November 2013: Jody Scheckter – another remarkable South African

Born 29 January 1950, East London, South Africa. In his formative years Jody was as wild and unrestrained behind the wheel as he was brilliantly talented. He was nicknamed ‘Fletcher’ after the baby seagull in the book Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, who tried to fly when he was too young and kept on crashing into the cliff face.

At age 22 he earned a place in the cockpit of a works McClaren F1; seven years later Enzo Ferrari invited him to be part of his team. 1979, aged 29, Scheckter and Ferrari celebrated victory.

Since then the former Formula One World Champion has swapped fast cars for slow growing plants and animals. He’s now an organic farmer in Hampshire, where he created a superb operation at Laverstoke Park. Here he planted 130,000 trees, eight miles of hedgerow and a bespoke “mixed salad” of 31 different grasses for his flocks to feed on. His aim is to become self-sustaining in fossil fuel-free energy. Way to go Jody!