Good start with Honda

John Surtees, in the Honda RA273 V12, picture-above, scored his 20th podium, on his first Formula One race for Honda, at the 1967 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami won by Cooper driver Pedro Rodriguez.

In December 1966, John Surtees left Ferrari and signed for Honda. After a promising third place in the first race in South Africa, the Honda RA273 hit a series of mechanical issues that were not easy to solve and was soon replaced by the Honda RA300 for the Italian Grand Prix, where Surtees slipstreamed passed Jack Brabham to take Honda’s second F1 victory by just 0.2 seconds (picture-below).

Surtees finished fourth in the 1967 Drivers’ Championship won by Denny Hulme (Brabham). With one podium, one victory and 20 championship points scored, it was a very decent start to this new Honda-Surtees partnership.