Happy Birthday Jody Scheckter – S. Africa’s first and only World Drivers Champion

Happy 75th birthday to South Africa first – and thus far only – Formula 1 World Driver's Championship winner, Jody Scheckter.

Jody was born and raised in East London and attended Selborne College. He inherited his love of cars from this father, who owned an East London Renault dealership, and started racing motorcycles and later saloon cars from an early age.

In 1970 he won the South African Formula Ford series and with it a Driver To Europe scholarship, which soon catapulted him into the international racing arena.

He made his Formula 1 debut at the US Grand Prix in 1972 with McLaren, but would enjoy his greatest success behind the wheel of a Ferrari, including three 1979 race victories which saw him take the Drivers' Championship that year.

He retired in 1980, but remained active in the sport, including as a television commentator, for several years before devoting himself to organic farming.

Now resident in the UK, Jody owns and manages the largest organic farm in England, Laverstoke Park Farm, and is considered one of the UK's foremost organic farming experts.