Ian Scheckter (born 22 August 1947 in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and educated at

Selborne College Selborne College is a semi-private English medium male-only high school situated in the suburb of Selborne (the suburb was named after the school) of East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa; it is one of the few colleges in the ...

) is a former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. He participated in 20

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 30 March 1974. He scored no championship points.

Biography

The elder brother of 1979 Formula One champion

Jody Scheckter Jody David Scheckter (born 29 January 1950) is a South African business proprietor and former motor racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980, winning the Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari. Scheckter remains the only Afr ...

and uncle of IRL racer

Tomas Scheckter Tomas Scheckter (born 21 September 1980) is a South African former racing driver best known for his time in the IndyCar Series. Early years Scheckter was born in Monte Carlo to 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter and his first wife ...

, his first F1 races were in the

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richa ...

, first driving a Lotus 72 for locals Team Gunston in 1974. The following year and also in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, he drove a Tyrrell 007 for Lexington Racing, either side of a couple of European outings for Williams. In domestic racing Scheckter came close to ending the run of

Dave Charlton David William Charlton (27 October 1936 – 24 February 2013) was a racing driver from South Africa. Charlton was born in Brotton, Yorkshire. He participated in 13 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 1 January 1965. He sco ...

of titles in the

South African National Drivers Championship The South African Formula One Championship, was a Formula One auto racing, motor racing championship held in South Africa between 1960 and 1975, including races in Rhodesia and Portuguese Mozambique. The front-running cars in the series were re ...

in 1975, but in his two spells as a full-time competitor dominated the championship winning 49 races and equalling John Love and Charlton's tally of 6 championships. Securing enough funds for a full season with the

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

works F1 team in 1977, he turned in some poor performances, aided in great part by the fact that, in some races, Team March had up to five drivers signed; lacking resources to provide adequately for them all. This situation spelled the end of his F1 career. Scheckter's final grand prix would have been the

1977 Japanese Grand Prix The 1977 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 October 1977 at Fuji. It was the 17th and final race of the 1977 Formula One World Championship. At the time, this was the last Japanese Grand Prix due to traveling and financia ...

but he was detained and then expelled from Japan due to only having a tourist visa in his South African passport and Japanese objections to the South African

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheckter, Ian 1947 births Living people Alumni of Selborne College Hesketh Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers South African Formula One drivers South African Jews South African people of British-Jewish descent South African racing drivers Team Gunston Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers

Biography

Complete Formula One World Championship results

See also

References