by David Tremayne
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DescriptionEven today. when motorsport fans speak of car control they mention Jochen Rindt. Bernie Ecclestone believed he was the top talent of his era, Jackie Stewart said he was one of the cleanest drivers he had ever raced against, and he remains the sport's only posthumous World Champion. This investigation of Rindt's mercurial career paints the portrait of a man taken long before he reached his true potential and puts an underwritten character into his real perspective, as one of the greatest Grand Prix drivers of all time. Synopsis
Eeven today, when motorsport fans speak of car control they tend to mention one name above all others: Jochen Rindt Orphaned in wartime Germany but raised by indulgent grandparents in Austria, Rindt had two sides. To those he disliked or distrusted, he could be arrogant and dismissive. To those he chose to befriend, however, he was a warm, kind and humorous character who loved to laugh yet who needed nobody's help. But to thousands of race fans he was simply the man who could do the impossible, as he proved from the moment he so insouciantly defeated the best in European racing in the Formula Two race at Crystal Palace in 1964, or the flat-out victory he and Masten Gregory scored at Le Mans the following season. Such was his level of talent, the feats he achieved, that his name deserved italics and an exclamation mark: Jochen Rindt! Bernie Ecclestone, bonded to him by strong mutual trust and empathy, believed he was the best of his time and one of the top five of all time. Jackie Stewart, who provides the Foreword to this book and was a very close ally, believed him to be one of the cleanest men he ever raced against, and one of the fastest. Alan Rees, Rindt's team-mate at Winkelmann Racing when the Austrian was the King of Formula Two, believed he was every bit as good as Jimmy Clark. Back then, praise came no higher. It was Jochen Rindt who donned Clark's mantle at Team Lotus in the aftermath of the Scottish champion's death at Hockenheim in April 1968. From 1969 until his own untimely passing at Monza, on 5 September 1970, Rindt was widely regarded as the fastest man in Fl. He remains the sport's only posthumous World Champion. This book, a forensic investigation of a mercurial career, is written by David Tremayne, whose biography of speed king Donald Campbell was an award winner, and whose story of Seventies Fl racers Roger Williamson, Tony Brise and Tom Pryce — The Lost Generation — earned rave reviews. In painting the true portrait of Jochen Rindt, a man who was taken long before he fulfilled his true potential, the author puts an under-explored character into his real historic perspective, as one of the greatest Grand Prix drivers of all time. |
