CBE for John Surtees

1st January 2016

John Surtees | TT | Isle of Man | CBE 

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You really have to be a member of the older generation of bikers (70s to 90s) to fully appreciate the impact John Surtees had on the world of motorsport. He won six Isle of Man TTs (four in the 500cc Senior class, and two in the 350cc Junior), and during that exciting period he was invariably up there in the news with the best of them finding himself somewhere on the podium. TV loved him. Radio loved him. The press loved him. And the racing public adored him.

He subsequently made the switch to four wheels and, in 1964, won the Formula One World Championship for Ferrari. And now he's been made Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours list. This adds to the MBE granted in 1959, and the OBE that came his way in 2008. He's still not a "Sir", and many feel that that's overdue. But if he lives long enough (and at 81 he's showing plenty of stamina), sooner or later he quite probably will be Sir John Surtees.

For more on this story, including other images, take a trip to Sump's Classic Bike New December 2015 page.

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