Ken Tyrrell: 1924-2001

Tyrrell served in the RAF during World War II, then built up a successful timber business in Surrey. His love affair with motorsport began in the 1950s as a driver, but by the end of the decade he was getting a taste for team management. He ran the Cooper-BMC team in Formula Junior, which marked the beginning of his eponymous team.

It was not long before Tyrrell formed his long-lasting link with a young Scottish driver called Jackie Stewart. The relationship started at Goodwood in a Formula 3 test, when Stewart managed to outpace Bruce McLaren. Tyrrell and Stewart shook hands on a deal and a new era had begun.

Stewart dominated F3 for Tyrrell and landed a Formula 1 drive with BRM for '65. But he continued to drive for Tyrrell in Formula 2, and when Ken decided to step up to the top flight in '68, Stewart joined him.

In their first F1 season together, running Matra chassis and Ford DFV engines, the pair came close to winning the world championship, but were pipped by Graham Hill's Lotus. But there was no stopping them in '69. Stewart won six races to win the drivers' title and the Constructors' Cup for Tyrrell.

Having split with French chassis manufacturer Matra, '70 proved to be an interim year with the team using March's new F1 chassis. But Tyrrell's first self-built racing car was on the way. Stewart led races at the end of the season and it was clear that the 001 had great potential.

That was realised in '71 when Stewart notched up his second title, driving the car designed by Derek Gardner. The team of Tyrrell, Stewart and Gardner was the equivalent of Ferrari, Schumacher and Byrne in the early '70s, and they went on to score a third and final title in '73.

But the season ended in tragedy for the team. At the US Grand Prix, Stewart's team-mate Francois Cevert was killed during practice. The world champion had already decided to retire at the end of the season, and the loss of his friend and successor at Tyrrell caused him to pull out of the Watkins Glen race. It would have been his last. When Stewart officially quit a few months later, it meant his record of 27 wins from just 99 starts was set in stone.

Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler stepped in for '74, but neither could rekindle the glory days of Stewart, although both won races for the team. The next landmark for Tyrrell was Gardner's ground-breaking six-wheeled P34. This was more than a gimmick, proven by a one-two for Scheckter and Depailler at Anderstorp in '76.

But victories were becoming few and far between by the late '70s, when Ferrari and Lotus ruled the roost. Slowly, Tyrrell's fortunes began to slide, which was not helped by losing long-time sponsor Elf to Renault and Ligier. There was something of a revival when Michele Alboreto joined the team, but the Italian's victories at Ceasars Palace and Detroit in '82 and '83 proved to be the team's last.

For the rest of the '80s, Tyrrell continued to produce neat chassis, but were always handicapped by a lack of finance. Jean Alesi gave the team a boost in the excellent Harvey Postlethwaite-designed 018 and 019 chassis. But by '98 the game was up. The financial pressures that had threatened Ken Tyrrell's team for so long had finally become too much. He sold out to British American Tobacco, and British American Racing was born.

The loss of Tyrrell was a blip on F1's chart, despite the team's strong historical place in the sport. What was more keenly felt was the loss of Ken's presence in the paddock. Not only did Tyrrell gain a reputation as a spotter of young talent, he was also well respected for his forthright views on any subject to do with the sport he loved.

It did not take long for motorsport to find a new role for one of its biggest personalities. When Lord Hesketh resigned as the president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, Tyrrell was the obvious choice to step in. But he was not a full-time solution - cancer of the pancreas had already taken hold and Tyrrell's health was failing.

Typically, he fought the disease, but finally lost his battle at the age of 77. Today motorsport has lost another of its greatest legends.