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Jody Scheckter
Scheckter at the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix
Born	Jody David Scheckter (1950-01-29) 29 January 1950 (age 74) 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. Winning three Grands Prix in his first season for Ferrari, Scheckter clinched the title with his victory at the Italian Grand Prix, becoming the first World Drivers' Champion from Africa. He was unable to defend his title in 1980 as Ferrari struggled 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

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.

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. 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

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Find sources: "Jody Scheckter" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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

Formula One non-championship results

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

See also

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

Notes

1. ^ Up until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of points scoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

1. ^ "Jody Scheckter: From Formula One to life in the slow lane". The Independent. 5 September 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
2. ^ "F1 Teams & Drivers Hall of Fame: Jody Schekter". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
3. Zincenko, Roman (2020). "Formula 1 champion Jody Scheckter on life after the fast lane". Elite Living Africa. Alain Charles Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
4. ^ Smith, Damien (February 2013). "Jody Scheckter – And he walked away". Motor Sport: 66–70. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
5. "Formula One's Jody Scheckter Turns to Meat". foodmanufacture.co.uk. 1 March 2007. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007.
6. Lawrence, James, Decanter.com (14 December 2009). Jody Scheckter announces Hampshire winery plans Archived 17 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Company Announcement 1st January 2024". 1 January 2024. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024.
8. "Daughter of Formula One champion Jody Scheckter dies aged 21 after 'suspected accidental overdose'". Basingstoke Gazette. 21 October 2019.
9. "Jody Scheckter". Motor Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
10. Diepraam, Mattijs (18 January 2019). "World Championship points systems". 8W. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
11. "Jody Scheckter Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
12. Small, Steve (2000). "Jody Scheckter". Grand Prix Who's Who (Third ed.). Reading, Berkshire: Travel Publishing. pp. 503–505. ISBN 978-1-902007-46-5. Retrieved 7 August 2023 – via Internet Archive.
13. "Jody Scheckter – Involvement Non World Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 26 August 2023.

v t e Tyrrell Racing
Personnel Founder Ken Tyrrell Personnel Ben Agathangelou Frank Coppuck Tim Densham Derek Gardner Steve Nielsen Maurice Philippe Harvey Postlethwaite Joan Villadelprat
Drivers World Champions Jackie Stewart Notable drivers François Cevert Patrick Depailler Jody Scheckter Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi
Formula One titles Drivers' titles 1971 1973 Constructors' titles 1971
Cars Formula One cars 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 P34 008 009 010 011 012 014 015 DG016 017 017B 018 019 020 020B 020C 021 022 023 024 025 026

v t e Walter Wolf Racing
Founder Walter Wolf Drivers Jody Scheckter Keke Rosberg James Hunt Bobby Rahal Formula One cars WR1 WR2 WR3 WR4 WR5 WR6 WR7 WR8 WR8/9 WR9

