Surtees, Priaulx, honored by Queen

(GMM) 1964 world champion John Surtees has been awarded an OBE — one of the highest honors of chivalry of the British empire.

The 74-year-old was named in the Queens Birthday Honors List, for services to motor sport and charity.

Surtees won the 500cc championship in 1956, and several successive world motorcycle titles, but four years later, at the age of 26, he switched to four wheels with the famous F1 team Lotus.

The Briton made an immediate impact, finishing second in his second grand prix, scoring pole in his third, and winning the title with Ferrari in 1964.

In the 1970s, Surtees ran his own eponymous team.

Reigning world touring car champion Andy Priaulx, meanwhile, secured an MBE, the initial class of the Order of the British Empire.