By Derek Wild
2024 review by James Loveridge
Anyone who has followed Grand Prix racing for any length of time is well aware it has changed dramatically over the years. This is vividly illustrated by the picture on page 44 of Derek Wild’s new book. This shows the Lotus team setting out for the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix with three cars and five mechanics in a pretty standard Bedford lorry with another car on a borrowed trailer behind. Other pictures show the primitive conditions under which they had to work when they got to the circuit.
There is a special value in books like this as they are by people who were actually there, deeply involved with what they are talking about and not reporting second or third hand. If they are as well written as this one they convey a vivid picture of the events and experiences they record. Clearly Derek kept a full diary and has an excellent memory, though with the odd understandable mistake: Mike Hawthorn did not race a Connaught at Goodwood.
Derek has spent a very successful life at the heart of motor sport including over 30 years with Group Racing Developments (GRD), which he co-founded, and this is covered in some detail. However this book is, as the title suggests, essentially about his time at Lotus and his relationships with two of the greats of motor sport, Jim Clark and Colin Chapman.
Derek leaves no doubt about his respect and liking for Jim Clark, though his opinion of Chapman is rather more equivocal. He clearly respects his achievements but working for him wasn’t a bed of roses.
This is not a history of Lotus; it is a series of reminiscences of what was a significant period in his life. The story is not told chronographically so there is a fair bit of cross-referencing to do. As an instance the various circuits visited are listed in three separate chapters and by continent, not date order of the visits. Likewise, references to the many people with whom he worked are rather scattered. There is, however, a six-page index which helps find the way around.
Derek tells of his early ears via the traditional route of apprentice mechanic, and had the good sense to get his first job with Lotus. In further chapters he tells of the Humorous Side of Racing – less than subtle and frequently positively dangerous – and of Safety Issues. Derek has no illusions about how risky motor sport was in those early days not only for the drivers but for mechanics and spectators too. There are dramatic photographs on page 67 showing Trevor Taylor sitting in the middle of the track after his incident with Bandini, dust flying and a loose wheel apparently fl though the captionies through the air, and people are rushing to pick him up and take him to safety. Derek pays generous acknowledgement to Sir Jackie Stewart, the Grand Prix Drivers Association and others for working to achieve the much higher standards now applied.
Further chapters pay tribute to Memorable Lotus People and to Lotus Drivers I Worked With. All in all this book gives a clear and pretty detailed picture of a key period in the development of motor sport to its current massive, world-wide presence.
This very nicely produced hardback is published by BHP Publishing. It is well illustrated with many of Derek’s own photographs reproduced to a very high standard, though white captions on black-and-white photographs often get lost and are thus very hard to read. It is available from Amazon, Chaters, Classic Team Lotus and others – all, apparently, at £30.00.
A very interesting and informative book, well worth getting.
Publisher: BHP Publishing (bhp-publishing.co.uk)
Price: £30 plus postage from many retailers.
Description: 237mm x 236mm, 132 pages, hardback published without dust jacket. Black & white and colour photos.
ISBN: 978-1-738-50851-8
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