Paddock to Podium: 'The Mechanics View'

Paddock to Podium By Max Rutherford. Near new softback, no inscriptions. Next 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. There 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 Stewarts cars in the first season the Scot won the F1 world championship in 1969. The 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. Max 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. This extraordinary collection of photographs and precise narrative on what went on behind the public face of motor sport is a compelling read. It begins with Max's early escapades as a speedway driver in the small New Zealand city of New Plymouth- through the motor racing and on to making women's chest protectors for sport! 120 colour photos and 80 images in black and white. …