South African racing driver (born 1950)
Jody David Scheckter
(
; born 29 January 1950)
[2]
is a South African business proprietor and retired
motor racing
driver. He competed in
Formula One
from 1972 to 1980, winning the Drivers' Championship in
1979
with
Ferrari
. Scheckter is the first and, as of 2024, only driver from the continent of Africa to have won a Formula One race or the World Drivers' Championship.
Career
[
edit
]
Scheckter was born in
East London, Eastern Cape
, and educated at Vincent Primary School (East London) and
Selborne College
.
Formula One
[
edit
]
He rapidly ascended to the ranks of Formula One after moving to Britain in 1970. His Formula 1 debut occurred at the US Grand Prix at
Watkins Glen
in
1972
with
McLaren
, where he ran as high as third place before spinning and finishing ninth. Immediately becoming a name to watch, he continued his development the following year, winning the
1973 SCCA L&M Championship
and racing five times in F1. In France, he almost won in only his third start in F1 before crashing into
Emerson Fittipaldi
, the reigning World Champion, who said after the crash about Scheckter: "This madman is a menace to himself and everybody else and does not belong in Formula 1."
[3]
In his next start, the British Grand Prix at
Silverstone
, Scheckter's spin triggered a major accident which took nearly a dozen cars out of the race. The
Grand Prix Drivers Association
demanded his immediate banishment, which was only put off when McLaren agreed to rest their driver for four races.
[3]
Scheckter's
McLaren M23
bore the number zero during the Canadian and American Grands Prix of 1973. Scheckter is one of only two F1 drivers to compete under this number, the other being
Damon Hill
. During the practice for the American event at the
Watkins Glen
circuit, Frenchman
Francois Cevert
, who was due to be Scheckter's Tyrrell teammate for 1974, was killed in an appalling accident at the fast uphill Esses corners. Scheckter was behind Cevert when he crashed, and he stopped his McLaren, got out of his car and attempted to help Cevert out of his destroyed Tyrrell, but the 29-year-old Frenchman had been cut in half by the circuit's poorly installed Armco barriers and was already dead. Witnessing Cevert's dreadful accident left an indelible mark on the South African and caused him to abandon his reckless ways, becoming a more mature and calculating driver as a result.
[4]
Tyrrell
in 1974 gave Scheckter his first full-time drive in F1 and he rewarded them with a third-place finish in the Drivers' Championship and a pair of wins in
Sweden
and
Britain
. During the year, he scored points in eight consecutive races, one of the longer scoring streaks of the time. A slight off-year followed, although he did become the only South African to win the
South African Grand Prix
, but his third year with the team in 1976 gave him another third-place finish in the Drivers' Championship. In that season, Tyrrell introduced the most radical car in F1 history, the innovative six-wheeled
Tyrrell P34
. Although he later went on record as saying the car was "a piece of junk", Scheckter gave the six-wheeler its only win on Sweden's
Anderstorp
circuit and in his twelve races with the car, he scored points ten times. This included a thrilling race-long battle for the lead in the
American Grand Prix
between himself and his great friend
James Hunt
.
Scheckter left for
Walter Wolf
's new team in 1977 and Scheckter gave the team a win in its maiden race. He won twice more with the team and was often on the podium, but finished second on points behind a more dominant
Niki Lauda
. A seventh-place finish with the team in 1978 followed and he left the team after the season to join
Ferrari
to partner
Gilles Villeneuve
in the team's ground effect
312T4
car.
Critics felt he would not get along well with the domineering management at Ferrari, but he far surpassed expectations and helped give F1's most recognisable team another Constructors' Championship, while Scheckter's consistent finishes, with three wins among them, gave him the Drivers' Championship in 1979.
[3]
However, he struggled badly in his 1980 title defence, even failing to qualify for the
Canadian Grand Prix
. After managing only two points, Scheckter announced his retirement from the team and the sport. Scheckter was the last driver to win a Drivers' Championship for Ferrari until
Michael Schumacher
twenty-one years later in
2000
.
After Formula One
[
edit
]
Broadcaster
[
edit
]
In 1981,
CBS Sports
hired Scheckter as a Pit reporter for its
F1
coverage.
Scheckter was brought in by
ABC's
Wide World of Sports
as a Pit reporter for the
1983 Monaco Grand Prix
.
Scheckter was a guest commentator for ITV during the
1999 San Marino Grand Prix
, replacing
Martin Brundle
.
Other interests
[
edit
]
In 1981, Scheckter won the
World Superstars
competition in Key Biscayne, Florida. He defeated athletes such as
Russ Francis
,
Renaldo Nehemiah
,
Peter Muller
,
Rick Barry
,
Gaetan Boucher
and
Andy Ripley
. In 1983, he was inducted into the
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
.
After Scheckter's retirement, he founded
FATS Inc
, a company which built firearms training simulators for military, law enforcement and security organisations.
[5]
The sale of the company provided funds to allow Scheckter to help the racing careers of his sons
Tomas
and
Toby
. Tomas raced in the
Indy Racing League
where he won two races. Scheckter's brother,
Ian
, also raced in F1 for a few years.
In 2004, Scheckter was reunited with his championship-winning Ferrari at the South African two-seater F1x2 Charity Grand Prix at
Kyalami
in South Africa.
Present
[
edit
]
Scheckter now spends his time as a
biodynamic farmer
,
[6]
having bought the 2,500 acres (1,000 ha)
[2]
Laverstoke Park Farm
, near
Overton, Hampshire
, 40 miles (64 km) south west of London. As an organic farming expert, Scheckter was featured in 2005 on the Visionhealth DVD and TV documentaries "
Asthma
: An Integrated Approach", "
Arthritis
: An Integrated Approach" and "
Diabetes
: An Integrated Approach". On 20 November 2011, he also appeared on the
Countryfile
television show to make a case for
organic food
. Laverstoke Park Farm was also featured on BBC's
Escape To the Country
where Scheckter showed viewers how
Buffalo Mozzarella
was made. In December 2009, Scheckter announced his intention to produce a
biodynamic
sparkling wine
by 2012.
[7]
In 2015, the farm was the setting for ITV's
Sugar Free Farm
where a group of celebrities had to go sugar free for two weeks whilst working on the farm.
Personal life
[
edit
]
He is married and has had six children: two,
Toby
and
Tomas
, from his previous wife Pamela; and four, Hugo, Freddie, Ila and Poppy, from his current marriage to Clare.
His daughter Ila died on 17 October 2019, at age 21.
[8]
Racing record
[
edit
]
Career summary
[
edit
]
Complete Formula One World Championship results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Formula One non-championship results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position)
(Races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
|
---|
Personnel
|
---|
Founder
| |
---|
Personnel
| |
---|
|
Drivers
|
---|
World Champions
| |
---|
Notable drivers
| |
---|
|
|
|
|
---|
|
|
|
Engines
|
---|
Current
| |
---|
Past
|
- L4
(1952?1956)
- V6
(1958?1966)
- Turbocharged V6
(1981?1988)
- V8
(1956?1958, 1964?1965, 2006?2013)
- V10
(1996?2005)
- V12
(1950?1951, 1964?1980, 1989?1995)
|
---|
|
|
|
|