian design.
But there was a snag.
Their racing bike was far easier on the eye than it was to ride.
' They weren't a great handling bike.
Very fast, but a lot to be desired on the handling front.
It gained a reputation as a bit of a killer machine.
Their first factory rider, called Ray Amm, crashed his MV and was killed.
Les Graham, a world champion, was thrown off the motorcycle and died.
Surtees, who had got as far as he could on British bikes, weighed up the risks and packed his bags to test out the Italian bike with the fearsome reputation.
My first impression was it Too soft.
I loved the sound of it, mind you.
ENGINE REVS And at the end of the test session, the boy from the back streets of Croydon was summoned to the inner sanctum of Count Agusta.
I didn't speak a word of Italian, and there was an interpreter, Mr Callatroni.
Callatroni said, "We'd like you to sign for the team.
" I said, "Yes, I think so.
" And they said, "Oh, one moment.
" A lady came in, dressed in black and she had a veil on.
She looked me up and down etc, gave me a sort of once over .
.
and, er, went out.
And Callatroni said, "That is the Count's mother.
"She says you can join the family.
" With a nod from Mamma Agusta, Surtees was accepted into the family.
They hadn't just signed up a fearless racer.
John was also a shrewd engineer, who immediately set about transforming the MV into a championship winner.
TRANSLATION: When he first turned up, it looked like the motorcycle doctor had arrived.
For the factory to believe this young English guy, who had never won a world title, and allow him to come in and completely change their motorcycle says volumes about the faith that Count Agusta had in John.
COMMENTATOR SPEAKS IN ITALIAN As the season started, Surtees' tinkering was to be severely tested at the circuit where, three years earlier, Les Graham fatally crashed on his MV.
COMMENTATOR: Leading away at ten-second intervals, famous riders competed in the senior international on the 37 mile course.
The Isle of Man TT races have been run for as long as people have been riding motorbikes.
It's a race against the clock, held on public roads amongst buildings and stone walls .
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where riders can reach speeds of over 200mph.
Thankfully, all these competitors lived to ride again.
However, more than 200 others weren't so lucky.
COMMENTATOR: In the Isle of Man, riders face the testing circuit of the senior race.
You sense you're in racing history here.
It feels like it could go back to John Surtees' time, right now, and still be exactly the same as it was 50 years ago.
That's the feeling that you get here.
When Surtees came here, all eyes were on him.
To understand what that might have been like, I've enlisted the help of a modern-day TT champion.
I'm a bit nervous about meeting him.
I'm a bit of a fan, if I'm honest.
John McGuinness won the TT 21 times, lapping the island at an average speed of 131mph.
John, lovely to meet you, mate, absolute pleasure.
Oh, no, oh, no.
It's John McGuinness, and we're in the Isle of Man! What makes you do this sort of thing? Because this is extremely dangerous, to come round this island at the speeds you do? I love it.
There's no better feeling in the world.
You can race at Nurburgring, you can race in Daytona, they're car parks compared to this.
This track is the daddy track.
You know, let's get the helmet on, let's get going and let's see how you get on.
All right.
COMMENTATOR: They're all ready for the start of the Manx Senior Grand Prix, over 226 miles of hard going, with the gale blowing.
The Reverend Robert D Reed is there to start them.
On the 8th June 1956, Surtees took his turn in the time trial.
He was determined to show the world what his adapted MV Agusta could do.
I'd imagine in the old days it would have been terrifying going down here.
A lot of narrow tyres, rubbish brakes.
Just get some speed up, you can feel the depression through here.
Oh, yeah, yeah! Just got it.
You imagine that wrestling a big MV Agusta around this track.
Flat out all the way down here.
So fast.
Really dangerous this bit of the track, nowhere to go here, walls on the inside, walls on the outside, trees.
Yeah, it's a dangerous one.
There's been quite a few lads lost their lives round that corner.
This is coming up to Ballaugh Bridge now, this is the famous bit.
It's a bit of a jump here.
PAUL LAUGHS He did launch that actually.
HE LAUGHS How are you feeling there, Paul? Enjoying it? Yeah, I am.
You're looking good.
I think you need to be a little smoother on the throttle.
I think you're a little excited.
You're not going to be able to do that on John Surtees' MV! Well, I hope not! THEY LAUGH 264 miles later, and having ridden at an average of 96mph, Surtees crossed the line, the winner.
How do you feel, John? Very well, thank you.
Bravo, John! HE LAUGHS It was the first win for Surtees on the Isle of Man.
John had tamed his MV, and was on his way to his first world championship.
I'll soon be riding his MV myself, and the thought is giving me goose bumps.
Although I've learned a lot today, .
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I'm still very, very nervous because it's John Surtees' MV Agusta, and I'm going to be in Brands Hatch, AND the master will be watching me.
Before I leave, John has a final treat in store.
With the circuit closed to the public, I'm about to discover what it's like to ride the TT at speed.
And there's only one way to do that.
How are you feeling, Paul? To be honest, mate, I'm absolutely bricking it, if I'm honest.
Just hold on, mate.
No worries there.
BLEEP! The Isle of Man looks quite different when you're pillion to a T legend at 150mph.
All right, boss? How was that? Enjoyed that? PAUL LAUGHS It was when you It was when you launched one and we just went vertical.
I was just looking at the sky and said, "I'll be with you in a minute!" HE LAUGHS COMMENTATOR: And now, the master himself.
The 1958 350 and 500 world champion about to start another record breaking season.
By the late '50s, Surtees was virtually invincible on his Agusta.
COMMENTATOR: There's no faster man on two wheels in the world than John Surtees.
Between 1956 and 1960 he raced the Italian red bike 96 times, winning 73 races.
John went on to win a total of seven world motorcycle championships, all with MV Agusta.
COMMENTATOR: The master has done it again.
And John Surtees is the hero with the double in the first classic meeting of the year.
Despite being lauded as the fastest man in the world, Surtees seemed to find the adulation something of an inconvenience.
What does being world champion mean to you personally? It means where we used to have a reasonable amount of spare time to get on with our own hobby of developing engines, and things like that, we just don't get any at all now.
To pay my tribute to John, and the bike he helped turn into a winner, I've come to the place where he was king for so many years.
I'm on my way to Brands Hatch.
For me, the home of John.
This is where John dominated for so many years.
I am really, really excited because I'll finally get a chance to ride his 1960 Agusta that he won the world championship on.
I hope I make him proud today, I really do.
An extraordinary piece of machinery is waiting for me.
500cc engine with a top speed of over 160mph.
In its time, the best bike in the world, and still formidable 50 years later.
I'm kitted out, John Hello, Paul! Dressed for the business! Absolutely! I'm a little bit nervous, if I'm honest.
So am I! Ha, I don't blame you.
It was walking up and seeing number one on this.
And going We won't have the stopwatch out.
OK.
I'd better get sitting on this bike.
COMMENTATOR: Although he's only 21, Surtees holds every Brands Hatch solo record.
I'll turn the taps on? That's it? Now, clutch out.
Ready? Yeah.
Drop it! COMMENTATOR: Anyone who was going to beat Surtees, the hot favourite, would have to be lucky.
Here I am.
On the track where John first beat the great Geoff Duke nearly 60 years ago.
Whoo hoo! Get in! COMMENTATOR: Well up among the leaders is young John Surtees of Britain, riding an MV Agusta.
