Redman's memoir is RAC Motoring Book of the Year

Brian Redman: Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks, published by Evro Publishing, has won the third Royal Automobile Club Motoring Book of the Year award. Eric Verdon-Roe, Chairman of Evro, received the trophy from Royal Automobile Club Chairman Tom Purves at a presentation at the Pall Mall clubhouse in London on Wednesday 2 November 2016.

“You could knock me down with a feather,” said Redman after learning of the news. “I am thrilled and delighted. This is as good as winning the Targa Florio.”

Published in March 2016, Redman’s memoir is a vivid account of this down-to-earth, popular and highly respected British racer’s exploits in his perilous era. Extremely readable, and at times both funny and poignant, it is a very personal book that has received great acclaim and has already been reprinted twice to meet demand.

An overview of the book’s content confirms Redman’s significant place in motor racing history. There is special focus on his major race wins in the greatest sports cars (including Ford GT40s, Porsche 908s and 917s, and Ferrari 312PBs) on the greatest tracks (including Spa-Francorchamps, the Nürburgring, the Targa Florio and Daytona). Numerous successes in Formula 5000 (three-times champion in North America) and 2-litre sports cars (European and South African champion) add to his credentials as one of the finest all-rounders motor racing has seen.

Accompanying the text, the book includes over 300 photographs of great quality and variety, and the whole package is a produced to a high standard.

Among the verdicts from the judges, Gordon Cruickshank of Motor Sport stated: “This is not just a driver autobiography, but a comprehensive and thoughtful picture of an era, and of the racing driver’s mind-set… It is very moving when discussing how to cope with the death of friends, yet also full of the fun and enjoyment of the times… an attractive and very readable work.”

The great Mario Andretti wrote a foreword that included this observation: “Brian writes like he drove, right to the point and always with passion. He has managed to cap a pretty terrific racing career with a pretty terrific racing memoir.”

This is the second time an Evro book has won the Royal Automobile Club Motoring Book of the Year award. In its inaugural year, 2014, the award went to Evro’s very first book, John Surtees: My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels.

“It is a great honour to have won this award for a second time,” said Eric Verdon-Roe. “It is a highly prestigious award because it is bestowed by the Royal Automobile Club and judged by six reviewers and booksellers who really know our world of motoring books.”