Description
By: Dr Stephen Olvey .
Dr Stephen Olvey has been involved in saving lives and improving safety in motorsports for nearly 40 years, primarily in his role as Medical Director for the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) racing series in the USA, a position that he held from 1979 to 2003. He is currently Chief Medical Officer of the Grand Prix Masters series in which Formula One veterans such as Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi compete.
This is the compelling story of the author's often tragic, sometimes funny, and frequently frustrating journey through the volatile world of professional motorsports, during a career that has seen him work with many motor racing legends, including Graham Hill, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, Al Unser Jnr, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell, and Alex Zanardi, whose life he helped to save after his horrific accident in Germany in 2001.
Along the way, he introduces many of the characters, geniuses, good guys, and bad guys that he has encountered, as arguably the world's most dangerous sport has been transformed into the still spectacular and markedly competitive — albeit much less dangerous — activity that it is today. Death and serious injury still lurk at each and every venue, but racing drivers can now expect to survive through their careers. Many individuals have combined their efforts, intellects, and desires to make this happen, and in Rapid Response the author sets out his story of how it all transpired.
Dr Olvey attended his first automobile race in 1955, at the impressionable age of 11, and there he saw his favourite driver, Bill Vukovich, killed in a flaming crash while leading. He began working at the famous Indianapolis Speedway while attending medical school, making his 'debut' as a physician at Indy in 1966, where his first on-track rescue involved Graham Hill in his 'rookie' year. He soon found himself organizing the first traveling medical team in motorsports. He was eventually joined by long-time colleague and friend Dr Terry Trammell, and together they began a serious study of the cause and effect of racing crashes and injuries. From those initial studies, much has occurred, resulting in significant advances in safety and many lives saved.
Honored with a Foreword by Alex Zanardi and an Afterword by Professor Sid Watkins, this book is a captivating read for all fans of motor racing.