Who says enthusiasts don't love it for the noise? Sounds OK, yeah, sounds OK.
COMMENTATOR: Undefeated in every Grand Prix race, Surtees is a winner every time he rides.
I thought this would have been rattling the jaws but it just doesn't, it rolls and it just wants to go! Strange machine, but he's treating it as I would have hoped.
This is unbelievable.
COMMENTATOR: Surtees raced to victory in both the 350 and 500cc events.
This is only one of many Surtees' triumphs.
HE LAUGHS That's an experience, yes? That is an experience! HE LAUGHS That was incredible.
Yeah.
I've warmed the tyres up for you, John.
PAUL LAUGHS That was HE LAUGHS .
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one of the most exhilarating rides I've ever had.
When I came past here at full chat, I could see Geoff Duke.
And I could hear the crowd.
And I was thinking, "This is amazing!" I mean, look at my hand, I'm shaking.
And I will never ever forget this day.
This has just been absolute magic! For me, tick! Tick! FANFARE And now, the great moment is at hand, the moment that will tell all of you at home which one of our guests here tonight you've chosen as the BBC Sportsview Personality of the Year.
And it isJohn Surtees.
APPLAUSE FANFARE By the late 1950s, John's motorcycling achievements were celebrated on and off the track.
Congratulations APPLAUSE DROWNS OUT SPEECH But at the height of his motorcycling career, John was about to be tempted to try his hand at something completely new.
It was at lunch, Park Lane.
I was put onto a table with the world motor racing champion, Mike Hawthorn.
He said, "You should try a car.
They stand up easier!" 'When John Surtees took the wheel of a Cooper Austin at Goodwood, 'he was out for his first race on four wheels.
'A ten lap scratch race for Formula Junior cars' So, on the 19th of March 1960, while still competing in the motorcycling world championship, Surtees made his racing debut in a Formula Junior Car.
His first race, and this was the first car race he had seen, and he saw it from the position of a driver.
We were all pleased he was coming in because he brings with him a whole following of people and so therefore, it was pretty nice, but then it wasn't as nice when you realised how fast he was.
He went a bit quicker than one wanted him to! He was a very fast driver.
I made a mistake, which was to forget I didn't only have two wheels, I had four, and used too much grass, and ended up dropping a few places.
'He finished a very good second.
'That's nice going for anyone's first race! 'Perhaps one day, we shall see the motorcycle ace 'going for the four-wheelers' world title.
' So, suddenly, right then, the guy is right in the middle, he's on the podium.
Massively impressive.
'Is it possible that, in John Surtees, Britain has found another 'driver of world champion class?' John's mixing Formula 1 cars with grand prix motorcycles.
On one weekend, he decided to ride a motorcycle and drive a car at the same meeting.
'He mixes the two sports and Surtees makes a new name for himself.
' John's appetite for racing was insatiable.
'Surtees, number three, makes TT history this year 'when he becomes the first man to win a TT race 'three years in succession.
' He raced MV, Formula 1 cars, and even his own bikes, but this couldn't last.
He was summoned for a showdown with Count Agusta.
He felt that his prestige had been harmed because the Italian newspaper had printed Surtees doesn't need an MV to win.
This angered the Count, who said to John, "You must only ride MV motorcycles.
" But John wouldn't be told by anybody what course his future should take and at the end of 1960, just nine months after his first race in a car, he took a momentous decision.
Although this is John Surtees as we know him, the world motorcycling champion three years in succession, this of course is only a model and already, it's a model of the past.
For tonight, John Surtees announces his retirement from motorcycling and he's going to concentrate on motor racing.
Hello, John.
Why have you made this new decision? Well, you can combine them if you only take one seriously and so I've come to the decision to retire from one and try my hand at the other.
Aged 27, and with seven motorcycle world championships to his name, Surtees walked away from the sport to pit himself against the best racing drivers in the world.
'To Silverstone for the 150 Mile International Trophy Race.
'Competitors included champion Jack Brabham in the new Cooper.
'And out of luck Stirling Moss, Cooper.
'Big names in a big field.
'And Formula 1 novice John Surtees in the Lotus.
' John's first seasons in Formula 1 were life-changing.
'Hold on to your hats.
' He finished 12th overall in 1961 and the following year, he did even better, finishing 4th.
'Experts acclaim this new 'and fearless driver as a future world champion.
' Along with success, he fell in love, and married Pat Burke after meeting her at the races.
John's obvious potential soon caught the eye of another Italian racing giant.
And in 1963, he was asked to become lead driver for what I think is the most iconic racing team in history.
That is absolutely stunning! Aesthetically it's like a bullet - Italiano! And that beautiful red, that Ferrari red.
That, for me, is just perfection.
That is Formula 1 at its best, as far as I'm concerned.
COMMENTATOR: In his Ferrari, John Surtees, going like a bomb and eventually leading the ten cars still in the race! Legendary Enzo Ferrari had followed the new career of this motorcycle ace and offered him a drive, so John packed his bags and was off again.
VOICE OF JOHN SURTEES: I suppose I'm a Ferrari fan.
This one's broken, John.
That's got a ding on the side.
Yes, I'm guilty.
I own up! I didn't quite fit.
There wasn't much time to do a redesign, so I bashed it in.
I cannot believe.
You walk in and go "Yeah, that's beautiful.
" Then, when you get in, you go Bang, bang, bang! That was it! It's like a suit, it has to fit.
A car has to fit.
But as John started racing for Ferrari, he soon realised that fitting in the car was the least of his problems.
He also had to fit in with the team! The atmosphere in the Ferrari team was always very political.
Not least because Ferrari liked to keep a slight distance between himself and the team, so he had a team manager.
And that team manager was Eugenio Dragoni.
Dragoni maintained the agenda of promoting Italian drivers and didn't take very kindly to Surtees' presence.
On his first outing for Ferrari, racing prototype cars in Sebring, Florida, John discovered he'd have to watch his back.
We'd sorted out the cars, driving positions, everything else which we thought was our car.
When I got to Sebring No.
They gave that car to, I think, Rodriguez.
I must say I was a bit unhappy about that.
TRANSLATION: Dragoni was a true boss.
When he gave an order, it had to be followed to the letter.
And him and John didn't get on.
Dragoni's decision meant that John had to start the race in an untested car.
I started during the race to have a few problems.
The bonnet at speed tended to lift on the rear engine and some of the gases would be sucked into the cockpit, so we were starting to feel a bit sick.
Despite the poisonous fumes, Surtees set out to prove just what he was capable of.
And after 12 hours of gruelling racing, he and his co-driver took the chequered flag and promptly disappeared behind the podium to throw up.
We thought we'd won the race until there was a protest.
And the protest, erm .
.
came from the Ferrari team.
Mr Dragoni put it in.
John's own team manager complained that the Surtees' car had done one less lap than the others.
Very fortunately my wife's lap chart, and she had done the 12 hours, coincided perfectly with that of the organisers.
Surtees was eventually confirmed as winner, but the episode left a bad aftertaste.
It was a lesson learnt and one which was unfortunately to be a little bit the way my relationship with Dragoni existed all the way through.
COMMENTATOR: And they're away But during one extraordinary season, 1964, Surtees showed the world once again what he was made of.
64 was a very, very competitive season, indeed.
