Surtees

Surtees

Full name	Surtees Racing Organisation
Base	Edenbridge, Kent, United Kingdom
Founder(s)	John Surtees
Noted staff	Len Terry
Noted drivers	John Surtees Derek Bell Carlos Pace Andrea de Adamich Mike Hailwood Jochen Mass
Formula One World Championship career
First entry	1970 British Grand Prix
Races entered	119
Engines	Cosworth DFV
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	4[1]
Final entry	1978 Canadian Grand Prix

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 four-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, consecutively, during a twelve race season.

This inspired Surtees to expand to Formula One, and after having had a difficult season with BRM in 1969, he decided to become an owner/driver again. The team ran the full 1970 season, but Surtees, himself, 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 driver 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. Hailwood 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 finished fifth in the constructors' championship.

Schenken was replaced in 1973 by Brazilian Carlos Pace, and the team only ran 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 United States 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.

Models

• 

  John Surtees at the wheel of the TS7 at its Brands Hatch debut.

• 

  The TS9B being demonstrated at the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

• 

  Brett Lunger entering Hawthorn's Bend at Brands Hatch during the 1976 British Grand Prix in a TS19.

• 

  Alan Jones' 1976 TS19 being driven in 2007.

• 

  Vittorio Brambilla renting a ride at the 1978 British Grand Prix in a TS20.

• TS5 1969-1970 F5000/Formula A. Based on the abandoned Leda prototype. Runner up in the 1969 Guards F5000 championship. Intended as a customer car, but there were no takers.

• TS7 1970 Formula One. Designed by Surtees, Shahab Ahmed, and Peter Connew. DFV/Hewland "kit car" followed closely on TS5 layout. Surtees won the Oulton Park International Gold Cup non-Championship race in this car.

• TS8 1971-1972 F5000. Runner up in Rothmans Championship in 1971.

• TS9 1971-1972 Formula One. A derivative of the TS7 with a longer wheelbase and wider track. Surtees repeated his Oulton Park win in 1971.

• TS10 1972 Formula 2. Powered by a Cosworth BDA engine Mike Hailwood convincingly won the 1972 European F2 Championship in this car. Two independent teams purchased TS10s but were not contenders in the series.

• TS11 1972-1973 F5000. Based on the TS9 with a Chevrolet engine. Gijs van Lennep won the 1972 Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship driving the TS11 and a McLaren M18. A TS11 chassis with TS8 bodywork was prepared to run the 1972 Tasman Series after the TS8 intended for the series was wrecked beyond repair. Hailwood finished second in the series in this car.

• TS14 1972-1973 Formula One. This car marked the beginning of the end for Surtees. Firestone was anticipating leaving Formula One and had little interest in working with Surtees to cure the TS14's habit of devouring tires. It was the first car in F1 to fully comply with crumple-zone legislation, incorporating these into its side pods within which the radiators were mounted, laying down the floorplan for the vast majority of subsequent F1 designs. It was a very quick car at its introduction but a series of accidents and lack of development support did not help it reach its potential. John Surtees drove his last F1 race in the TS14 at Monza in 1972.

• TS15 1973 Formula two. With BMW supplying engines exclusively to March Surtees was forced to settle for second place in the F2 Championships. A good car, but no match for the BMW engine. A development of this car, the TS17, was intended to run a Ford Motor Company V8 in F5000, but nothing came of the plan.

• TS16 1974-1975 Formula One. Based on the TS14, but overweight and with less than top notch DFV engines. The team also failed to engage a single major sponsor for 1974 so money was tight to say the least. Only a single car was run and to cap off a truly terrible year driver Helmuth Koinigg was killed during the 1974 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. The car was run again in 1975 and John Watson scored in three non-Championship events, but no championship points were scored.

• TS19 1976-1978 Formula One. A fresh car designed by John Surtees and Ken Sears the TS19 managed to score points for Surtees in 1976 and 1977, and even ran the opening races of the 1978 season.

• TS20 1978 Formula One. A development of the TS19, the TS20 was a clean design that promised well, only to be completely overshadowed by the introduction of ground effects.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

The first table below details the complete World Championship Grand Prix results for the Surtees "works" team. The second table includes results from privately owned Surtees cars in World Championship Grands Prix.