v t e Scuderia Ferrari
v t e Drivers 2024 Race drivers 16. Charles Leclerc 55. Carlos Sainz Jr. 2025 Race drivers 16. Charles Leclerc 44. Lewis Hamilton Test and reserve drivers 99. Antonio Giovinazzi (reserve) Robert Shwartzman (test) Ferrari Driver Academy Dino Beganovic Maya Weug Oliver Bearman Rafael Câmara Tuukka Taponen Aurelia Nobels F1 world champions Alberto Ascari Juan Manuel Fangio Mike Hawthorn Phil Hill John Surtees Niki Lauda Jody Scheckter Michael Schumacher Kimi Räikkönen F1 race winners José Froilán González Alberto Ascari Piero Taruffi Mike Hawthorn Giuseppe Farina Maurice Trintignant Juan Manuel Fangio Luigi Musso Peter Collins Tony Brooks Phil Hill Wolfgang von Trips Giancarlo Baghetti John Surtees Lorenzo Bandini Ludovico Scarfiotti Jacky Ickx Clay Regazzoni Mario Andretti Niki Lauda Carlos Reutemann Gilles Villeneuve Jody Scheckter Didier Pironi Patrick Tambay René Arnoux Michele Alboreto Gerhard Berger Nigel Mansell Alain Prost Jean Alesi Michael Schumacher Eddie Irvine Rubens Barrichello Felipe Massa Kimi Räikkönen Fernando Alonso Sebastian Vettel Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz Jr.
v t e Personnel Founder Enzo Ferrari Current John Elkann (president) Benedetto Vigna (chief executive officer) Piero Ferrari (vice chairman) Frédéric Vasseur (team principal) Riccardo Adami Bryan Bozzi Jock Clear Jérôme d'Ambrosio Enrico Gualtieri Diego Ioverno Ravin Jain Xavier Marcos Padros Fabio Montecchi Enrico Racca Carlo Santi Loïc Serra Matteo Togninalli Former Ben Agathangelou James Allison Mario Almondo Alberto Antonini Maurizio Arrivabene Giorgio Ascanelli Daniele Audetto Luca Badoer Luca Baldisserri John Barnard Dario Benuzzi Mattia Binotto Loïc Bigois Ross Brawn Gustav Brunner Marcin Budkowski Ruth Buscombe Rory Byrne Louis C. Camilleri Giacomo Caliri Enrico Cardile Carlo Chiti Gioacchino Colombo Valerio Colotti Aldo Costa Toni Cuquerella Tad Czapski Dirk de Beer Stefano Domenicali Henri Durand Chris Dyer Marco Fainello Gianfranco Fantuzzi [pl] Alfredo Ferrari Enzo Ferrari Cesare Fiorio Mauro Forghieri Pat Fry Hirohide Hamashima Diane Holl John Iley Vittorio Jano Aurelio Lampredi Claudio Lombardi Ignazio Lunetta Sergio Marchionne Luca Marmorini Neil Martin Paolo Martinelli Alberto Massimino Marco Mattiacci Laurent Mekies Jean-Claude Migeot [pl] Jan Monchaux Luca Cordero di Montezemolo Steve Nichols Ossi Oikarinen Marco Piccinini Nicolò Petrucci Harvey Postlethwaite Simone Resta Massimo Rivola Iñaki Rueda David Sanchez Lorenzo Sassi Enrique Scalabroni Michael Schumacher Gilles Simon Rob Smedley Andrea Stella Nigel Stepney Romolo Tavoni Rob Taylor Antonia Terzi Jean Todt Willem Toet Nikolas Tombazis Joan Villadelprat
v t e Cars Formula One 125 212 275 340 375 500 553 625 555 D50 801 246 256 246 P 156 158 1512 246 F1-66 312 312B 312T 126C 156/85 F1/86 F1/87 640 641 642 643 F92A F93A 412 T1 412 T2 F310 F300 F399 F1-2000 F2001 F2002 F2003-GA F2004 F2005 248 F1 F2007 F2008 F60 F10 150º Italia F2012 F138 F14 T SF15-T SF16-H SF70H SF71H SF90 SF1000 SF21 F1-75 SF-23 SF-24 Formula Two 166 F2 500 F2 553 F2 Dino 156 F2 156 F2 Dino 166 F2 IndyCar/CART 375 Indy 326 MI 412 MI 637 Sports cars 166 S/SC/MM 166 MM Le Mans 195 S 275 S 340 America 212 Export 225 S 250 S 250 MM 340 Mexico & MM 375 MM 375 Plus 625 TF 735 S 500 Mondial 250 Monza 750 Monza 500 TR 857 S 376 S 735 LM 410 S 860 Monza 625 LM Dino 196 S & 296 S & 246 S 500 TRC 290 MM 290 S 315 S 335 S 250 GT Berlinetta 412 S 250 Testa Rossa 246 SP & 196 SP & 286 SP 248 SP & 268 SP 250 GTO 330 TRI/LM 330 LMB 250 P, 275 P & 330 P 275 P2, 330 P2 & 365 P2 250 LM 330 P3 330 P3/4 & P4 Dino 166 P & 206 SP Dino 206 S 212 E 612P 312 P 512 S & 512 M 712P 312 PB 333 SP 499P
v t e Engines Current V6 Hybrid (2014–present) 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)
v t e Formula One titles Drivers' titles 1952 1953 1956 1958 1961 1964 1975 1977 1979 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2007 Constructors' titles 1961 1964 1975 1976 1977 1979 1982 1983 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2007 2008
v t e Related Dino Driver Academy Grand Prix racing history Grand Prix results Engine customers Non-championship Formula One results Prancing Horse Tifosi
Category:Ferrari Commons:Scuderia Ferrari

• 1950 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from East London, South Africa
• Jewish South African sportspeople
• White South African people
• South African racing drivers
• South African Formula One drivers
• Ferrari Formula One drivers
• McLaren Formula One drivers
• Tyrrell Formula One drivers
• Wolf Formula One drivers
• Formula One World Drivers' Champions
• Formula One race winners
• European Formula Two Championship drivers
• International Race of Champions drivers
• Alumni of Selborne College
• South African businesspeople
• South African farmers
• Formula Ford drivers
• People from Overton, Hampshire