TONY ROBINSON. THE BIOGRAPHY OF A RACE MECHANIC

Features

• The unique story of one of the most significant motor racing mechanics of the 1950s and 1960s
• Original, first hand material from Tony and his colleagues
• A fresh and different look at part of Stirling Moss’s career
• The story of BRP from the inside
• How an international motor racing team was run in the late 1950s and early 1960s
• A new look at Cooper in the mid 1960s
• How Tony Robinson and BRP reacted to Colin Chapman’s lead with the Lotus 25
• How BRP approached the Indianapolis 500
• Around 120 photographs
• Fully indexed
Description

The 1950s and 1960s were a revolutionary period in motor sport history, and there are few left who were as close to Formula One in that time as leading mechanic Tony Robinson. Tony started in Grand Prix racing as mechanic to Stirling Moss, and went on to work touring Europe with privateer Grand Prix driver Bruce Halford, before becoming chief mechanic at BRP where he was reunited with (Sir) Stirling. A fascinating account of life in the pit lane.
Synopsis

The biography of motor racing mechanic Tony Robinson, who worked with some of the great names of the sport in the 1950s and ’60s. Tony started as one of the mechanics for Stirling Moss in 1954: the year of Stirling’s first serious assault on the world championship. After a semi-nomadic period touring Europe with privateer Bruce Halford, who also raced a Maserati 250F, Tony joined the British Racing Partnership – a Formula One and Two team part-owned by (Sir) Stirling’s father, Alfred. Stirling was driving a BRP-entered Lotus on the day of the accident that effectively ended his racing career.
At BRP, Tony responded to the Lotus 25 by building what was the first monocoque F1 car following Colin Chapman’s groundbreaker. He also designed a car for Indianapolis, before going on to work for Cooper. During his time in motor racing, Tony rubbed shoulders with such great names as Juan Manual Fangio and Mike Hawthorn; Stuart Lewis-Evans – whose manager was Bernie Ecclestone – was one of Tony’s drivers, and McLaren’s Ron Dennis worked for him during his time at Cooper.
This is the fascinating story of one of motorsport’s most enduring characters.
Independent Reviews

"Wagstaff gives the inside story on how Tony designed F1 and Indy cars at BRP, as well as depicting a wide and respected racing career. It's instructive to see from the inside how a team functions – and how hard a mechanic works." – MotorSport

"Grand Prix racing has changed beyond all recognition in the past 50 years, a fact underlined by this biography's superb opening chapter, which recounts the superhuman solo effort that mechanic Robinson put into transporting Bruce Halford's Maserati 250F to a race in Caen, and then on to the Nurburgring for the 1957 German GP. Robinson began his career working for Stirling Moss and, after his stint with Halford, he again linked up with Moss via BRP, later showing his versatility by being closely involved with the design of its F1 cars. More careful editing would have been welcome – at one point, a proof-reader's note to the author has been left in – but it's entertaining, and the pictures are highly evocative." – Classic & Sports Car