Jody Scheckter

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Jody David Scheckter (January 29, 1950- ) is a former auto racing driver, the 1979 Formula One World Drivers Champion. He was born in East London, South Africa and educated at Selborne College.

File:JODY SCHECKTER Ferrari 1979.jpg
Jody Scheckter driving for Ferrari in 1979

Scheckter rapidly ascended to the ranks of Formula One after moving to Britain in 1970. He debuted in Formula One at Watkins Glen in 1972 with McLaren and ran as high as 3rd place before spinning and finishing 9th. Immediately becoming a name to watch, he continued his development the following year, winning the Formula 5000 championship and racing 5 times in F1. In France, he almost won in his third start in F1 before being crashing into Emerson Fittipaldi. In his next start the aggressive Scheckter was involved in a big accident which took nearly a dozen cars out of the race, an incident which in many ways summed up his early career. Scheckter's McLaren M23 bore the number zero during the American and Canadian Grands Prix of 1973. Scheckter is one of only two F1 drivers to compete under this number, the other being Damon Hill.

Nonetheless, Tyrrell had no problems with signing the speedy youngster and in 1974 gave him his first full-time drive in F1. Jody rewarded them with a 3rd place finish in the driver's championship and a pair of wins in Sweden and Britain. During the year, he scored points in 8 consecutive races, one of the longer streaks of the time. A slight off-year followed but his 3rd year with the team in 1976 gave him another 3rd place finish in the driver's championship. In that season, Tyrrell introduced the most radical car in F1 history, the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34. Scheckter gave the six-wheeler its only win on Sweden's Anderstorp circuit and in his 12 races with the car, he scored points 10 times.

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 commonly on the podium when he finished, but finished 2nd behind a more dominant Niki Lauda in points. A 7th place finish with the team in 1978 followed and he left the team after the season to join Ferrari.

Critics felt he would not get along well with management at Ferrari, but he far surpassed expectations and helped gave F1's most recognizable team another constructors' championship, while Scheckter's consistent finishes, with three wins among them, gave him the driver's championship. However, he struggled very badly in his 1980 title defense, even failing to qualify in a race. After only managing 2 points, Scheckter retired from the team and the sport.

Scheckter was the last driver to win a driver's championship for Ferrari until Michael Schumacher did so 21 years later. After Scheckter's retirement, he founded a company which built training simulators. The sale of the company provided funds to allow Jody to help the racing careers of his sons Tomas and Toby. Tomas races in the Indy Racing League and held pole position for the 2003 Indianapolis 500. Jody's brother Ian also raced F1 for a few years.


Formula One World Drivers' Champions
(1950Nino Farina ·(1951Juan Manuel Fangio ·(195253Alberto Ascari ·(1954,55,56,57Juan Manuel Fangio ·(1958Mike Hawthorn · (195960Jack Brabham · (1961Phil Hill ·

(1962Graham Hill · (1963Jim Clark · (1964John Surtees · (1965Jim Clark · (1966Jack Brabham · (1967Denny Hulme · (1968Graham Hill · (1969Jackie Stewart · (1970Jochen Rindt · (1971Jackie Stewart · (1972Emerson Fittipaldi · (1973Jackie Stewart · (1974Emerson Fittipaldi · (1975Niki Lauda · (1976James Hunt · (1977Niki Lauda · (1978Mario Andretti · (1979Jody Scheckter · (1980Alan Jones · (1981Nelson Piquet · (1982Keke Rosberg · (1983Nelson Piquet · (1984Niki Lauda · (198586Alain Prost · (1987Nelson Piquet · (1988Ayrton Senna · (1989Alain Prost · (199091Ayrton Senna · (1992Nigel Mansell · (1993Alain Prost · (199495Michael Schumacher · (1996Damon Hill · (1997Jacques Villeneuve · (199899Mika Häkkinen · (2000,01,02,03,04Michael Schumacher · (200506Fernando Alonso


3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Scuderia Ferrari
Personnel:
22px-Flag of France.png Jean Todt | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Mario Almondo | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Stefano Domenicali | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Luca Baldisseri
Current drivers:
22px-Flag of Finland.png Kimi Räikkönen | 22px-Flag of Brazil.png Felipe Massa | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Luca Badoer | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Giancarlo Fisichella (Test Driver) 22px-Flag of Spain.png Marc Gené (Test Driver)
Notable Former drivers:
22px-Flag of Germany.png Michael Schumacher | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Alberto Ascari | 22px-Flag of Argentina.png Juan Manuel Fangio | 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Mike Hawthorn | 22px-Flag of Austria.png Niki Lauda | 22px-Flag of South Africa.png Jody Scheckter | 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png John Surtees | 22px-Flag of the United States.png Phil Hill | 22px-Flag of Brazil.png Rubens Barrichello | 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Eddie Irvine | 22px-Flag of France.png Jean Alesi | 22px-Flag of France.png Alain Prost | 22px-Flag of the United Kingdom.png Nigel Mansell | 22px-Flag of Austria.png Gerhard Berger | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Michele Alboreto | 22px-Flag of France.png René Arnoux | 22px-Flag of France.png Patrick Tambay | 22px-Flag of the Canada.png Gilles Villeneuve | 22px-Flag of Argentina.png Carlos Reutemann | 20px-Flag of Switzerland.png Clay Regazzoni | 22px-Flag of the United States.png Mario Andretti | 22px-Flag of Belgium (civil).png Jacky Ickx | 22px-Flag of Germany.png Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips | 3dflagsdotcom italy2bs.gif Lorenzo Bandini
Formula One cars:
125 | 275 | 340 | 375 | 500 | 553 | 625 | 555 | D50 | 801 | 412 | 246 | 256 | 156 | 158 | 1512 | 312 | 312B | 312T | 126C | 156/85 | F1/86 | F1/87 | 640 | 641 | 642 | 643 | F92A | F93A | 412T | F310 | F310B | F300 | F399 | F1-2000 | F2001 | F2002 | F2002B | F2003-GA | F2004 | F2004M | F2005 | 248 | F2007 | F2008 | F60 | F10 | 150° Italia | F2012

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