We had Jim Clark We had Graham Hill Dan Gurney .
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and Surtees.
COMMENTATOR: Going in great style is the Ferrari number seven, John Surtees.
Surtees won at the Nurburgring, a circuit he'd successfully raced many times on a motorbike.
He continued, driving the Ferrari to victory in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, much to the delight of the home crowd.
He seemed to have unravelled the mystery of how do you win races and, er he won a lot of races.
COMMENTATOR: What a view it is of Mexico City from the highest roof in Latin America.
John's world championship hopes rested on the final race of the 1964 season.
It was in the Autodromo in Mexico City that the Championship was decided.
COMMENTATOR: The world's top drivers are all here.
He's in contention with Graham Hill and Jimmy Clark at this final round, but they encounter problems.
COMMENTATOR: It's time for the balloons to go up.
As the race started, Surtees dropped to 13th place, as his engine was only firing on five of its eight cylinders.
It looked like the world championship has gone.
Two laps from the end, everything changed.
Clark broke down and Hill was shunted by the other Ferrari, letting Surtees through.
TRANSLATION: I remember when Graham Hill came into our pits.
I thought he was going to hit us.
He said if I was certain you pushed me out on purpose, I would punch out your lights.
His opponents out, Surtees had another stroke of luck.
The temperature on the gauge went up and up and up.
When it over heated, it suddenly started working on eight cylinders.
Finally, with all the power of the Ferrari at his fingertips, Surtees picked his way through the grid, to finish behind Dan Gurney.
Next thing you know, they had me on their hands.
I was being transported on the hands of all the fans and it was just a fantastic thing.
But despite the crowd's adulation, the real winner was John, who had accrued enough points to become world champion.
COMMENTATOR: Mexico's loveliest film star, Lorena Velazquez, makes it a terrific afternoon for the winner.
Stirling Moss points out that though Gurney won, John Surtees, by being second, becomes world champion.
It was a special moment, of course.
What I find absolutely amazing, for me, you're still a biker.
You're a biker who drives cars, rather than a driver who's dabbled in bikes because you won seven world championships with the bikes.
To meet someone like you that's done it on two wheels and on four is, frankly, it just staggers me, absolutely staggering.
Well, each of the cars and bikes, you are there together with the machine, coming together with it.
Where you understand it and, in a way it talks to you and you talk to it, because they become part of your life, you are there together.
John is the only man to become Formula 1 World Champion after being Motorcycling World Champion.
I think this feat has something to do with the amazing relationship he has with machinery which is still strong after all these years.
But this relationship between man and machine was to be severely tested when, in 1965, John decided to drive for Eric Broadley's Lola in the Sports Car Championship.
COMMENTATOR: Surtees has already won the first part and he's well out to make it a double.
But in Mosport, Canada, during a practice lap, John was nearly killed.
As I came along to the right hander, the car flipped and dropped on me and that was the end of my season.
Kidney damage, huge pelvic injuries, he was taken home.
Is he actually going to come back? Nobody knew at the time.
The first and obvious question is, how are you feeling? This is hard to say.
I'm, er I think it is important that in time I do, sort of, manage to fit in the full movements.
And it took an awful lot of juggling by the doctors to get John right.
And the first time he walked, he did three steps before collapsing in agony.
Three days later he did something like 400 steps, which tells you everything about the racing driver psyche in general and John Surtees, in particular.
Just eight months later, John was back winning races in a Ferrari.
On his comeback, he won the 1,000 km race at Monza and two Formula 1 races.
COMMENTATOR: Surtees wins at an average speed of nearly 150 miles an hour in only his second comeback race.
But despite this, Enzo objected to Surtees driving both Ferraris and the Lola sports cars.
TRANSLATION: Ferrari was extremely protective of his team.
When John started to drive Eric Broadley's car, he probably didn't realise that this would hurt Ferrari's sensibility.
Something between them had broken.
It was reported last season that you had trouble with Ferraris but there's no doubt about your future with Ferrari, is there? Well, I'm driving a Ferrari at the moment, aren't I? But that wouldn't last long.
At Le Mans, Dragoni found a way to put John in a difficult position.
When John arrived to compete at Le Mans in June 1966, Dragoni dealt the blow.
When John turned up he said, "I know you're not too well "so I've recruited an additional driver.
" All hell broke loose.
John reacted exactly how you'd expect him to.
I thought, "I can't stand this.
" I got in a car and went back to see Enzo.
Incensed, John drove 750 miles to the Ferrari HQ to confront the top man.
It was a meeting that shaped both men's future careers.
Ferrari was a very difficult man and I think John is a very difficult man.
So I should think a meeting between the two was a pretty hectic affair.
That actual conversation, I've never discussed because I think it's something between me and Enzo Ferrari.
But I made a decision that it had to end.
TRANSLATION: When I turned up the following morning, they told me John had left.
I said, "Do you realise what you've done? You've just got rid of a world champion.
The consequences of this split were huge.
After Surtees left, Ferrari didn't win another world championship for 11 years.
As for John, with just two more Grand Prix victories in the next eight years, he retired from driving in 1972.
In cars, I think it's fair to say massive potential that wasn't fulfilled.
If John would have stayed with Ferrari, I've no doubt that he would have been world champion again in 1966 Surtees really lost, in what was in a lot of ways, the best home for his Formula 1 career.
They both lived to regret it.
If I had just thought about it, a little more calculating, I think it was possible we could have had, you know, two or three world championships.
I carried that with me for many years until not that long before Enzo died and I went back to the factory and I saw the old man, Ingegner Ferrari and he said to me, "John, we must remember the good times and not the mistakes," and that made it all right.
That drew a line.
That drew a line.
After a sporadically successful time running his own racing team, for which he built seven Formula 1 cars, John finally retired from motorsport in 1978 and, with his first marriage now over, he devoted himself to restoring his rambling Tudor manor house.
Does it fill the void? This enormous contrast from speed, being patient looking for things? The satisfaction of seeing it come together again fills a very important void.
And who do you leave it to? That is of some concern because, of course, I have no family, I have no children.
That problem I will have to get to at a later stage.
Well, I met him first in '78 and then we started going out properly in the mid '80s.
Because I didn't have a racing background, I didn't really understand the implications really of how famous he'd been.
It was only when we started going out and we'd go to places and people were saying, "Oh, it's John Surtees over there", then I'd think, "Oh, right!" John and Jane got married in 1986.
And then nine months later our first baby arrived.
And then 18 months later, another one came, Leonora, and thenthen Henry.
So we had three under three and a quarter, so that was pretty busy, actually.
I was probably about ten, my brother was probably eight.
Yeah, we went go-karting and then we started watching F1 and got quite into it then.
These days, John Surtees is as content to act as mechanic and racing advisor to his 12-year-old son, Henry, as he begins his career in motor sport.
My hope is to do something with motor racing.
I might not get into driving but I want to get into engineering if I don't get in it.
How did you feel when Henry showed this aptitude to race? It wasn't until a good friend of ours came along one day and said, "John, I'm going down to Buckmore Park, "would Henry like to come and have a look?" Of course, he didn't look, did he? He actually ended up in a car and he came back and said, "Daddy, that's what I want to do.
" It was really fun at the weekends, they would go one way with their racing, and my sister and my mum and I would go the other way in the horsebox.
