A blend of entertaining storytelling, brutal honesty and high drama, Irish racing driver Derek Dalys memoir is a page-turner. His meteoric rise from a modest background in Dublin to the heights of Formula 1 is a story of relentless determination and unbridled talent, but when he reached motor racings pinnacle ultimately with the top-notch Williams team in 1982 his success story started to unravel, partly because of numerous and sometimes horrifyingly spectacular crashes often caused by car breakages. He made a clean break and went to America, where he raced Indycars and sports cars before metamorphosing into a hugely popular TV commentator, interviewer and pundit. Now, in his own words, he has put the entire rollercoaster of his life into a spellbinding autobiography that all racing fans will love.
Key content After starting out with a secondhand Formula Ford car bought from Eddie Jordan, Derek laboured in an Australian iron-ore mine for six months to earn the money to buy a more competitive racing car. The plan worked and he became Irish Formula Ford Champion in 1975, then went to England and won numerous races in 1976, including the prestigious Formula Ford Festival. Stepping up to Formula 3 in 1977, he continued his winning ways and became British Formula 3 Champion driving for larger-than-life Irish team owner Derek McMahon. Two seasons in Formula 2 brought more successes, including three victories, but early attempts to break into Formula 1 were mired in frustration with teams that struggled, namely Hesketh and Ensign. Tyrrell offered better prospects for 1980 but some big crashes notably at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix and numerous car failures blighted his season. Derek finally landed a top seat for 1982, with Williams, only to find that sub-standard treatment and the teams fading competitiveness prevented him from fulfilling his potential. Making a dramatic change in his life, he went to race in America in Indycars, but a huge accident at Michigan in 1984 his car crashed into the perimeter wall at 217mph and disintegrated left him severely injured and facing a long recovery. A racing swansong came in sports cars, with Jaguar at Le Mans and Nissan in America, the latter bringing consecutive victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring, in 1990 and 1991. Staying in America, Derek went on to a decades-long career as a motorsport TV broadcaster alongside business ventures and keynote speaking.
