Surtees

The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978) as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000.

History[]

The team was formed by John Surtees, a three-time 500cc motorcycle champion and the 1964 Formula One champion. Surtees formed the team in 1966 for the newly-formed CanAm series (an unlimited sports car series), winning the championship as an owner/driver in its first year. He fielded an entry in another newly formed series in 1969, becoming part of Formula 5000 after taking over the failed Leda F5000 project, and his team constructed its own cars for the first time. His team was successful, winning five races, all in a row, during a twelve race season.

This inspired Surtees to expand to Formula One, and after having had a difficult season with BRM in 1969, John decided to become an owner/driver again. Surtees ran the full 1970 season, but John was forced to run the first four races in an old McLaren because of a delay in the construction of his in-house F1 car. The new BP-sponsored car earned its first (and only) points that year in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Surtees added a second full-time car in 1971 for German sports car ace Rolf Stommelen, and ran a third car for various drivers in a number of races. Three drivers, Surtees, Stommelen, and Mike Hailwood (himself a motorcycling champion) earned three points each for the marque that year.

After the 1971 season, Surtees retired from full-time competition, and the team ended up with three new full-time drivers in 1972. Hailwood returned to Surtees for a full year; joining him were Australian Tim Schenken and Italian Andrea de Adamich, the latter of whom brought sponsorship money to the team. "Mike the Bike" produced Surtees' first podium finish that year in the Italian Grand Prix, finishing second to Emerson Fittipaldi. All three drivers scored points for the team, and Surtees would finish fifth in the constructors' championship.

Schenken was replaced in 1973 by Brazilian Carlos Pace, and the team went down to two full-time cars after de Adamich left following the season opener. Pace finished third in Austria and fourth in Germany, but it was the only points finishes the team had all season, as Hailwood was left scoreless. Hailwood departed for McLaren after the year, being replaced by Jochen Mass in 1974. It was a difficult year for Surtees, as Pace left the team in mid-season, and replacement Derek Bell struggled to qualify for races, capped by Austrian driver Helmut Koinigg's fatal crash at the 1974 U.S. Grand Prix. A fourth place by Pace at his home track were the only points Surtees managed to get, and they failed to finish in the top ten in the constructor's championship.

Low on money for 1975, the team pared back to a single car for John Watson (although a second car was entered for Dave Morgan at Silverstone). The season was a tremendous struggle for Surtees, with no points scored, and the team missed three of the final four races. 1976 was much better, however, as Surtees landed an otherwise controversial sponsorship deal with Durex condoms, and Australian Alan Jones joined the team. Jones finished fifth in Belgium and at Brands Hatch, and fourth in Japan. A second car, with Chesterfield sponsorship, was entered for American Brett Lunger, while a customer car was raced by Frenchman Henri Pescarolo during the second half of the season. With seven points, Surtees placed tenth in the Constructors' Championship.

Jones's success resulted in him leaving the team for the emerging Shadow team, and money problems forced Surtees to run one car regularly again in 1977, this time for Vittorio Brambilla. Brambilla's season was effective, also finishing in the points three times. Still, his good results did not prevent Surtees from further monetary troubles. In 1978, the team added a second car for pay-driver, Briton Rupert Keegan, but the money problems continued. A lack of decent results caused further problems.

Unable to get sufficient money, the team left F1 after the 1978 season, despite having a car built for 1979. After racing the car in the British Aurora series (formerly F5000) briefly that year, Surtees Racing Organization was closed for good.