But it was never a case of I want you to be John Surtees mark two which, to be honest, with Henry's character never would have happened anyway, because he knew what he wanted to do and what he didn't want to do.
By 18, under John's tuition and guidance, Henry's skill won him a place in a Formula 2 team.
In everything, he's helped me.
I can't thank him enough for what he has done.
I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't even have started karting if it wasn't for my dad's support.
And on the 19th July 2009, Henry won his first Formula 2 podium, finishing 3rd.
Fittingly, it was at the track where John was king - Brands Hatch.
The following day, also at Brands Hatch, Henry took part in another race.
Some breaking news to bring you about the Formula 2 driver, Henry Surtees.
The 18-year-old son of the 1964 Formula 1 World Champion John Surtees was struck on the head by a tyre from another car.
He was knocked unconscious and there's been no word from the hospital yet on his condition.
If it had been a few inches either way, all would have been well, but it wasn't and he subsequently died in hospital.
Part of me just disappeared on that day.
I know.
Yeah.
I understand.
It's just not there any more.
It would have been entirely understandable for John, faced with such unbearable tragedy at such a stage in his life, to retire with his family and his memories.
But that is not the way of John Surtees.
And I thought, "I'm going to stay working with Henry.
"We'll achieve a few things together still.
" Through the Henry Surtees Foundation, John is helping Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance bring emergency treatments to serious accident victims.
REPORTER: Ed ecco un nuovo elicottero Agusta Bell 206 I've come once more to Brands Hatch to learn about this latest chapter in John's life.
John, hello.
Hello.
We were interested in taking blood to the patient, that sort of transfusion, at the scene, which can make such a massive difference to their chances, not only of survival but their quality of survival and John said, "Fine, I'll raise the money for that equipment.
" My life has been spent chasing time and I thought the most vital thing was that we save time at the point of an incident.
Yeah.
Adrian came up and said, "I've chosen a helicopter, it's an Agusta! "The only problem now, is that we're going to have to pay for it!" So this set-up now and this link-up between the Henry Surtees Foundation and yourselves has saved lives so far? Oh, yes.
This is doing its job? Absolutely, in the first year alone we did over 70 patients, 70 of the most sickest patients going.
And a lot of that is down to John.
Well, we're just trying to do what we think is right.
I think you're doing an amazing job.
What a guy! John, in his beautiful way, has turned a negative into a positive and raised all this money for a helicopter to save other people's lives.
That's the man, that's John Surtees.
King of the track As far as I'm concerned, just a king.
COMMENTATOR: Surtees is the dedicated professional who lives to drive and drives to win.
Although he's only 21, Surtees holds every Brands Hatch solo record.
COMMENTATOR: Brands Hatch is a real test for even top class drivers.
I have to remember those words that Enzo said.
We must remember the good times, and not the, in this case, you know, and not the tragic ones.
Baker, TV presenter and petrol head.
I want to share my passion for racing by telling the life story of one extraordinary man 'Surtees lives to drive and drives to win.
' .
.
my hero, John Surtees.
'Dominating the race from start to finish was 'John Surtees of Great Britain.
' Hard-working and quietly spoken, John let his racing do the talking and became world champion on both two wheels and four.
'Going in great style is a Ferrari - number seven, John Surtees.
' To help me understand how he achieved what no other racer has done Hello, Paul.
.
.
I'll meet my hero and ride the machines that made him a champion.
Woo-hoo! 'There's no faster man on two wheels in the world than John Surtees.
' King of the track but as far as I'm concerned, just a king.
I love motor racing.
Outside the kitchen, this is where I feel most at home.
Cal, nice to meet you, buddy.
And it's a passion which started when I was just 16.
Although nowadays I make doughnuts, I used to try and make doughnuts then, but with a tyre on the road.
And I think there's still a little mark on the road - I'm not going to tell you which road it is - there's still a little mark on the road.
I did it when I was very, very young.
These days I've graduated to something more powerful.
An Italian superbike which is my pride and joy and the envy of all my friends.
I love everything Italian.
The Italians know how to sculpture a bike to make it look very, very pretty.
BUT you still need a British rider to make it go quick! To me, the best British rider of them all is, without question, John Surtees.
'Undefeated in every Grand Prix race, Surtees is a winner every time he rides.
' By 27, he had won the world motorbike championship seven times.
John Surtees.
And when he jumped in a Formula 1 Ferrari, he became world champion at that too! 'They say motorcycling is the best training for a racing driver - John Surtees proves it!' Crowned the best on both two and four wheels - no-one had done that before - no-one's done it since.
John was a racer who preferred to be in the garage rather than the tabloids.
And I think it's a scandal that outside racing circles, he's not as widely known as this Great British sportsman deserves to be.
I've come to his home in Surrey to meet him - about as far away from the roar of the track as you can get.
Ha-ha! Lovely to meet you, John.
Hello, Paul.
Lovely to meet you, man.
What an amazing place! It's home.
It's such an honour for me to meet you because I love my motorbikes, I love my cars but what you took it to was a completely different level that no-one ever really is going to surpass.
You mentioned a word there - love.
It is basically a love affair, isn't it? You know, you come together with machinery and samesame time sometimes of course, it's a little bit of a hate affair when they don't work and don't go right but other times, things become special in your life.
John's love affair with high performance vehicles hasn't dimmed over the years.
At 80 years old, he can still be found tinkering away in his garage.
Although as you might expect, his is a little grander than most.
Little bit of my history's over here.
You look there immediately and see a Norton.
Obviously HRD Vincent.
Gorgeous.
Yes, MV Agusta.
Oh, ho-ho-ho-ho! Now you're talking, John! Cinquecento MV Agusta! Wow! 500 MV Agusta.
It's last of the type that I raced.
It's absolutely gorgeous.
'There's no faster man in the world than John Surtees.
' I'm standing next to the bike on which John won his last world championship title.
Can I sit on it? Is that OK? You can sit on it, yes.
PAUL LAUGHS And incredibly he has promised me a ride on it.
But remember, there's no electronics.
It's all down to you! And you've got to also to think - you'd have grown up with the gear-change over here.
I just noticed that! So don't go along prodding this one, because if so, you might find yourself on your backside, because it's the back brake.
I don't think I'm ready to take it on the track yet.
It's just Wow.
Yeah.
It is phenomenal.
Now, that looks as though you've just been tinkering with that five minutes ago.
I still - when I can - grab some moments because it's the one place where I can switch off other problems.
For a moment you switch back the clock and you start to synchronise in the way you once did.
It's who he is, really.
He's just always busy, all the time unless he's asleep.
And even then he gets up in the middle of the night and writes things down because he's thought of something and he's got to do it.
Lights will go on and I think, "Oh here we go.
" He just likes to lead a sort of straightforward ordinary life with his family and friends and try and get in the coach house as much as possible so he can fix whatever he's working on at the moment.
Probably a Norton! The guy is a god! I'm just so excited about all of this, the whole thing for me, it's just like a massive toy shop.
John's story began much more modestly.
Born in 1934, he grew up in a flat above his dad's motorbike shop in Croydon, South London.
Probably the most important thing which happened to me - in a way my education was when Dad came back and said to me, "There you are.
There's something there for you, lad.
"Put it together and you can ride it.
" I suppose that was the sort of kick start of my career.
