Motorsport legend known as the “son of the wind”

John Surtees, who has died aged 83, was a giant in motorsport – known for being the only man to have won world championships on both two wheels and four. It was an astonishing achievement, said The Daily Telegraph – the “equivalent of a concert pianist discovering that he can also play the violin to the standard of Yehudi Menuhin”.

Surtees was a man with “petrol in his veins”. Born in Surrey in 1934, he was the son of a motorcycle dealer. Both his parents raced bikes, and he made his racing debut in a sidecar beside his father. He won his first solo race at the age of 17, at Aberdare Park in Wales, and from that point his rise was rapid, said The Times. Signed to the Italian bike team MV Agusta in 1956, he became the 500cc World Champion in his first season, and was dubbed “figlio del vento” – the son of the wind. He claimed the title three more times, in consecutive wins from 1958 to 1960. In 1959, Surtees was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the only motorcyclist ever to receive the accolade. Then, when Agusta banned him from racing bikes outside world championships, he decided to try cars. “The first car race I ever saw was the one I was in,” he would recall. He didn’t win it, but came close enough to be signed by Lotus. In 1963, he was recruited by Enzo Ferrari and, in 1964, he clinched the Formula One title. Many wins followed, but Surtees – a sensitive but stubborn man – struggled with team politics, and in 1966, he quit. Shortly before Enzo Ferrari’s death, in 1988, the pair met for a final time: both agreed their “divorce” had been a mistake.

Surtees then raced with Cooper, and Honda, with whom he won the Italian Grand Prix in 1967, his last world championship success. In the 1970s, he embarked on the third stage of his career, as a team manager: it didn’t suit his temperament, and several frustrating years followed. After that, he concentrated on a property business, while raising a family with his second wife, Jane – but the genes had been passed on. When his son, Henry, was taken go-karting by a friend, on his return he said: “Daddy, this is what I want to do.” Surtees threw himself into supporting his son’s career. Then tragedy struck: during a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch in 2009, Henry was hit on the head by a wheel from another car, and died. He was 18. Surtees’ wife persuaded him that Henry’s organs should be donated: they saved five lives. The family also set up a foundation that raises funds for air ambulance services and head injury research. Surtees is survived by Jane and their daughters, Leonora and Edwina.