Description
Author: Howden Ganley, Hardbound, 448 Pages, ISBN:9780993139505, 2nd hand book in like new condition
1st Edition, 2015 -
"It was one of those typical high-speed accidents where you know it is going to hurt, and wonder if you will survive. Instantaneously your world erupts into deafening noise and flying parts when you actually hit whatever it is that arrests the forward motion of the car, and in my case it was bouncing off the Armco back across the grass into the middle of the circuit. The car skated down the road for some way and finally stopped with the instrument panel. down on my knees, trapping me in the wreckage. The impact had ripped the front off the chassis, right back up to my knees, and the section with all the front suspension and steering rack was somewhere down the road. I could smell petrol, so I was anxious to extricate myself."
Howden Ganley has made a significant contribution to motor racing. He has the distinction of being the fourth Kiwi 'works' driver in Formula 1, joining a select group of New Zealanders who have really made their mark in motor racing.
Sir Jack Brabham, OA, OBE
This book will remind readers of just how much fun we all had. What we didn't realise at the time was that we were the spearhead of what future generations would come to regard as historic motor sport.
Sir Stirling Moss, OBE
New Zealander Howden Canley raced cars at the highest level internationally at the apex of motor racing's most glamorous and dangerous era — the 1960s and 70s, when Formula I drivers enjoyed rock star status, while dicing in cars and on circuits that had virtually none of the safety features today's drivers take for granted.
The catalogue of carnage from those freewheeling years makes for grim reading at times, yet the drivers, designers, marshals and other circuit insiders had a free-spirited camaraderie and testosterone-fuelled bravado that cannot be replicated in today's super-hyped, made-for-rmedia world.
The Road to Monaco is a high-octane ride through the precincts of the sport, from mechanics' bay to test track, from drawing board to pattern shop, from startline to the chequered flag. Here is an exciting, absorbing and often wryly amusing view of motor racing, from the workshop, the pit wall, the cockpit, and many other vantage points.
Along the Way there is a cavalcade of colourful characters like' Cream Bun, Teddy Teabagger, the 'Earl of Bagshot', and the feared Death Ray, whose withering stare could turn a miscreant to stone. The text is further enlivened by brief segments by or about the author's team managers, pit crew, friends, and rivals. The fluid loyalties and shifting alliances of drivers, mechanics, engineers, managers, and sponsors are chronicled in a forthright way, yet the author does not spare himself from criticism.
This is the story of one man's journey from dreamy-eyed kid to the race tracks of the world. The Road to Monaco is one hell of a ride.
Howden Ganley grew up in New Zealand, where his ambition was to race yachts or become an All Black. That changed when as a 13-year-old he made a last-minute decision to join his father and brother as a spectator at the 1955 NZ Grand Prix. As he recalls, the sound of high-powered engines, the fumy aroma of motor oil, and the sight of heroic drivers working the wheel at speed mesmerised him. From that day his focus shifted and he set a goal of competing in Formula 1.
Just 11 years on, he was at the Monaco GP, but as a mechanic to Bruce McLaren rather than as a driver. In 1971 his dream came true when he was signed by BRM. Between 1971 and 1974 Howden had 41 Fl Championship Grand Prix starts with four 'works' teams, and raced in many non-championship Fl events.
After retiring from racing he founded Tiga Cars with fellow driver Tim Schenken, which led to Team Tiga and other ventures. Later he served as Secretary and a Director of the BRDC. In 2013 he was inducted as a member of the New Zealand MotorSport Wall of Fame.
In 1975 Howden married Judy Kondratieff, a successful and influential racing driver in her own right. Tragically, she succumbed to cancer in 2007.
Howden continues to be involved in motorsport, dividing his time between England, California and New Zealand.
