Driven

From his Laverstoke Park Farm estate former Formula One world champion Jody Scheckter now has his eyes on a different prize

- Rebecca Fletcher

It’s been 40 years since Jody Scheckter topped the dizzying heights of Formula One racing, becoming world champion in 1979 and joining an impressive list of the sport’s great and good at a mere 29 years of age.

Retiring from the circuit just a year later, he went on to mastermind a million-dollar company in America making simulators to train police and subsequently the military, all set up from his kitchen table. These days Jody can often be found cosying up to the many buffalo on his 2,500 acre bio-dynamic and organic farming estate at Laverstoke Park Farm, trading the fast lane for farm tracks. It’s a far cry from the high-octane world of motor racing so how did this so-called enfant terrible of the racing world end up swapping Ferraris for tractors?

“The business I set up was very successful after 12 years and that’s how I could afford to start up the farming, the factory and everything. I’ve always done a lot of exercise and been a foodie,” Jody explains. “I went around the world, attended lectures and got books from the beginning of the last century and came to my own conclusion about how I could produce the healthiest food for my family.”

Building a business from the ground up had already proven to be a successful enterprise for Jody and, always hungry for a challenge, what started off as a hobby offered the perfect opportunity to change direction. It was a gift of a book on organic farming from Jody’s wife,

Clare, which triggered his passion for producing the “best tasting healthiest food without compromise” as he describes it.

“I went to the extremes in every single way, a bit like when you develop a Formula One car. You can’t just say this is good, you’ve got to go through every single element of that car. If you get that all right, then you get a fast car. It’s the same with food.”