Sir John Surtees?

[absolutely]

MonkeyHanger said:

absolutely said:

He won 1 Formuula One World Championship,

Remind me how many F1 Championships Sir Stirling Moss won ?

None but he is one of the most successful drivers never to win the F1 championship, he has also done alot to promote drivers and motor racing as a whole.

He has raced against my Dad too, I think the club put him at the back of the grid to make it a showcase for him.

[Eric Mc]

absolutely said:

MonkeyHanger said:

absolutely said:

He won 1 Formuula One World Championship,

Remind me how many F1 Championships Sir Stirling Moss won ?

None but he is one of the most successful drivers never to win the F1 championship, he has also done alot to promote drivers and motor racing as a whole.

He has raced against my Dad too, I think the club put him at the back of the grid to make it a showcase for him.

Arguably, since he "retired" Surtees has done as much for promoting motor sport as Moss has. He was one of the original supporters of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and has always been accessable to the fans. He became Mercedes' preferred driver of their historic collection at events all over the world.
However, on the whole he has adopted a lower profile and was never into self promotion the way Moss was/is. Moss had to refashion a new career for himself after his near fatal crash in 1962. As Channel 4 pointed out in their documentary on him back in 1998, his new career was "Being Stirling Moss".
Surtees, on the other hand, took the much more difficult path of trying to run his own F1 team - which proved extremely streessful and traumatic for him.

So, on balance, Surtees has done as much for British motor sport as Moss has and would be thoroughly deserving of a knighthood.

[absolutely]

Eric Mc said:

absolutely said:

MonkeyHanger said:

absolutely said:

He won 1 Formuula One World Championship,

Remind me how many F1 Championships Sir Stirling Moss won ?

None but he is one of the most successful drivers never to win the F1 championship, he has also done alot to promote drivers and motor racing as a whole.

He has raced against my Dad too, I think the club put him at the back of the grid to make it a showcase for him.

Arguably, since he "retired" Surtees has done as much for promoting motor sport as Moss has. He was one of the original supporters of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and has always been accessable to the fans. He became Mercedes' preferred driver of their historic collection at events all over the world.
However, on the whole he has adopted a lower profile and was never into self promotion the way Moss was/is. Moss had to refashion a new career for himself after his near fatal crash in 1962. As Channel 4 pointed out in their documentary on him back in 1998, his new career was "Being Stirling Moss".
Surtees, on the other hand, took the much more difficult path of trying to run his own F1 team - which proved extremely streessful and traumatic for him.

So, on balance, Surtees has done as much for British motor sport as Moss has and would be thoroughly deserving of a knighthood.

Maybe Sir Stirling is the Queen's favourite racing driver?
I don't know why John Surtees is Mercedes' driver, Jochen Mass normally does the 300SLR, W196 and the more modern ones, C11 etc. Surtees only seems to drive the pre-war racers.

[Eric Mc]

Not sure either. But Surtees did build up contacts within the motor industry after he gave up driving and Mercedes always seemed to trust him with their "stuff". Mass is from a slightly younger generation of drivers and I think he has been given more Mercedes "drives" in more recent years. Surtees was certainly their favoured driver in the 1980s (when Mass was still actively pursuing his racing career).

[BraveSirRobin]

Ancient thread re-activation alert!
This re-occurred to me after seeing John Surtees interviewed at Goodwood. Why does he not have a knighthood? Still the only person to win World Championships on 2 and 4 wheels. And about 1000 times more deserving than Trevor Brooking....

[Vocal Minority]

He does an awful lot of charity work with the Henry Surtees Foundation as well don't forget.

One suspects he either has gotten the wrong people's backs up in the past - but with the usual churn of ministers (who decide this stuff, not HRH) it's hard to see how he could have pissed off THAT many people.

[Eric Mc]

I would expect that a Knighthood is far more likely now especially with all the charity work he is involved in.

On the other hand, he may be one of those people who doesn't actually want a Knighthood.

[wsn03]

Surtees is the only man to win the premier championship on both 2 and 4 wheels.
His charity has saved countless numbers of accident victims lives.

I often think about this when i look at the people who have been knighted...and look at what they've contributed to society.

I have reached the conclusion that John Surtees is too good for a Knighthood...

[FredericRobinson]

I don't think that the powers that be like campaigns to get individuals honoured, it might have counted against him, it's a national disgrace either way

[Chris Sideways]

I boxed him and his Ferrari FF in at Buckmore Park the other day thoroughly nice guy should of been Sir John years ago.

[coppice]

Whilst I don't lose too much sleep about it ( no reflection on him , just a storm in a teacup) you do have to wonder why such a very obvious candidate hasn't got it. His record as a driver/rider is unique , his safety work is laudable , Jackie Stewart has had his K for years for driving and safety, Sir Stirling too (maybe his award was also for relentless, and very effective self publicity? ) - did Big John once tell Princess Anne to eff off,or tell Princess Margaret she shouldn't be driving in her state something or run over one of her mum's corgis? We should be told - but at least we have been spared Sir Bloody Nigel so far....