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Jody Scheckter: The South African Wildman

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Jody Scheckter: The South African Wildman

Born to a Renault car tradesman on 29th January, 1950, Jody Scheckter gained expertise at driving when he was still fairly tender aged. Settled in East London, South Africa, the young engineering novice became lured by the thrill of motor racing as soon as he discovered his passion for recklessly galloping speeds. After competing locally on motorbikes and saloon cars, Jody proceeded to the national platform where he was whisked off the circuit for hazardous driving in his debut outing. Unperturbed by this initial setback, the South African soon found winning form after gradually managing to compose his on-track belligerence. Jody’s breakthrough came when his triumph at the 1970 South African Formula Ford championship bagged him a Driver to Europe fellowship that brought to reality his European dreams.

Once in Britain, Jody swiftly distinguished himself as an enterprising top dog on the Formula Three and Formula Ford circuits. Yet the ruthless racer’s frightening tendency for spasmodic racing accidents soon led him to be labelled the “South African Wild Man”. Jody’s on-track combativeness was levelled in equal measure by his fiercely independent streak and outspoken temperament off the circuit. However, no one could deny the “Wild Man’s” raw speed and sometimes magnificently expert car-handling and it came as no surprise when McLaren took him on as a substitute driver for their 1973 campaign.

Jody made an instant impact at the 1973 French Grand Prix after winning an early advantage for McLaren. Yet his subsequent involvement in a spectacular crash with prevailing World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi marked the beginning of Formula One community’s growing frustration with the South African’s destructive driving. The racing society’s antagonism with Scheckter reached the boiling point when, at the 1973 British Grand Prix he became the infamous catalyst for Formula One’s most awesome mishap ever. The reckless Jody walked away from the smouldering rubble unscathed, yet the devastation he affected in his wake could be trailed across the track. Fortunately, the only casualty was Surtees driver, Andrea de Adamich’s injured leg but eight vehicles had been completely demolished before the dust settled. Quite predictably, there were calls for a penalty and the Grand Prix Drivers Association’s unanimous demand for Scheckter’s expulsion was pacified when McLaren announced it would “rest” their unlucky perpetrator.

Jody made his unlucky comeback at the year’s Canadian Grand Prix, and with only a short while into the race, rammed his McLaren into Francois Cevert’s Tyrrell, bringing both of their charges to an immediate standstill. Regardless, Judy was enlisted by Ken Tyrrell as a substitution for the departing Jackie Stewart alongside none other than Francios Cevert for the 1974 campaign soon after the Canada fiasco. Yet, the companionship was not to be, for Cevert tragically lost his life at the very next event, the Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, U.S.A. Greatly shaken by his colleague’s fatal outing, Jody remarked: “From then on all I was trying to do in Formula One was saving my life”.

Ken Tyrrell assisted Scheckter in overcoming the persisting shortcomings in his driving repository, emphasised his overwhelming focus must be on completing races and ceasing to make easily avoidable blunders. Tyrrell’s assistance yielded dividends and Jody went on to clinch the third spot on the aggregate rankings table after triumphing at the two Grand Prix’s in the 1974 run. After two more reasonably successful campaigns at Tyrell, Jody moved to the freshly wrought Wolf Team for the 1977 competition. Jody had a flourishing first season at Wolf where he ended runner-up in behind Ferrari’s Niki Luada in the aggregate standings. Switching loyalties to Ferrari in 1978, Jody struck up a blossoming partnership with the great Giles Villeneuve. Together they scored meaningful points for the Italian giants at every opportunity, and in 1979, Jody’s long-time dream of winning the World Championship title finally became a reality.

With Formula One’s greatest prize now under his belt, Jody dragged himself through the 1980 season merely to honour his deal with Ferrari. At the age of 30, the “Wild Man” of Formula One hung his gloves as a prosperous man and went on to become an even richer businessman in the U.S. He now busies himself with organic farming ventures in England.                              

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