First-time author

First-time author

Evro Publishing is delighted to announce that it will publish Formula 1 journalist Will Buxton’s first book on 30 May 2019.

My Greatest Defeat is a collection of honest and revealing insights into 20 of the greatest living racing drivers; legends of the worlds of Formula 1, Indycar, NASCAR, Le Mans and Rally.

Its purpose is to discover their weakest moment, the one time in their lives when they didn’t know where to turn or what to do next. To show that beneath the fire-proof suits and the helmets and beyond the heroics displayed on track, these great modern gladiators are fallible and breakable.

The legends interviewed opened up completely. Honesty flowed as rarely seen and little expected. Mighty champions, men we’ve always seen as thick-skinned, macho, manly men, unburdening their souls. These are their stories. Their words. Their truths.

‘I’m absolutely delighted to be bringing this book out into the world,’ says Will, ‘and to be doing so with the wonderful folks at Evro.

‘When I started out on this project I had no idea it would become what it has, nor that in its undertaking I would learn so much not only about the racing heroes at the heart of the story, but in turn about myself.

‘For those who are the focal point of this sport, any sign of weakness is a route to their potential defeat. Yet they are human. They suffer with the realities of life every bit as much as you or I. They just can’t show it. Visor closed, foot down. Deal with it later.

‘The stories the greats of our sport shared for this project reflect the hardships they rarely discuss yet that had a life-changing effect on their psyche. Some are related to racing. Many couldn’t be further removed. But they represent, for each man, a moment in time that they felt at their lowest and most broken. My hope is that through their honesty we might acknowledge that even our heroes have struggled to find balance in this world, and through their stories find inspiration to fight past our own demons. To learn that ultimately, in racing as in life, our greatest moments can be born of our greatest defeat.’

The interviews, all conducted specially for this book, are with (in alphabetical order by first name) Alain Prost, Alex Zanardi, Ari Vatanen, Bobby Unser, Carlos Sainz, Damon Hill, Dario Franchitti, Derek Bell, Emanuele Pirro, Emerson Fittipaldi, Felipe Massa, Jackie Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mario Andretti, Mika Häkkinen, Niki Lauda, Rick Mears, Sébastien Loeb and Tom Kristensen.


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