Jody Scheckter, popularly known as the 'South African Wild Man' in the racing arena, was undoubtedly the speed demon of the Formula One Championships. He personified the image of a speed-crazed fanatic with death defying courage. His accident-prone early racing career, which includes one of the biggest accidents in Formula One (F1) history, provides testimony to this remark. Yet, there is no denying the sheer brilliance of this South African driver who retired from F1 with a World Championship title under his belt. After Scheckter's sensational Championship Triumph for team Ferrari, it took the Italian giants another 21 years to clinch their next title with Michael Schumacher at the wheel.

Jody Scheckter was born on January 29, 1950 in East London, South Africa. He received his former education from Selborne College and then took an engineering apprenticeship at his father's Renault dealership. Learning to drive at a very young age, speed was his ticket to freedom and racing a naturally succeeding passion. Starting his racing career on motorbikes he switched to saloon cars and won his first South African Formula Ford series in 1970. The series win also earned Scheckter the 'Driver To Europe scholarship' that led him to immigrate to England with the ambition to conquer the F1 World Championship.

Scheckter exploded on the F1 scene at Watkins Glen in the 1972 US Grand Prix with McLaren and was running on as high as 3rd position before spinning and ultimately securing an impressive 9th finish. Flabbergasted with Scheckter's debut performance, McLaren signed him in for occasional rides in a third car in the 1973 season. McLaren's new bet looked highly promising, as Scheckter stormed into the front of the French Grand Prix. However, the South African's dream start came to an abrupt end as he collided with the Lotus of the reigning World Champion, Emerson Fittipaldi who immediately declared Scheckter to be a threat to the drivers in F1 racing. Things turned even uglier for Scheckter in the race that followed, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

At the end of the opening lap at Silverstone, Scheckter's McLaren ran wide onto the grass, coming out of the 150mph Woodcote corner and spun back across the circuit, instigating a horrid crash, which eliminated half the field and brought the race to a halt. Although, everyone involved in the crash escaped without any serious injuries, the accident - one of the biggest in F1 history- saw eight F1 cars being reduced to mere debris. As the main culprit behind this wreckage, Scheckter was immediately retired for a few races by McLaren to pacify the infuriated Grand Prix Drivers Association.

Despite his fast developing reputation as a rash driver, Scheckter got his first full-time drive in F1 in 1974, racing for the Tyrell Racing team. As a part of the Tyrell team he was to partner new team mate, Cevert. However, their partnership was not to be as Cevert met with a fatal accident during the practice session of the US Grand Prix. Following the horrible accident, Scheckter became a much safer driver, with controlled aggression that could help him achieve better results by finishing races. By the end of the 1974 season, Scheckter had won two races and awarded his team the third position in the overall driver's championship marking his first successful venture in F1 racing.

Following the success of the 1974 season, Scheckter continued to improve with every race that followed achieving consistent results for his team. In the 1976 season he again secured the third position for Tyrell in the driver's championship before moving to the new Wolf Team in 1977. The in-form South African clinched another three wins for his new team in 1977 and almost won his first World Championship, coming a close second to the mighty Niki Lauda of team Ferrari. After watching Ferrari win the 1977 F1 Championship, Scheckter was convinced that the only way he can achieve his childhood dream would be in the cockpit of the prancing horse.

Thoroughly impressed with Scheckter's fine racing performances, Enzo Ferrari was more than happy to get him on board his Ferrari team at the start of the 1979 season to partner Gilles Villeneuve in the team's ground effect 312T4 car. The new teammates developed a close friendship and their professional on-track rivalry helped Ferrari dominate the 1979 season. By the end of the season, though both Scheckter and Villeneuve had secured three wins each, Scheckter went ahead to win his first World title for consistently finishing well throughout the season. After several difficult injury-stricken years, Scheckter had finally realized his childhood dream and established himself as the best driver in the world. The significance of his World title became even more prominent in the subsequent years of F1 racing as Team Ferrari did not win another Championship until 2000.

After securing the World Championship and fulfilling his contractual obligation with Ferrari till the end of the 1980 season, Scheckter retired from F1, a content man and an accomplished driver. Following his retirement, Scheckter founded FATS Inc, a company that built firearms training simulators and after developing it into a big business sold it to open an organic farming enterprise in England.

Scheckter continues to maintain his ties with auto racing, as a guide and supporter of the racing careers of his two sons, Tomas and Toby.