John spent many, many hours in a workshop, and that formed in him a real feeling for metal and how machines respond and how they've actually got they're not just cold pieces of metal, they've got a soul that the rider can interpret if he is that sensitive.
By 15, John was good enough to ride a bike he built himself.
When he was invited to try it out on the newly opened local circuit of Brands Hatch, the racing bug bit.
It was enough to come along and I suppose say those same words that my son would say to me many years later.
And they wereI went back and said, "Daddy, that's what I want to do!" Surtees senior, a biker himself, took young John along to racing events and occasionally allowed him to ride his bikes.
I recall one time that I did a rather adventurous overtaking manoeuvre and I went into the bank.
My father came running down there from the pits, picked me up, Boom - gave me a clip around the ears for having been so stupid! At 16, John was old enough to ride a 500cc bike and he made his official racing debut on a machine he had built himself.
And this is it.
A race-tuned Vincent Grey Flash.
Ha! I love it.
I'm just doing a few final checks.
This is just Wow! It feels such a beautifully poised bike.
I mean, I'm looking at that, is that where your chin went? Yes, yes.
My helmet would probably hit this.
You've got quite a long seat.
I know, I know.
But remember, both for you and I - with me, a little more, time has passed by - if you were 16 years of age, you'd have your chin on that! I'm just thinking - I feel like a contortionist now! In March 1951, Surtees signed up to race at Thruxton, where he got the chance to compete against the fastest man in the world.
'From the time the flag sent him on his journey, he's been going like the wind.
'He's perceptibly faster than the others.
' The king of motorcycle racing at that time as John was coming up was Geoff Duke.
'Geoff has a rare and natural genius for racing that has made him 'the finest rider in the world today.
' My dad was the first sort of motorcycling superstar, I suppose - the best in his field without question.
Duke was obviously the number one rider at that time, therefore Surtees had him in his sights, even at the young age that he was.
Duke rode a Superior Works bike, but John had spent months perfecting his Vincent, squeezing every ounce of horsepower he could from it.
A lovely quote of his was, "I love the feel of a spanner in my hand.
" You know, so he just really did know what he was doing.
That's a hell of a noise! I wasn't there 63 years ago, but seeing John today shows what a formidable opponent he must have been.
The guy is 80 years old and he's riding a bike which he rode when he was 16 years old and challenging some of the best riders in the world.
He's still has got this race thing, this energy, this huge, in-buckets amount of energy just to crack on.
At the Thruxton race, Duke was to be treated to a view he was not familiar with - looking up the exhaust pipe of the bike in front of him ridden by Surtees.
I can't wait.
'And now it's my turn to see what it was like!' ENGINE REVS Also at that first encounter between John and Geoff was a young reporter on one of his first assignments.
Geoff Duke was my god, and I was expecting to be talking about nothing else but Geoff Duke.
Instead, I found myself eulogising about this young John Surtees.
John took the lead from the flag, leaving Duke to play catch up.
It wasn't until the seventh lap that Duke hit the front, sweeping past Surtees.
'He was absolutely brilliant.
' John finished second to him in two races, and he became an instant sensation.
That was incredible, John! I now know what Geoff Duke would have felt like trying to follow you.
HE LAUGHS Between 1951 and 1955, John toured the UK in his dad's van, taking part in more than 200 races.
Winning had become an obsession.
COMMENTATOR: On the field, John Surtees, a newcomer with a grand record of success.
On one weekend, he won ten races at three circuits, It was a phenomenal pace of life.
He knew what he had to do and he knew where he was going, and that was the special thing about John, I think.
Meanwhile, Duke had been racing abroad for years.
When he came back to England in 1955 to race at Brands Hatch, he may have been world champion, but Surtees was no longer the young upstart.
He was a champion in waiting.
COMMENTATOR: Although he's only 21, Surtees holds every Brands Hatch solo record.
He's right on form now, holding the lead all the way through.
Over the 51 laps of the Brands' circuit, the two fought it out, spurring each other on.
COMMENTATOR: What a race, and what speeds! The fastest ever seen on this circuit.
But this time, it was Surtees who took the chequered flag.
COMMENTATOR: Duke couldn't catch young John.
It was the passing of the crown.
Duke never won another World Championship.
British motorcycling had found a new king.
Surtees' reputation spread beyond the UK and across mainland Europe.
In 1955, it reached the court of an ambitious Italian count.
COMMENTATOR SPEAKS IN ITALIAN The Agusta family had been making helicopters at their base in northern Italy since the early '20s.
Now in the hands of Count Domenico, they had branched out into motorcycles.
Their aim was to be the best Grand Prix racing team in the world.
And so the Agusta MV was born, a classic of Italian design.
But there was a snag.
Their racing bike was far easier on the eye than it was to ride.
' They weren't a great handling bike.
Very fast, but a lot to be desired on the handling front.
It gained a reputation as a bit of a killer machine.
Their first factory rider, called Ray Amm, crashed his MV and was killed.
Les Graham, a world champion, was thrown off the motorcycle and died.
Surtees, who had got as far as he could on British bikes, weighed up the risks and packed his bags to test out the Italian bike with the fearsome reputation.
My first impression was it Too soft.
I loved the sound of it, mind you.
ENGINE REVS And at the end of the test session, the boy from the back streets of Croydon was summoned to the inner sanctum of Count Agusta.
I didn't speak a word of Italian, and there was an interpreter, Mr Callatroni.
Callatroni said, "We'd like you to sign for the team.
" I said, "Yes, I think so.
" And they said, "Oh, one moment.
" A lady came in, dressed in black and she had a veil on.
She looked me up and down etc, gave me a sort of once over .
.
and, er, went out.
And Callatroni said, "That is the Count's mother.
"She says you can join the family.
" With a nod from Mamma Agusta, Surtees was accepted into the family.
They hadn't just signed up a fearless racer.
John was also a shrewd engineer, who immediately set about transforming the MV into a championship winner.
TRANSLATION: When he first turned up, it looked like the motorcycle doctor had arrived.
For the factory to believe this young English guy, who had never won a world title, and allow him to come in and completely change their motorcycle says volumes about the faith that Count Agusta had in John.
COMMENTATOR SPEAKS IN ITALIAN As the season started, Surtees' tinkering was to be severely tested at the circuit where, three years earlier, Les Graham fatally crashed on his MV.
COMMENTATOR: Leading away at ten-second intervals, famous riders competed in the senior international on the 37 mile course.
The Isle of Man TT races have been run for as long as people have been riding motorbikes.
It's a race against the clock, held on public roads amongst buildings and stone walls .
.
where riders can reach speeds of over 200mph.
Thankfully, all these competitors lived to ride again.
However, more than 200 others weren't so lucky.
COMMENTATOR: In the Isle of Man, riders face the testing circuit of the senior race.
You sense you're in racing history here.
It feels like it could go back to John Surtees' time, right now, and still be exactly the same as it was 50 years ago.
That's the feeling that you get here.
When Surtees came here, all eyes were on him.
To understand what that might have been like, I've enlisted the help of a modern-day TT champion.
I'm a bit nervous about meeting him.
I'm a bit of a fan, if I'm honest.
John McGuinness won the TT 21 times, lapping the island at an average speed of 131mph.
John, lovely to meet you, mate, absolute pleasure.
Oh, no, oh, no.
It's John McGuinness, and we're in the Isle of Man! What makes you do this sort of thing? Because this is extremely dangerous, to come round this island at the speeds you do? I love it.
