John Surtees and his peers were different in so many ways to modern racing drivers, more interested in engineering, design and development than winning races. They were searching for that perfect symbiotic relationship between man and machine. Trying to create something that really spoke to the rider or driver. It was about understanding the language of automotive engineering, responding to what the machine was telling you when you rode or drove it. It was a time of small budgets driving massive innovations. A time of talented drivers and riders overcoming great adversity but most of all, it was a time of great risk and even greater courage.

In a career spanning four decades John Surtees had become the first man to win the Isle Of Man TT three times in succession and to this day he is still the only person to have won world championships on both two and four wheels.