{"product_id":"paddock-to-podium-the-mechanics-view-signed-by-the-author","title":"Paddock to Podium - The Mechanics View (Signed by the Author)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaddock to Podium: The Mechanics View by Max Rutherford, 224 pages, Paperback, ISBN: 9780473296803, Published in 2014\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaddock to Podium - an autobiography by Max Rutherford, edited by Jim Tucker of New Plymouth, New Zealand. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNext time you drive in wet weather, spare a thought to how your car copes with water on the road. Give the credit to motor racing, and a large helping of it to British Formula One driver Jackie Stewart, who went to a motor racing circuit in The Netherlands with dozens of new Dunlop development tyres and thoroughly tested them in wet conditions.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThere to ensure it all went according to plan was Kiwi motor racing mechanic Max Rutherford, who with joint chief mechanic Roger Hill headed the team looking after Stewart's cars in the first season the Scot won the F1 world championship in 1969.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe tyre story is one of hundreds of insightful anecdotes Max tells about the world of motor racing in the 1960s as it entered the modern age, the days of legends like Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Stewart, Jochen Rindt, Chris Amon, Denny Hulme and Bruce McLaren.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMax Rutherford was mechanic to several and close quarters observer of them all. His experiences on the circuits of Europe, Britain and America culminated in an award he shared with Hill as the best motor racing mechanics in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis extraordinary collection of photographs and precise narrative on what went on behind the public face of motor sport is a compelling read.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt begins with Max's early escapades as a speedway driver in the small New Zealand city of New Plymouth - days I recall as a kid whose father owned one of the cars - and tells of his meteoric rise to be mechanic to motor racing's champions.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJim Tucker\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eEditor and Journalist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContents:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHAPTER 1.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAbout my family and my schooling.\u003cbr\u003eBuilding and driving Go Karts and speedway cars and learning to drive fast. Building MiniMax.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHAPTER 2.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe trip to England; a visit to the Pyramids of Egypt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHAPTER 3 —1965\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWorking for Jack Brabham building racing cars; a racing mechanic — I'm off to Monza and Monaco, and other exotic venues.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHAPTER 4 —1966\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe start of my employment with Charlie Chrighton Stuart.\u003cbr\u003eDrivers I have ridden with (or name-dropping par excellence) How I met the London Bobbies.\u003cbr\u003eThe Pinner Road Hilton.\u003cbr\u003eDinner with Juan Fangio; the Argentine Temporada series, January 1966.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHAPTER 5 —1967\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI get 'hitched'\u003cbr\u003eJack Brabham, the 'racing mechanic' and my employer. An apology to Australians.\u003cbr\u003eTransporter racing with Lotus and Tyrrell.\u003cbr\u003eAa tiny motorcycle with the ability to hurt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHAPTER 6 —1968\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA step up the ladder — F2 to F I.\u003cbr\u003eThe Tyrrell Racing background.\u003cbr\u003e1 get my hands and spanners on a real Fl racing car.\u003cbr\u003eA trip to Paris in the snow.\u003cbr\u003eA big surprise in the Principality of Monaco.\u003cbr\u003eNearly a major disaster.\u003cbr\u003eI create a storm that was written about in motoring magazines. Ttyre testing and nasty snakes in Kyalami.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHAPTER 7 —1969\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMonte Carlo or Monaco; always a major race meeting under either name. We race at Monza but before that I suffer a froth job.\u003cbr\u003eWe head for the country that invented Montezuma's revenge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCHAPTER 8.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI discover there is a life after Formula One; the Tasman Race Series in New Zealand.\u003cbr\u003eOn being a celebrity and cashing in.\u003cbr\u003eMore cars since retirement, including proper racing cars (very old) Further notes about my life.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eForeward\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eNot enough professional racing drivers fully appreciate the crucial part mechanics and engineers play towards the success they dream of, and in some cases achieve.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuring my Formula One career - particularly with Ken Tyrrell - I enjoyed the privilege of having some of the very best mechanics there have ever been in motorsport. In speeches I give, I'm often heard to say that themechanics and engineers who looked after me were better at what they did than I ever was at what I did.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMax Rutherford - a New Zealander the same as Roger Hill, who worked on my car as well - is such a person. It's fortunate he was recognised and chosen by Ken Tyrrell to work with Tyrrell International on the Matra MS10 Ford in which I finished second during the 1968 World Championship, and then the MS80 Matra Ford in which won the 1969 title.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuring the following years, people like Roy Topp, Roland Law, Neil Davis and many others allowed me to have a considerable number of wins that brought me the World Championships in 1971 and 1973.\u003cbr\u003eWithout them and the support team that Ken created, with his skills of recognising the right folk to put into the right job, Jackie Stewart probably would not be here today.\u003cbr\u003eTo finish first, first you must finish. To do that, you have got to have reliable, safe and well-prepared racing cars. Of course, they have to be designed correctly in the first place, but it's often the mechanics working on these cars who see potential flaws or potential downside risks, which can be altered, adjusted or remanufactured.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThat gives the kind of reliability that allows you to get to the finish line without the mechanical breakages that so many compatriots of my era suffered. Unfortunately, many of them died because of those failures, while I never drew blood from my body driving a racing car.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMax Rutherford has worked hard to create this book. The publishing industry nowadays is only really looking for big sellers, for a fast return on their investments. Therefore, Max has had to pour in his own money to make this book happen.\u003cbr\u003eHe hasn't gone to a ghost writer, who would have perhaps made it more commercially appealing, polished, and perhaps universally read; he's done it himself. The story he tells, however, is one that will resonate among the huge army of motor racing mechanics and enthusiasts in every category of the sport.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMax has had experience in grass roots motorsport and experience of driving and competing himself - even building his own cars - as well as working in the glamorous, colourful and exciting world of Formula One, which today is a huge, global industry and sport.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNew Zealand has been responsible for a great number of top-line engineers, who have brought a good many racing drivers to the top of their profession through driving cars that have been impeccably prepared, and in some cases re-engineered, to produce not only performance but reliability and the knowledge and experience of the hands-on mechanics\/ engineers.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMax didn't stay a long time in the Matra \/ Ken Tyrrell period, but while he was there he provided a major contribution to the success we all achieved. He went back to New Zealand and created a new life for himself in different spheres of business and again enjoyed another era of success in his lifetime.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHowever, he has never forgotten the dramas, the excitement and the fulfilment he worked so hard for, when your car, your team and your driver reaches the pinnacle of success in the world of Formula One Grand Prix racing.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe respect I have for Max and the team that he worked with is of the very highest level of anything that I can identify in my life. I'm sure much of that will be appreciated by the readers of Max's book.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo Max, I say a big thank you for all you did for me, Ken Tyrrell and the rest of that small, but remarkable, group of people, who worked together to make it happen in a safe and successful fashion.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSir Jackie Stewart OBE\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Automoto Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47628271681756,"sku":"9780473296803","price":95.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0814\/8297\/3404\/files\/b11734b_paddock_to_podium__70652.1425432047.1280.1280.jpg?v=1772094507","url":"https:\/\/automotobookshop.com.au\/products\/paddock-to-podium-the-mechanics-view-signed-by-the-author","provider":"Automoto Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}