There's no better feeling in the world.
You can race at Nurburgring, you can race in Daytona, they're car parks compared to this.
This track is the daddy track.
You know, let's get the helmet on, let's get going and let's see how you get on.
All right.
COMMENTATOR: They're all ready for the start of the Manx Senior Grand Prix, over 226 miles of hard going, with the gale blowing.
The Reverend Robert D Reed is there to start them.
On the 8th June 1956, Surtees took his turn in the time trial.
He was determined to show the world what his adapted MV Agusta could do.
I'd imagine in the old days it would have been terrifying going down here.
A lot of narrow tyres, rubbish brakes.
Just get some speed up, you can feel the depression through here.
Oh, yeah, yeah! Just got it.
You imagine that wrestling a big MV Agusta around this track.
Flat out all the way down here.
So fast.
Really dangerous this bit of the track, nowhere to go here, walls on the inside, walls on the outside, trees.
Yeah, it's a dangerous one.
There's been quite a few lads lost their lives round that corner.
This is coming up to Ballaugh Bridge now, this is the famous bit.
It's a bit of a jump here.
PAUL LAUGHS He did launch that actually.
HE LAUGHS How are you feeling there, Paul? Enjoying it? Yeah, I am.
You're looking good.
I think you need to be a little smoother on the throttle.
I think you're a little excited.
You're not going to be able to do that on John Surtees' MV! Well, I hope not! THEY LAUGH 264 miles later, and having ridden at an average of 96mph, Surtees crossed the line, the winner.
How do you feel, John? Very well, thank you.
Bravo, John! HE LAUGHS It was the first win for Surtees on the Isle of Man.
John had tamed his MV, and was on his way to his first world championship.
I'll soon be riding his MV myself, and the thought is giving me goose bumps.
Although I've learned a lot today, .
.
I'm still very, very nervous because it's John Surtees' MV Agusta, and I'm going to be in Brands Hatch, AND the master will be watching me.
Before I leave, John has a final treat in store.
With the circuit closed to the public, I'm about to discover what it's like to ride the TT at speed.
And there's only one way to do that.
How are you feeling, Paul? To be honest, mate, I'm absolutely bricking it, if I'm honest.
Just hold on, mate.
No worries there.
BLEEP! The Isle of Man looks quite different when you're pillion to a T legend at 150mph.
All right, boss? How was that? Enjoyed that? PAUL LAUGHS It was when you It was when you launched one and we just went vertical.
I was just looking at the sky and said, "I'll be with you in a minute!" HE LAUGHS COMMENTATOR: And now, the master himself.
The 1958 350 and 500 world champion about to start another record breaking season.
By the late '50s, Surtees was virtually invincible on his Agusta.
COMMENTATOR: There's no faster man on two wheels in the world than John Surtees.
Between 1956 and 1960 he raced the Italian red bike 96 times, winning 73 races.
John went on to win a total of seven world motorcycle championships, all with MV Agusta.
COMMENTATOR: The master has done it again.
And John Surtees is the hero with the double in the first classic meeting of the year.
Despite being lauded as the fastest man in the world, Surtees seemed to find the adulation something of an inconvenience.
What does being world champion mean to you personally? It means where we used to have a reasonable amount of spare time to get on with our own hobby of developing engines, and things like that, we just don't get any at all now.
To pay my tribute to John, and the bike he helped turn into a winner, I've come to the place where he was king for so many years.
I'm on my way to Brands Hatch.
For me, the home of John.
This is where John dominated for so many years.
I am really, really excited because I'll finally get a chance to ride his 1960 Agusta that he won the world championship on.
I hope I make him proud today, I really do.
An extraordinary piece of machinery is waiting for me.
500cc engine with a top speed of over 160mph.
In its time, the best bike in the world, and still formidable 50 years later.
I'm kitted out, John Hello, Paul! Dressed for the business! Absolutely! I'm a little bit nervous, if I'm honest.
So am I! Ha, I don't blame you.
It was walking up and seeing number one on this.
And going We won't have the stopwatch out.
OK.
I'd better get sitting on this bike.
COMMENTATOR: Although he's only 21, Surtees holds every Brands Hatch solo record.
I'll turn the taps on? That's it? Now, clutch out.
Ready? Yeah.
Drop it! COMMENTATOR: Anyone who was going to beat Surtees, the hot favourite, would have to be lucky.
Here I am.
On the track where John first beat the great Geoff Duke nearly 60 years ago.
Whoo hoo! Get in! COMMENTATOR: Well up among the leaders is young John Surtees of Britain, riding an MV Agusta.
Who says enthusiasts don't love it for the noise? Sounds OK, yeah, sounds OK.
COMMENTATOR: Undefeated in every Grand Prix race, Surtees is a winner every time he rides.
I thought this would have been rattling the jaws but it just doesn't, it rolls and it just wants to go! Strange machine, but he's treating it as I would have hoped.
This is unbelievable.
COMMENTATOR: Surtees raced to victory in both the 350 and 500cc events.
This is only one of many Surtees' triumphs.
HE LAUGHS That's an experience, yes? That is an experience! HE LAUGHS That was incredible.
Yeah.
I've warmed the tyres up for you, John.
PAUL LAUGHS That was HE LAUGHS .
.
one of the most exhilarating rides I've ever had.
When I came past here at full chat, I could see Geoff Duke.
And I could hear the crowd.
And I was thinking, "This is amazing!" I mean, look at my hand, I'm shaking.
And I will never ever forget this day.
This has just been absolute magic! For me, tick! Tick! FANFARE And now, the great moment is at hand, the moment that will tell all of you at home which one of our guests here tonight you've chosen as the BBC Sportsview Personality of the Year.
And it isJohn Surtees.
APPLAUSE FANFARE By the late 1950s, John's motorcycling achievements were celebrated on and off the track.
Congratulations APPLAUSE DROWNS OUT SPEECH But at the height of his motorcycling career, John was about to be tempted to try his hand at something completely new.
It was at lunch, Park Lane.
I was put onto a table with the world motor racing champion, Mike Hawthorn.
He said, "You should try a car.
They stand up easier!" 'When John Surtees took the wheel of a Cooper Austin at Goodwood, 'he was out for his first race on four wheels.
'A ten lap scratch race for Formula Junior cars' So, on the 19th of March 1960, while still competing in the motorcycling world championship, Surtees made his racing debut in a Formula Junior Car.
His first race, and this was the first car race he had seen, and he saw it from the position of a driver.
We were all pleased he was coming in because he brings with him a whole following of people and so therefore, it was pretty nice, but then it wasn't as nice when you realised how fast he was.
He went a bit quicker than one wanted him to! He was a very fast driver.
I made a mistake, which was to forget I didn't only have two wheels, I had four, and used too much grass, and ended up dropping a few places.
'He finished a very good second.
'That's nice going for anyone's first race! 'Perhaps one day, we shall see the motorcycle ace 'going for the four-wheelers' world title.
' So, suddenly, right then, the guy is right in the middle, he's on the podium.
Massively impressive.
'Is it possible that, in John Surtees, Britain has found another 'driver of world champion class?' John's mixing Formula 1 cars with grand prix motorcycles.
On one weekend, he decided to ride a motorcycle and drive a car at the same meeting.
