Rolex Testimonee, Jackie Stewart, is to be reunited with one of his first race-winning cars at the Goodwood Revival this year. As a part of a 50th anniversary celebration of the iconic Jaguar sports car, E-Type registration number SSN 300, in which the 23-year-old won some of his earliest races in 1962, has been entered for Saturday’s forty-five lap Fordwater Trophy race.
SSN 300, currently owned by Michael Wilkinson, owner of specialist Jaguar restoration company M & C Wilkinson, was originally the demonstrator of the Stewart family business, Dumbuck Garage, Dumbuck, Dunbartonshire. Jackie first entered the car (then registered FSN 1) in a race at Charterhall, Berwickshire, in October 1962 scoring one of his first outright wins.
Also known in the Stewart family as ‘Old Favourite’, SSN 300 scored many more victories after it was sold in 1963, but not before Jackie drove Helen, his new wife, away from their wedding and on to their honeymoon.
Jackie Stewart’s links with Goodwood go back almost as far: in the autumn of 1963, he was to set a new sports car lap record in a Cooper-Monaco entered by Ecurie Ecosse. It was Goodwood’s circuit manager who having seen this feat by the young newcomer, was inspired to call Ken Tyrrell which led to Jackie’s first signing to drive a Cooper Formula 3 car for Tyrrell in 1964.
This was the start of single-seater racing career that was to lead to three FIA World Championships for Formula 1 Grand Prix cars: 1969, 1971 and 1973 in a nine-year period that saw many achievements in other motor sport formulii. Following his remarkable race driving career, Jackie Stewart became a Rolex Testimonee in 1968.
Jaguar E-Type History
The iconic sports car was launched at the Geneva International Motor Show in March 1961, immediately stunning the world. To mark the 50th anniversary, Jaguar has arranged an anniversary year of celebratory events starting with the annual Swiss motor show last March in Geneva, also home to the global headquarters of Rolex.
With a design way ahead of its time, media and public clamour at Geneva in 1961 was such that Jaguar Chairman Sir Williams Lyons ordered staff to quickly bring more cars to the exhibition so that more could experience the unique sensation of the 150 mph (241 kph), £1,500 newcomer. Perhaps the greatest accolade at Geneva in 1961 came from none other than Enzo Ferrari who is said to have judged the E-Type the most beautiful car in the world!
The Revival’s Fordwater Trophy race this year to honour the anniversary of the E-Type will see a star-studded line-up of top drivers including from F1: Gerhard Berger, Jackie Oliver, Jochen Mass, Adrian Newey, Desire Wilson and Tiff Needell. Touring car legends Andy Priaulx, John Cleland and Anthony Reid will also be driving, as will Andy Wallace who when driving Jaguars in the 1980s and 1990s, stood on the top step of the podium twice at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and once at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Sir Jackie Stewart, Rolex Testimonee
Date of birth: 11 June 1939
Nationality: British
Sir Jackie Stewart is without contest one of the most emblematic figures of contemporary automobile racing. For almost 40 years since his competitive retirement, at the end of the 1973 season, Sir Jackie Stewart has continued to play an essential role in a world that he has influenced as much from a sporting point of view as a personal one.
His long list of honours makes him one of the most decorated Formula 1 drivers of the past 50 years, while his determined commitment in favour of driver safety profoundly influenced the discipline. Following his retirement, he continued to remain active in motor sports and in 1997 he founded a Formula 1 race team with his son Paul that was active for three seasons.
The involvement of Sir John Young Stewart, also known as Jackie Stewart, in the world of cars and motorsport racing dates back to his childhood. With a garage man as a father, Jackie – like his elder brother Jimmy – was very quickly introduced to mechanics and then to racing.
In the beginning of the 1960s, after some early success in local events, he was offered a driving test session for Formula 3. Here Stewart displayed his innate driving skills, a performance that would mark the start of a glorious career in Formula 1 over the course of the next decade.
In 1964, Stewart won his first race as a driver in Formula 3. The following year he debuted in Formula 1 under BRM colours and took his first victory in a Grand Prix that same year. Constantly looking to win against his competitors, his victories begin adding up, rapidly making him the man to beat.
From 1965 to 1973, Sir Jackie Stewart participated in 99 Formula 1 Grand Prix races and took home 27 victories, 3 world championships (1969, 1971, 1973) and finished 44 times on the podium in total. His record of 27 victories was not beaten until 14 years later, when Frenchman Alain Prost was contesting his 117th Grand Prix in 1987.
Although best known for his Formula 1 achievements, the Scotsman also participated in the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans with Graham Hill (GBR), where they finished tenth overall in a experimental Rover-BRM turbine car.
1966 was a year that marked a significant change in the life of Jackie Stewart. Victim of a serious accident (during the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps) from which he escaped lightly injured, he became aware of the need to improve driver safety and has been devoting his energy to this cause ever since.
In addition to racing, Sir Jackie Stewart is also intensely involved in the fight against dyslexia, which he suffered from in his youth.
Rolex and motor sports
Rolex and Motorsports
Rolex has been Official Timekeeper for 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2001 and Title Sponsor of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in North America since 1992. In 1965, Rolex added the name Daytona to the dial of its Cosmograph line in tribute to this great race at the International Speedway. Ever since then, the presence of the Rolex brand in automobile racing has grown steadily.
Rolex supports the tradition of auto racing through events that celebrate design, speed and passion including the Goodwood Revival (UK), the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (USA), the Pebble Beach Tour D’Elegance presented by Rolex (USA) and the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance and The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering (USA). Rolex affiliation also extends to two key figures in the sport: Sir Jackie Stewart from Scotland, one of the greatest drivers of his generation, and Danish driver Tom Kristensen, record eight-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
For more information about Rolex and sport, please visit www.rolex.com.
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