Works team entries

(key) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Chassis	Engine(s)	Tyres	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WCC
1970			F			RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX					3	8th
	McLaren M7C	Ford V8		John Surtees		Ret	Ret	Ret		6
	Surtees TS7											Ret	9	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	8
				Derek Bell													6
1971	Surtees TS7 Surtees TS9 Surtees TS9A	Ford V8	F			RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA							8	8th
				John Surtees		Ret	11	7	5	8	6	7	Ret	Ret	11	17
				Rolf Stommelen		12	Ret	6	DSQ	11	5	10	7	DNS	Ret
				Brian Redman		7
				Derek Bell							Ret
				Mike Hailwood										4		15
				Sam Posey												Ret
1972	Surtees TS9A Surtees TS9B Surtees TS14	Ford V8	F			ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA						18	5th
				Mike Hailwood			Ret	Ret	Ret	4	6	Ret	Ret	4	2		17
				Tim Schenken		5	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	17	Ret	14	11	Ret	7	Ret
				Andrea de Adamich		Ret	NC	4	7	Ret	14	Ret	13	14	Ret	Ret	Ret
				John Surtees											Ret		DNS
1973	Surtees TS9A Surtees TS9B Surtees TS14A	Ford V8	F			ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			7	7th
				Mike Hailwood		Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	14	10	7	9	Ret
				José Carlos Pace		Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	10	13	Ret	7	4	3	Ret	Ret	Ret
				Luiz Bueno			12
				Andrea de Adamich				8
				Jochen Mass										Ret		7				Ret
1974	Surtees TS16	Ford V8	F			ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			3	11th
				José Carlos Pace	18	Ret	4	11	13	Ret	Ret	Ret
				Derek Bell											DNQ	11	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
				José Dolhem										DNQ						Ret
					19													DNQ
				Jochen Mass		Ret	17	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	Ret	Ret	Ret	14	Ret
				Jean-Pierre Jabouille													DNQ
				Helmut Koinigg															10	Ret
				Dieter Quester	30												9
1975	Surtees TS16	Ford V8	G			ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA				0	14th
				John Watson	18	DSQ	10	Ret	8	Ret	10	16	Ret	13	11		10
				Dave Morgan	19										18
1976	Surtees TS19	Ford V8	G			BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA	JPN		7	10th
				Alan Jones	19			NC	9	5	Ret	13	Ret	5	10	Ret	8	12	16	8	4
				Brett Lunger	18		11	DNQ	DNQ	Ret		15	16	Ret	Ret	10		14	15	11
				Conny Andersson													Ret
				Noritake Takahara																	9
1977	Surtees TS19	Ford V8	G			ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN	6	11th
				Vittorio Brambilla	19	7	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	8	4	Ret	13	8	5	15	12	Ret	19	6	8
				Hans Binder	18	Ret	Ret	11	11	9	Ret									11	Ret	Ret
				Larry Perkins								12	DNQ	DNQ
				Patrick Tambay										DNQ
				Vern Schuppan											12	7	16	DNQ
				Lamberto Leoni															DNQ
1978	Surtees TS19 Surtees TS20	Ford V8	G			ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN		1	13th
				Vittorio Brambilla	19	18	DNQ	12	Ret	DNQ	13	7	Ret	17	9	Ret	6	DSQ	Ret
				Beppe Gabbiani																DNQ	DNQ
				Rupert Keegan	18	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	Ret	DNQ	11	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNS
				Gimax															DNQ
				René Arnoux																9	Ret

Results of other Surtees cars

(key

Year	Entrant/s	Chassis/	Engine	Tyres	Driver/s	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
1971						RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA
	Stichting Autoraces Nederland	TS7	Ford Cosworth DFV	F	Gijs van Lennep				8
1972						ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA
	Champcar Inc.	TS9B	Ford Cosworth DFV	G	Sam Posey												12
	Team Gunston	TS9	Ford Cosworth DFV	G	John Love		16
1974						ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA
	AAW Racing	TS16	Ford Cosworth DFV	F	Leo Kinnunen					DNQ		Ret		DNQ	DNQ		DNQ	DNQ
1976						BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA	JPN
	Team Norev Racing	TS19	Ford Cosworth DFV	G	Henri Pescarolo						DNQ		Ret	Ret	DNQ	9	11	17	19	NC
	Shell Sport/Whiting	TS16	Ford Cosworth DFV	G	Divina Galica									DNQ
1977						ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN
	Melchester Racing	TS19	Ford Cosworth DFV	G	Tony Trimmer										DNPQ

See also

• Brabham Racing Organisation, Fittipaldi Automotive, Stewart Grand Prix, and Prost Grand Prix, four other Formula One teams established by champion drivers.

References

• Hodges, David. A-Z of Formula Racing Cars 1945-1990, MBI Publishing Company, 1990. ISBN 1-901432-17-3

Footnotes

External links

• Surtees Racing Organization in The Formula 1 Database
• Barry Boors Racing Images
• Master of Endurance, The downfall of Fearless John's marque, by Mattijs Diepraam
• Constructors: Surtees Racing Organization

Surtees Founder John Surtees Noted Personnel Len Terry Notable drivers John Surtees Derek Bell Brian Redman Rolf Stommelen Mike Hailwood Tim Schenken Andrea de Adamich José Carlos Pace Jochen Mass Jean-Pierre Jabouille Dieter Quester John Watson Alan Jones Brett Lunger Vittorio Brambilla Larry Perkins Patrick Tambay Vern Schuppan Beppe Gabbiani Rupert Keegan René Arnoux Formula One cars TS7 TS9 TS14 TS16 TS19 TS20