'He mixes the two sports and Surtees makes a new name for himself.
' John's appetite for racing was insatiable.
'Surtees, number three, makes TT history this year 'when he becomes the first man to win a TT race 'three years in succession.
' He raced MV, Formula 1 cars, and even his own bikes, but this couldn't last.
He was summoned for a showdown with Count Agusta.
He felt that his prestige had been harmed because the Italian newspaper had printed Surtees doesn't need an MV to win.
This angered the Count, who said to John, "You must only ride MV motorcycles.
" But John wouldn't be told by anybody what course his future should take and at the end of 1960, just nine months after his first race in a car, he took a momentous decision.
Although this is John Surtees as we know him, the world motorcycling champion three years in succession, this of course is only a model and already, it's a model of the past.
For tonight, John Surtees announces his retirement from motorcycling and he's going to concentrate on motor racing.
Hello, John.
Why have you made this new decision? Well, you can combine them if you only take one seriously and so I've come to the decision to retire from one and try my hand at the other.
Aged 27, and with seven motorcycle world championships to his name, Surtees walked away from the sport to pit himself against the best racing drivers in the world.
'To Silverstone for the 150 Mile International Trophy Race.
'Competitors included champion Jack Brabham in the new Cooper.
'And out of luck Stirling Moss, Cooper.
'Big names in a big field.
'And Formula 1 novice John Surtees in the Lotus.
' John's first seasons in Formula 1 were life-changing.
'Hold on to your hats.
' He finished 12th overall in 1961 and the following year, he did even better, finishing 4th.
'Experts acclaim this new 'and fearless driver as a future world champion.
' Along with success, he fell in love, and married Pat Burke after meeting her at the races.
John's obvious potential soon caught the eye of another Italian racing giant.
And in 1963, he was asked to become lead driver for what I think is the most iconic racing team in history.
That is absolutely stunning! Aesthetically it's like a bullet - Italiano! And that beautiful red, that Ferrari red.
That, for me, is just perfection.
That is Formula 1 at its best, as far as I'm concerned.
COMMENTATOR: In his Ferrari, John Surtees, going like a bomb and eventually leading the ten cars still in the race! Legendary Enzo Ferrari had followed the new career of this motorcycle ace and offered him a drive, so John packed his bags and was off again.
VOICE OF JOHN SURTEES: I suppose I'm a Ferrari fan.
This one's broken, John.
That's got a ding on the side.
Yes, I'm guilty.
I own up! I didn't quite fit.
There wasn't much time to do a redesign, so I bashed it in.
I cannot believe.
You walk in and go "Yeah, that's beautiful.
" Then, when you get in, you go Bang, bang, bang! That was it! It's like a suit, it has to fit.
A car has to fit.
But as John started racing for Ferrari, he soon realised that fitting in the car was the least of his problems.
He also had to fit in with the team! The atmosphere in the Ferrari team was always very political.
Not least because Ferrari liked to keep a slight distance between himself and the team, so he had a team manager.
And that team manager was Eugenio Dragoni.
Dragoni maintained the agenda of promoting Italian drivers and didn't take very kindly to Surtees' presence.
On his first outing for Ferrari, racing prototype cars in Sebring, Florida, John discovered he'd have to watch his back.
We'd sorted out the cars, driving positions, everything else which we thought was our car.
When I got to Sebring No.
They gave that car to, I think, Rodriguez.
I must say I was a bit unhappy about that.
TRANSLATION: Dragoni was a true boss.
When he gave an order, it had to be followed to the letter.
And him and John didn't get on.
Dragoni's decision meant that John had to start the race in an untested car.
I started during the race to have a few problems.
The bonnet at speed tended to lift on the rear engine and some of the gases would be sucked into the cockpit, so we were starting to feel a bit sick.
Despite the poisonous fumes, Surtees set out to prove just what he was capable of.
And after 12 hours of gruelling racing, he and his co-driver took the chequered flag and promptly disappeared behind the podium to throw up.
We thought we'd won the race until there was a protest.
And the protest, erm .
.
came from the Ferrari team.
Mr Dragoni put it in.
John's own team manager complained that the Surtees' car had done one less lap than the others.
Very fortunately my wife's lap chart, and she had done the 12 hours, coincided perfectly with that of the organisers.
Surtees was eventually confirmed as winner, but the episode left a bad aftertaste.
It was a lesson learnt and one which was unfortunately to be a little bit the way my relationship with Dragoni existed all the way through.
COMMENTATOR: And they're away But during one extraordinary season, 1964, Surtees showed the world once again what he was made of.
64 was a very, very competitive season, indeed.
We had Jim Clark We had Graham Hill Dan Gurney .
.
and Surtees.
COMMENTATOR: Going in great style is the Ferrari number seven, John Surtees.
Surtees won at the Nurburgring, a circuit he'd successfully raced many times on a motorbike.
He continued, driving the Ferrari to victory in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, much to the delight of the home crowd.
He seemed to have unravelled the mystery of how do you win races and, er he won a lot of races.
COMMENTATOR: What a view it is of Mexico City from the highest roof in Latin America.
John's world championship hopes rested on the final race of the 1964 season.
It was in the Autodromo in Mexico City that the Championship was decided.
COMMENTATOR: The world's top drivers are all here.
He's in contention with Graham Hill and Jimmy Clark at this final round, but they encounter problems.
COMMENTATOR: It's time for the balloons to go up.
As the race started, Surtees dropped to 13th place, as his engine was only firing on five of its eight cylinders.
It looked like the world championship has gone.
Two laps from the end, everything changed.
Clark broke down and Hill was shunted by the other Ferrari, letting Surtees through.
TRANSLATION: I remember when Graham Hill came into our pits.
I thought he was going to hit us.
He said if I was certain you pushed me out on purpose, I would punch out your lights.
His opponents out, Surtees had another stroke of luck.
The temperature on the gauge went up and up and up.
When it over heated, it suddenly started working on eight cylinders.
Finally, with all the power of the Ferrari at his fingertips, Surtees picked his way through the grid, to finish behind Dan Gurney.
Next thing you know, they had me on their hands.
I was being transported on the hands of all the fans and it was just a fantastic thing.
But despite the crowd's adulation, the real winner was John, who had accrued enough points to become world champion.
COMMENTATOR: Mexico's loveliest film star, Lorena Velazquez, makes it a terrific afternoon for the winner.
Stirling Moss points out that though Gurney won, John Surtees, by being second, becomes world champion.
It was a special moment, of course.
What I find absolutely amazing, for me, you're still a biker.
You're a biker who drives cars, rather than a driver who's dabbled in bikes because you won seven world championships with the bikes.
To meet someone like you that's done it on two wheels and on four is, frankly, it just staggers me, absolutely staggering.
Well, each of the cars and bikes, you are there together with the machine, coming together with it.
Where you understand it and, in a way it talks to you and you talk to it, because they become part of your life, you are there together.
John is the only man to become Formula 1 World Champion after being Motorcycling World Champion.
I think this feat has something to do with the amazing relationship he has with machinery which is still strong after all these years.
But this relationship between man and machine was to be severely tested when, in 1965, John decided to drive for Eric Broadley's Lola in the Sports Car Championship.
COMMENTATOR: Surtees has already won the first part and he's well out to make it a double.
But in Mosport, Canada, during a practice lap, John was nearly killed.
