Bold new Chinese Racing bid unveiled

John Surtees

Surtees is without doubt the foremost exponent of motorsport in history. Motor racing buffs will argue that Fangio, Senna or Schumacher are the best ever racing drivers, while motorcycle aficionados might list Agostini, Doohan or Rossi as the greatest motorcycle racer of all time, but Surtees went one better than all of them. John Surtees won world titles in both sports – seven motorcycle titles followed by a World Formula One title.

Surtees is one of the rare breed of racers to possess excellent mechanical knowledge and a rigorous technical discipline. In motorcycle racing he rode for the Norton factory team, then the all-conquering Italian MV Agusta concern, winning his first 500 (now MotoGP) title in 1956, but his glory bike years were unquestionably 1958, 1959 and 1960, during which he won 32 races from 39 starts including the Senior TT at the Isle of Man TT three years in succession.

Just to top it off, his Formula One debut came during his final year of bike racing when he drove a Lotus in the Monaco Grand Prix., subsequently driving for Cooper, Lola, Honda, BRM, and the two biggest names in F1 history, Ferrari and McLaren. In 1970 he turned to construction of a machine bearing his own name, driving his own car until 1972. One of the few personal ambitions which escaped him was to win in his own car, with two fifth places the best results he achieved. Team Surtees’s greatest success came in 1972, when his successor as serial World Motorcycle champion, Mike Hailwood, drove a Surtees to win the European Formula Two championship.

Since that time, Surtees has remained actively involved in motorsport, fostering junior motorsport programmes whilst also acting as consultant for various racing projects. He assisted Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai in establishing the A1 Grand Prix series and even into his seventies can be regularly seen riding his extensive collection of factory exotica at classic race meetings.

As a founding member of the Maxtra project, Surtees gives the Chinese factory absolute credibility in its endeavours.

How it came together

The Maxtra Racing Project came about when two perfectly suited partners found each other.

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