Jody Scheckter

Jody Scheckter
Scheckter at the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix
Born	Jody David Scheckter (1950-01-29) 29 January 1950 East London, Eastern Cape, Union of South Africa
Spouses	Pamela Bailey Clare Fawkes
Children	6, including Toby and Tomas
Relatives	Ian Scheckter (brother)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	South African
Active years	1972–1980
Teams	McLaren, Tyrrell, Wolf, Ferrari
Entries	113 (112 starts)
Championships	1 (1979)
Wins	10
Podiums	33
Career points	246 (255)
Pole positions	3
Fastest laps	5
First entry	1972 United States Grand Prix
First win	1974 Swedish Grand Prix
Last win	1979 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry	1980 United States Grand Prix

Jody David Scheckter (/ˈʃɛktər/; born 29 January 1950) is a South African former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980. Scheckter won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1979 with Ferrari, and remains the only African driver to have won either a Formula One Grand Prix or the World Drivers' Championship; he won 10 Grands Prix across nine seasons.

Born and raised in East London, Cape Province, Scheckter rapidly ascended through the ranks of motor racing upon moving to the United Kingdom in 1970. His Formula One debut came two years later at the 1972 United States Grand Prix, driving for McLaren, whom he had raced for that year in British and European Formula Two. Amongst winning the SCCA Continental Championship in Formula 5000, Scheckter entered a further five Grands Prix in 1973 with McLaren. Scheckter earned a full-time drive with Tyrrell the following season, taking his maiden win at the Swedish Grand Prix and finishing third in the championship. Scheckter won his home Grand Prix in South Africa in 1975 and placed third in the standings again in 1976, driving the six-wheeled P34; he remains the only driver to win a Grand Prix on six wheels.

Moving to Wolf in 1977, Scheckter took several race wins—including the Monaco Grand Prix—as he finished runner-up to Niki Lauda in the standings. After a winless season for Wolf in 1978, Scheckter moved to Ferrari to partner Gilles Villeneuve. Taking three Grand Prix wins in his first season for Ferrari, Scheckter clinched the World Drivers' Championship with his victory at the Italian Grand Prix, becoming the first African Formula One World Champion. He was unable to defend his title in 1980 as Ferrari struggled immensely with the 312T5, retiring at the end of the season having achieved 10 race wins, three pole positions, five fastest laps and 33 podiums in Formula One.

Upon retiring from motor racing, Scheckter worked as a broadcaster for CBS, ABC and ITV. He founded a weapons simulation business in 1984 called Firearms Training Systems, whose revenue eclipsed £100 million by the early 1990s. Scheckter then moved into organic farming, owning Laverstoke Park Farm in England. His sons Toby and Tomas are both racing drivers.

Career

Jody David Scheckter was born on 29 January 1950 in East London, Cape Province, Union of South Africa, and educated at Vincent Primary School (East London) and Selborne College.

Formula One

Scheckter in a Tyrrell 007 at the 1974 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.

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." 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. 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 François 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.

Scheckter in the iconic six-wheel Tyrrell P34 at the Nürburgring in 1976.

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.

Scheckter driving for Ferrari at the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix.

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. 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.

Other ventures

Broadcasting

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.

Scheckter won the World Superstars competition in 1981, taking place in Key Biscayne, Florida. He defeated athletes such as Russ Francis, Renaldo Nehemiah, Peter Müller, Rick Barry, Gaétan Boucher and Andy Ripley.

Business

After his retirement, Scheckter founded a weapons simulation business in 1984 called Firearms Training Systems (FATS), whose revenue eclipsed £100 million by the early 1990s. The company which built firearms training simulators for military, law enforcement and security organisations.

Farming

Scheckter spent his time as a biodynamic farmer, having bought the 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) 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. 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. In 2024, the farm ceased dairy production and buffalo farming with operations at the compost plant not affected and the farm would continue to host carfest.

Charity

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.

Personal life

Scheckter 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. The sale of his firearms simulation 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 elder brother Ian also raced in Formula One.