As I came along to the right hander, the car flipped and dropped on me and that was the end of my season.
Kidney damage, huge pelvic injuries, he was taken home.
Is he actually going to come back? Nobody knew at the time.
The first and obvious question is, how are you feeling? This is hard to say.
I'm, er I think it is important that in time I do, sort of, manage to fit in the full movements.
And it took an awful lot of juggling by the doctors to get John right.
And the first time he walked, he did three steps before collapsing in agony.
Three days later he did something like 400 steps, which tells you everything about the racing driver psyche in general and John Surtees, in particular.
Just eight months later, John was back winning races in a Ferrari.
On his comeback, he won the 1,000 km race at Monza and two Formula 1 races.
COMMENTATOR: Surtees wins at an average speed of nearly 150 miles an hour in only his second comeback race.
But despite this, Enzo objected to Surtees driving both Ferraris and the Lola sports cars.
TRANSLATION: Ferrari was extremely protective of his team.
When John started to drive Eric Broadley's car, he probably didn't realise that this would hurt Ferrari's sensibility.
Something between them had broken.
It was reported last season that you had trouble with Ferraris but there's no doubt about your future with Ferrari, is there? Well, I'm driving a Ferrari at the moment, aren't I? But that wouldn't last long.
At Le Mans, Dragoni found a way to put John in a difficult position.
When John arrived to compete at Le Mans in June 1966, Dragoni dealt the blow.
When John turned up he said, "I know you're not too well "so I've recruited an additional driver.
" All hell broke loose.
John reacted exactly how you'd expect him to.
I thought, "I can't stand this.
" I got in a car and went back to see Enzo.
Incensed, John drove 750 miles to the Ferrari HQ to confront the top man.
It was a meeting that shaped both men's future careers.
Ferrari was a very difficult man and I think John is a very difficult man.
So I should think a meeting between the two was a pretty hectic affair.
That actual conversation, I've never discussed because I think it's something between me and Enzo Ferrari.
But I made a decision that it had to end.
TRANSLATION: When I turned up the following morning, they told me John had left.
I said, "Do you realise what you've done? You've just got rid of a world champion.
The consequences of this split were huge.
After Surtees left, Ferrari didn't win another world championship for 11 years.
As for John, with just two more Grand Prix victories in the next eight years, he retired from driving in 1972.
In cars, I think it's fair to say massive potential that wasn't fulfilled.
If John would have stayed with Ferrari, I've no doubt that he would have been world champion again in 1966 Surtees really lost, in what was in a lot of ways, the best home for his Formula 1 career.
They both lived to regret it.
If I had just thought about it, a little more calculating, I think it was possible we could have had, you know, two or three world championships.
I carried that with me for many years until not that long before Enzo died and I went back to the factory and I saw the old man, Ingegner Ferrari and he said to me, "John, we must remember the good times and not the mistakes," and that made it all right.
That drew a line.
That drew a line.
After a sporadically successful time running his own racing team, for which he built seven Formula 1 cars, John finally retired from motorsport in 1978 and, with his first marriage now over, he devoted himself to restoring his rambling Tudor manor house.
Does it fill the void? This enormous contrast from speed, being patient looking for things? The satisfaction of seeing it come together again fills a very important void.
And who do you leave it to? That is of some concern because, of course, I have no family, I have no children.
That problem I will have to get to at a later stage.
Well, I met him first in '78 and then we started going out properly in the mid '80s.
Because I didn't have a racing background, I didn't really understand the implications really of how famous he'd been.
It was only when we started going out and we'd go to places and people were saying, "Oh, it's John Surtees over there", then I'd think, "Oh, right!" John and Jane got married in 1986.
And then nine months later our first baby arrived.
And then 18 months later, another one came, Leonora, and thenthen Henry.
So we had three under three and a quarter, so that was pretty busy, actually.
I was probably about ten, my brother was probably eight.
Yeah, we went go-karting and then we started watching F1 and got quite into it then.
These days, John Surtees is as content to act as mechanic and racing advisor to his 12-year-old son, Henry, as he begins his career in motor sport.
My hope is to do something with motor racing.
I might not get into driving but I want to get into engineering if I don't get in it.
How did you feel when Henry showed this aptitude to race? It wasn't until a good friend of ours came along one day and said, "John, I'm going down to Buckmore Park, "would Henry like to come and have a look?" Of course, he didn't look, did he? He actually ended up in a car and he came back and said, "Daddy, that's what I want to do.
" It was really fun at the weekends, they would go one way with their racing, and my sister and my mum and I would go the other way in the horsebox.
But it was never a case of I want you to be John Surtees mark two which, to be honest, with Henry's character never would have happened anyway, because he knew what he wanted to do and what he didn't want to do.
By 18, under John's tuition and guidance, Henry's skill won him a place in a Formula 2 team.
In everything, he's helped me.
I can't thank him enough for what he has done.
I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't even have started karting if it wasn't for my dad's support.
And on the 19th July 2009, Henry won his first Formula 2 podium, finishing 3rd.
Fittingly, it was at the track where John was king - Brands Hatch.
The following day, also at Brands Hatch, Henry took part in another race.
Some breaking news to bring you about the Formula 2 driver, Henry Surtees.
The 18-year-old son of the 1964 Formula 1 World Champion John Surtees was struck on the head by a tyre from another car.
He was knocked unconscious and there's been no word from the hospital yet on his condition.
If it had been a few inches either way, all would have been well, but it wasn't and he subsequently died in hospital.
Part of me just disappeared on that day.
I know.
Yeah.
I understand.
It's just not there any more.
It would have been entirely understandable for John, faced with such unbearable tragedy at such a stage in his life, to retire with his family and his memories.
But that is not the way of John Surtees.
And I thought, "I'm going to stay working with Henry.
"We'll achieve a few things together still.
" Through the Henry Surtees Foundation, John is helping Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance bring emergency treatments to serious accident victims.
REPORTER: Ed ecco un nuovo elicottero Agusta Bell 206 I've come once more to Brands Hatch to learn about this latest chapter in John's life.
John, hello.
Hello.
We were interested in taking blood to the patient, that sort of transfusion, at the scene, which can make such a massive difference to their chances, not only of survival but their quality of survival and John said, "Fine, I'll raise the money for that equipment.
" My life has been spent chasing time and I thought the most vital thing was that we save time at the point of an incident.
Yeah.
Adrian came up and said, "I've chosen a helicopter, it's an Agusta! "The only problem now, is that we're going to have to pay for it!" So this set-up now and this link-up between the Henry Surtees Foundation and yourselves has saved lives so far? Oh, yes.
This is doing its job? Absolutely, in the first year alone we did over 70 patients, 70 of the most sickest patients going.
And a lot of that is down to John.
Well, we're just trying to do what we think is right.
I think you're doing an amazing job.
What a guy! John, in his beautiful way, has turned a negative into a positive and raised all this money for a helicopter to save other people's lives.
That's the man, that's John Surtees.
King of the track As far as I'm concerned, just a king.
COMMENTATOR: Surtees is the dedicated professional who lives to drive and drives to win.
Although he's only 21, Surtees holds every Brands Hatch solo record.
COMMENTATOR: Brands Hatch is a real test for even top class drivers.
I have to remember those words that Enzo said.
We must remember the good times, and not the, in this case, you know, and not the tragic ones.