Jody Scheckter

Jody was a prodigy who burst upon the motor racing scene in much the same
manner as Ricardo Rodriguez had done a decade earlier. Immensely talented,
brave almost to the point of being foolhardy and blindingly quick in any car
he chose to drive, Jody somehow managed to avoid the 'Grim Reaper' in those
wild early days to become a dry-humoured, somewhat world-weary elder
statesman who had got the risks under control and knew his destiny.

Jody started his racing early, running a go-kart at 12 before moving on to
motor cycles and then saloons by the age of 18. His home-built Renault
proved to be tremendously successful in the youngster's hands, and he scored
numerous victories before his racing took a back seat to a spell of National
Service. Towards the end of 1970, Team Lawson entrusted their Mazda to the
youngster in the Springbok series, and he finished fifth in the Bulawayo 3
Hours and won his class in the Goldfields 9 Hours. His immediate ambition,
though, was to do well in the Formula Ford Sunshine series and thus win the
'Driver to Europe' prize that went with it. Sure enough, young Jody in his
Lola T200 Formula Ford did exactly that and was on his way to England early
in 1971.

The headstrong Scheckter got himself into a Merlyn at Brands, and
sensationally led the race until he spun. This set the pattern for his short
Formula Ford career. Spin or win seemed to be the order of the day until,
after a few races, he felt he needed the tougher challenge of Formula 3,
jumping into the deep end with an EMC and then a works Merlyn. By the end of
the year he was winning at this level, in addition to hustling a Ford Escort
Mexico indecently quickly. McLaren were first in with their pen, and Jody
was signed to race for their Formula 2 team in 1972.

Generally his luck was out with the McLaren M21, but he did manage one win
in the Greater London Trophy at Crystal Palace. As a bonus the team gave him
his Grand Prix debut at Watkins Glen, where he kept the lid on things and
finished a creditable ninth. McLaren kept him on for the 1973 season, though
with Revson and Hulme on board they didn't really have room to accommodate
him. Perhaps they wished they hadn't when his 1973 Grand Prix season turned
into a succession of accidents, the most serious incident being his infamous
spin at the beginning of the British GP which not only halted the race but
wiped out a good proportion of the field. Ever the paradox at this stage of
his career, Jody also raced for Sid Taylor in America, winning the L & M
F5000 series in a Trojan, and competed in Can-Am with a Porsche 917 -
completely without mishap.

With McLaren unable to offer Jody a firm deal for 1974, Ken Tyrrell stepped
in and signed the South African to head his team, newly shorn of the retired
Jackie Stewart and deceased François Cevert. It was to prove an inspired
choice as the still relatively inexperienced charger took two Grand Prix
wins and finished third in the championship table. Jody found it hard to
maintain his scintillating form the following season, but he did have the
wonderful bonus of winning the South African GP. In 1976 Tyrrell launched
the bizarre but effective six-wheel P34 car. In Scheckter's hands this
became a serious machine, Jody taking it to a historic victory in Sweden and
racking up the points regularly elsewhere to finish a creditable third in
the World Championship behind Hunt and Lauda. It was also a year when
Scheckter achieved another ambition by winning the Wynn's 1000 Km at Kyalami
in a BMW with Nilsson and Grohs.

Out of sync with the Tyrrell philosophy, Jody took a big gamble in joining
Wolf for 1977, but it paid off immediately when he gave the restructured
team a winning debut in the Argentine GP. The car wasn't consistently good
at every circuit, but Jody never let that become a problem. Two more wins
were to follow and second place to Lauda in the championship was his reward.
His 1978 season was not so productive, the new Wolf chassis being far more
troublesome than the relatively straightforward machine of the previous
year. An offer from Ferrari for 1979 was too good to refuse, and the wild
man of the early days was now but a distant memory. Indeed, incredible
though it may seem, he was now driving almost conservatively. Certainly he
had everything weighed up and his performances were the model of economy,
Scheckter doing just enough and no more, but he was able to clinch the World
Championship in style, with a win at Monza.

His ambition realised, Jody planned just one more year. As it happened it
was easily the worst of his career, leaving the South African frustrated and
a little bemused. The ultimate humiliation came at Montreal where he failed
to qualify; he knew it was just one of those things, that circumstances had
conspired against him, but it hurt his pride none the less. Scheckter came
in with a bang but went out with a whimper, but he walked away unhurt and
there were a few people who didn't believe that possible in 1973.

Ever his own man, after retiring Jody settled in the United States and began
a new life without even mentioning his achievements. Most of his new
acquaintances knew nothing of Scheckter the Formula 1 World Champion, and
that's exactly the way he wanted it as he built a highly successful
business. However, Jody did return to Europe, and for a couple of years was
seen much in evidence at races once more whilst his sons, Thomas and Toby,
were making names for themselves in the junior single-seater formulae. He
now runs an organic farm in England, whilst maintaining his links with
Formula 1