John Cordts (born 23 July 1935 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany)Where Are They Now?
/ref> 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 ...

from

North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. North Bay developed as a railroad centre, and its airport was an important military ...

. He emigrated from Germany to Sweden at the age of two with his family, and then to Canada when he was in his early twenties. Cordts participated in one

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 Grand Prix, the

1969 Canadian Grand Prix The 1969 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Mosport Park on September 20, 1969. It was race 9 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One ...

on 20 September 1969. He qualified 19th, but retired his

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

after 10 laps with an oil leak, while lying 16th. In addition to his Formula One appearance, Cordts had been successful in Canadian and U.S.

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

, particularly with various

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

s run by Dave Billes's Performance Engineering. He competed in many events, ranging from Harewood Acres (where he still holds the track record when it closed in 1970),

Mosport Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. The facility features a , 10-turn road course; a adva ...

Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant () is a city in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, approximately northwest of Montreal and northeast of Ottawa, Ontario. The current municipality with city status was formed in 2000. Mont-Tremblant is most famous for its ...

, and Westwood in Canada to various tracks in the US and even Japan. He later became a regular participant in the CanAm series, in which he raced until 1974, mainly in McLarens and

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

s. His best Can-Am finish was second at Road America in 1974. He was also known for his participation in the SCCA Trans-Am Series, where he had, at one point, piloted a BF Goodrich-sponsored

Pontiac Firebird The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile that was built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, five months after GM's Che ...

, known as the "Tirebird" and also several FIA events with the Greenwood Corvette team. Cordts has since retired to a private life in Western Canada where he is well known for his beautiful wood carvings and recently wrote his autobiography entitled "Blood, Sweat and Turnips". John was also inducted into the

Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame (CMHF) is a hall of fame run by the Canadian Motorsport Heritage Foundation as a not-for-profit charitable institution that "honours and recognizes the achievements of individuals and institutions that have ma ...

in 2003.

Personal life

Born in Germany, Cordts grew up in Sweden, before moving to Canada with his wife Inga-Britt and his one-year-old son Jimmy. His two other children, Mary and Johnny were born in Canada and moved to Sweden with their mother.

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

* "The Grand Prix Who's Who", Steve Small, 1995. * "Blood, Sweat and Turnips", John Cordts, 2006. 1935 births Living people Can-Am entrants Canadian Formula One drivers Canadian people of German descent Canadian people of Swedish descent Racing drivers from Ontario Sportspeople from North Bay, Ontario Sportspeople from Hamburg Swedish emigrants to Canada {{Canada-autoracing-bio-stub