John Surtees

I took this photograph in the paddock on practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1959.

John Surtees started his motorcycle racing career in the early 1950s, and was given a place in the Norton works team in 1955. By the end of that season the Norton Company was having severe financial problems and for the 1956 season John Surtees switched to the MV Agusta team. He won the 1956 500cc World Championship, and then both the 500cc and 350cc Championships for the team in 1958, 1959 and 1960. In 1959 he had a test drive for Aston Martin and this led to him taking a place in the Lotus F1 team for the 1960 season. In 1961 he drove a Cooper T53 for the The Yeoman Credit Racing Team and a Lola Mk4 for the Bowmaker Yeoman Racing Team in 1962. In 1963 he joined Scuderia Ferrari, won his first Grand Prix that season, in Germany, and finished in fourth place in the World Drivers' Championship. Still with Ferrari in 1964, he won the Drivers' Championship by one point from BRM's Graham Hill. 

In the photograph above the gentleman in the cap on the left-hand side is John Hartle, then John Surtees' team mate at MV Agusta.