From 1958 to 1960, John Surtees, the son of a motorcycle dealer, stood head and shoulders above his two-wheeled rivals with 32 wins and three podium finishes in 39 races. With a career record of 38 wins in just 49 starts, the Briton took the 350cc and 500cc World Championship crowns a total of seven times! In 1960, at the age of 26, Surtees - in need of a fresh challenge - made the move from motorcycles to cars. He made an immediate impact too, taking second place at the British Grand Prix in just his second race. Four years later, in 1964, he became Formula One World Champion with Ferrari. The same year, also with Ferrari, he took third place at Le Mans.

Surtees had in fact made his endurance debut in 1963, driving a Ferrari to victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring, clocking the fastest lap time despite everything not going quite as planned: "I won the 12 hours at Sebring in 1963, my first year with Ferrari and my first race for them. Whilst I was with Ferrari I was given the responsibility of testing for all the cars. For that race we ran out of time and one car which was destined for NART didn’t get fully tested. When I got to America the Team Manager changed the allocation of the cars that we had been given and gave me and my team mate the untried car. We had problems in the race with fumes coming into the cockpit because of poor sealing of the engine cover. This made us sick and we had to get down very quickly from the podium because of that".

This no doubt dismayed Surtees who was used to revelling in the glory of being on the podium, provided he was on the top step of course! Unfortunately, at Le Mans, he had to make do with the third step: "24 hours is a long while so it is rather pleasing to get onto that podium. It was frustrating because the car was running perfectly and we could have so easily won the race had the petrol pipe in the tank not broken when we were well advanced in the race causing us to be able to use only half a tank of fuel at a time".

John Surtees, awarded the OBE in 2008, was never found wanting when it came to competitive spirit. He was not lacking in character either: "I went to Le Mans 3 times with Ferrari and, as I said each time I was in a potentially winning position. I also went to the circuit in 1966 having set up the fastest test day time but didn’t drive because of a disagreement with the same Team manager and my leaving the circuit". The disagreement was over his co-driver. The plan was for Surtees to share his Ferrari 330 with Mike Parkes, but when the Briton arrived at Le Mans, he found Ludovico Scarfiotti’s name marked on the car. Surtees, who had suspected that Ferrari were trying to force him out in favour of Lorenzo Bandini following his serious accident at Mosport in 1965, stormed off. The Ferrari adventure was over.

Surtees did however return to Le Mans the following year in an Aston Martin-powered Lola entered by his own team, but a lack of resources put paid to any chance of success. Surtees retired from driving in 1972, but continued to lead his own Formula One team until 1978. He remained involved in motorsport until his son, Henry, died while racing in 2009. Since then, he has devoted his time to the Henry Surtees Foundation.

The final word goes to the great man himself, with reference to Le Mans: “This was something that unfortunately I wasn’t able to win” Happy birthday, Mr Surtees!

Cécile Bonardel / ACO (interview recorded following publication of the comic book “24 Heures du Mans - 1964/1967 : Le duel Ferrari/Ford”) – Translated by David Goward.

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 15 & 16 JUNE 1963. John Surtees, competing in the 1963 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Ferrari 250P No. 23 with Willy Mairesse.