RockSport Great Scots – Sir Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young “Jackie” Stewart, (born 11 June 1939 in Dumbarton) is one of the greatest British F1 Drivers. Jackie was nicknamed the “Flying Scot”, he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers Championships.
He also competed in Can-Am In 2009 he was ranked fifth of the fifty greatest Formula One drivers of all time by journalist Kevin Eason who wrote: “He has not only emerged as a great driver, but one of the greatest figures of motor racing.” He is well known in the United States as a pundit of racing television broadcasts having worked in that role in the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and the Grand Prix of Monaco from 1971 to 1986. In 1976 Stewart became the play by play commentator for the 1976 Winter and 1976 Summer Olympics with American Television, and he served as host of the Indianapolis 500 coverage for ABC Television from 1982 to 1984. He’s also been a spokesman for Ford, Moet and Rolex.
Between 1997 and 1999, in partnership with his son, Paul, he was team principal of the Stewart Grand Prix Formula One racing team. His groundbreaking ideas to help with the safety aspect of F1 has earned him worldwide praise and the prevention of deaths since Stewart campaigned for safety barriers and driver safety within F1 cars from the late 1960’s onwards will perhaps be this Scotsman’s greatest legacy.