Awards and honours

In 1983, he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1972	European Formula Two	Bruce McLaren Motor Racing	8	1	0	1	1	15	8th
	British Formula Two		5	1	0	0	1	12	4th
	Formula One	Yardley Team McLaren	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1973	SCCA Continental Championship	Taylor-Entin	9	4	2	2	8	144	1st
	Formula One	Yardley Team McLaren	5	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	European Formula Two	Motul Rondel Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	European Formula 5000	Sid Taylor Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	World Sportscar Championship	Herb Wetanson	0	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1974	Formula One	Elf Team Tyrrell	15	2	0	2	6	45	3rd
	World Sportscar Championship	BMW Motorsport	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1975	Formula One	Elf Team Tyrrell	14	1	0	0	3	20	7th
	World Sportscar Championship	Willi Kauhsen Racing Team	3	0	1	1	0	6	NC
	SCCA Continental Championship	Hogan Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		Shadow Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0
1976	Formula One	Elf Team Tyrrell	16	1	1	1	5	49	3rd
	World Sportscar Championship	Automobiles Alpine	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1977	Formula One	Walter Wolf Racing	17	3	1	2	9	55	2nd
1978	Formula One	Walter Wolf Racing	16	0	0	0	4	24	7th
1979	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	15	3	1	0	6	51	1st
1980	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	13	0	0	0	0	2	19th
Source:

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1972	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M19A	Cosworth V8	ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA 9						NC	0
1973	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M19A	Cosworth V8	ARG	BRA	RSA 9	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE											NC	0
		McLaren M23									FRA Ret	GBR Ret	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1974	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 006	Cosworth V8	ARG Ret	BRA 13	RSA 8															3rd	45
		Tyrrell 007					ESP 5	BEL 3	MON 2	SWE 1	NED 5	FRA 4	GBR 1	GER 2	AUT Ret	ITA 3	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1975	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007	Cosworth V8	ARG 11	BRA Ret	RSA 1	ESP Ret	MON 7	BEL 2	SWE 7	NED 16	FRA 9	GBR 3	GER Ret	AUT 8	ITA 8	USA 6				7th	20
1976	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007	Cosworth V8	BRA 5	RSA 4	USW Ret	ESP Ret														3rd	49
		Tyrrell P34						BEL 4	MON 2	SWE 1	FRA 6	GBR 2	GER 2	AUT Ret	NED 5	ITA 5	CAN 4	USA 2	JPN Ret
1977	Walter Wolf Racing	Wolf WR1	Cosworth V8	ARG 1	BRA Ret	RSA 2	USW 3		MON 1		SWE Ret		GBR Ret				ITA Ret		CAN 1		2nd	55
		Wolf WR2						ESP 3						GER 2		NED 3		USA 3
		Wolf WR3								BEL Ret		FRA Ret			AUT Ret					JPN 10
1978	Walter Wolf Racing	Wolf WR4	Cosworth V8	ARG 10																	7th	24
		Wolf WR1			BRA Ret	RSA Ret		MON 3	BEL Ret
		Wolf WR3					USW Ret
		Wolf WR5								ESP 4	SWE Ret	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER 2	AUT Ret		ITA 12
		Wolf WR6														NED 12		USA 3	CAN 2
1979	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312T3	Ferrari Flat-12	ARG Ret	BRA 6																1st	51 (60)
		Ferrari 312T4				RSA 2	USW 2	ESP 4	BEL 1	MON 1	FRA 7	GBR 5	GER 4	AUT 4	NED 2	ITA 1	CAN 4	USA Ret
1980	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312T5	Ferrari Flat-12	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA Ret	USW 5	BEL 8	MON Ret	FRA 12	GBR 10	GER 13	AUT 13	NED 9	ITA 8	CAN DNQ	USA 11				19th	2
Sources:

Formula One non-championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6
1972	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M19A	Cosworth V8	ROC	BRA	INT	OUL	REP	VIC NC
1973	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M19C	Cosworth V8	ROC Ret	INT
1974	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 006	Cosworth V8	PRE 2	ROC	INT
1975	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007	Cosworth V8	ROC Ret	INT	SUI
1976	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007	Cosworth V8	ROC Ret	INT 3
1977	Wolf Racing	Wolf WR1	Ford V8	ROC 2
1979	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312T4	Ferrari Flat-12	ROC	GNM	DIN 3
1980	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312T5	Ferrari Flat-12	ESP WD
Source:

See also

• Formula One drivers from South Africa
• List of select Jewish racing drivers