Going It Alone
1970s
 1970: John has taken sole control of his destiny and is building a GP car of his own design. At new premises in Edenbridge, Kent, work is underway on an F1 car, the TS7, and an improved F5000 contender, the TS8. John races a 'customer' McLaren M7C while the TS7-Cosworth is readied for its debut at the British GP. Engine failures plague the team but John dominates the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park and finishes fifth in Canada. At the insistence of Shell he also climbs behind the wheel of a works Ferrari again, finishing in third in the 1000km races at Monza and The Nürburgring in the ill-handling 512S.
1971: Team Surtees signs Mike Hailwood to drive its TS8 F5000 car. Mike takes it to a win first time out at Mallory Park and finishes runner-up in the Rothmans F5000 Championship. On the F1 front, the TS9 is rolled out and much needed sponsorship comes in from Brooke Bond Oxo. The car is on the pace from the start, Rolf Stommelen capturing pole position in Argentina, John challenging for the lead in South Africa and Hailwood finishing fourth at Monza…just one-tenth of a second behind Gethin's winning BRM. But, despite strong finishes in non-championship races, a GP win evades the team.
.jpg) 1972: The strain of testing and development, competing, and management is taking its toll. John cuts back on competitive driving and focuses on developing the 1973 TS14 F1 car. Hailwood takes over as No. 1 partnered by Tim Schenken and Andrea de Adamich. Driving the new TS9B, Schenken finishes fifth in Argentina, de Adamich fourth in Spain, Hailwood second in Italy and Carlos Pace (a late recruit from the F2 team) second in the World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch. John completes his illustrious racing career with F2 wins in Japan and Italy in the team's Hart-engined TS10 while lead driver Hailwood runs away with the European F2 Championship. Driving a TS8/11, Hailwood also comes second in the Tasman Cup Series. In F5000, Sam Posey finishes runner-up in the US series while Gijs van Lennep wins the European Championship. Both drive customer TS11s.
1973: The new TS14 is wheeled out for Surtees drivers Hailwood and Pace. But - due to a late relaxation of previously agreed design regulations - the car is disadvantaged from the outset, A winding down by Firestone of its tyre development programme also hampers the team. Nevertheless, Pace demonstrates its potential with fastest laps in Germany and Austria where he finishes fourth and third respectively. In South Africa, Hailwood rescues Regazzoni from his blazing BRM and is later awarded the George Medal for his bravery. In F2 the Team Surtees TS15-Hart driven by Jochen Mass is relegated to second place in the championship by the more powerful BMW-powered March.
1974: Serious health problems, which first surfaced in 1972, continue to plague John. He finds it increasingly hard to keep up the frenetic schedule needed to run Team Surtees and concentrates solely on F1. A funding crisis, caused when Bang and Olufsen reneges on its sponsorship agreement, adds to the difficulties. The planned pyramid-hull successor to the TS14 - elements of which eventually surface in the 1976 TS19 - has to be cancelled. In its place a less advanced, less costly TS16 is rolled out. It is based on the 1973 TS15 F2 chassis and, due to the lack of resources, is powered by 1973-spec Cosworth DFV engines, Pace drives to a strong fourth place in Brazil - the team's best showing of the year. The Ill-feted season ends on a tragic note when Jochen Mass replacement Helmut Koinigg, is killed in a crash, caused by tyre failure, at Watkins Glen.
1975: The team, still struggling for resources, soldiers on with the TS16. Sole championship entry is former Team Surtees F2 driver John Watson. Eighth in the Spanish GP, second in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch and fourth in the International Trophy at Silverstone are as good as it gets. With two races to go, a despondent and below par Surtees withdraws the team from the championship to focus on its 1976 F1 campaign.
 1976: An all-new, pyramid-hull TS19 is debuted. Drivers are World Champion in-the-making Alan Jones and heir to the Du Pont family fortune, Brett Lunger. Team sponsor is male contraceptives manufacturer Durex. Lunger runs in a Chesterfield-sponsored car. First time out, Jones drives to second place in the Race of Champions meeting at Brands Hatch. Subsequent robust drives by the Australian put the team back on the constructors' scoreboard with points finishes in Belgium, Britain and Japan.
1977: The court action against Bang and Olufsen drags on. The TS19 is wheeled out again - this time for Vittorio Brambilla and Hans Binder. But insufficient funding is still a problem despite continued sponsorship from Durex and new money from Beta Tools brought by Brambilla. This rules out the possibility of outright wins but Brambilla produces spirited drives to finish in the points in Belgium, Germany and Canada.
1978: Brambilla stays on as No 1 and is joined by Rupert Keegan. They race the TS19 while its successor, the TS20, is readied. The new car - a conventional design - finally debuts at Monaco but is no match for the better-handling ground effect cars. A TS21 ground effects car is being developed but the best Brambilla can produce in the TS20 is sixth in Austria. Meanwhile, a seriously ill and exhausted John has to fly home from Long Beach and Canada without even making it to the track. A 12-week stay in hospital follows. René Arnoux takes over the TS20 for both North American races and - despite an offer from Renault - is keen to stay with the team for 1979. But John - unable to produce the financial package needed to run at the front - decides to withdraw from F1. The one highlight in a grim year - the arrival of the MV Agusta on which he won the 1956 Isle of Man Senior TT. An appreciative Count Agusta promised him the machine back in 1960!
 1979: Peter Briggs, John's former F2 boss, runs two TS20s under the Team Surtees banner in the national Aurora Championship. In a bid to find additional performance, the team marries the prototype TS21 ground effect side pods to one of the TS20s to create the TS20+. On its first outing at Silverstone in October, Gordon Smiley takes the chequered flag. His lap times would have put him on the third row of the grid at that year's British GP. The performance is an indication as to what might have been if Team Surtees had continued in F1 with Arnoux (and possibly Keke Rosberg) behind the wheel of the axed TS21. The race is the last in which Team Surtees competes. Meanwhile John lays the foundations for his present day property business. With a mixture of relief and sadness, he leases the once bustling Team Surtees factory to a Swedish television company.
Pictures:
1) Surtees at the wheel of his first F1 car the TS7-7 in the 1970 Italian GP
2) Hailwood at the wheel of the Surtees TS9B in the 1972 British GP at Brands
3) Alan Jones in the Durex-sponsored TS19
4) Gordon Smiley in the TS20+, the last race in which Team Surtees competed
|