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THE DEFINING MOMENTS
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ZBOOK REVIEW
MY GREATEST DEFEAT
RRP £19.99The premise behind this
title is simple enough.
“The fi nest stories in
our sport come not from
victory but from defeat,”
writes Formula 1’s digital
presenter Will Buxton in the introduction to
his fi rst book My Greatest Defeat. “These are
the moments on which true greatness is built.”
Buxton has cast his net across the spectrum
of motorsport – Formula 1, IndyCar, the World
Rally Championship, NASCAR and sportscars- to sit down with 20 of the disciplines’ most
successful competitors. In honest, open and
often emotional interviews, they’ve opened up
about the darkest moments in what outwardly
appear to be otherwise glittering careers.
Many, as you might expect, centre on the
on-track setbacks. In the fi rst chapter, Alain
Prost recalls both the 1982 French Grand Prix
and the Imola race from seven years later where
respective team-mates Rene Arnoux and Ayrton
Senna went against agreements and denied the
eventual four-time champion victory.
Alex Zanardi doesn’t opt for the Lausitzring
crash that cost him his legs, but rather laments
his time in F1 with Williams during the 1999
season – during which he carried too much
confi dence across the Atlantic after his back-
to-back CART title successes.
These accounts are fascinating, and packed with
genuinely meaningful refl ection and introspection
from top-fl ight drivers who have since recognised
potential failings in their approach. But the strongest
chapters come from those discussing incidents
that happened away from the circuit. Nowhere
is that more apparent than with Niki Lauda.
Similar to Zanardi, it’s not the fi ery 1976
Nurburgring crash and subsequent fi ght with
touted replacement Carlos Reutemann to win
back favour at Ferrari that Lauda nominates.
Instead, it’s the coming down of Lauda Air fl ight
004 over Thailand that killed all 223 passengers.
It’s no secret that Lauda was a snappy talker –
short sentences, little in the way of embellishment.
As Buxton has taken the decision to leave each
speakers’ prose relatively untouched, it’s here
that Lauda’s style conveys the hurt that the
airline disaster under his name caused.
Lauda doesn’t spare the details of what he
witnessed and how he felt at the crash scene.
As much as it’s a personal account, the impact
only grows as the reader considers how far the
eff ects of that crash must have stretched.
The chapter based on Buxton’s chat with
NASCAR ace Jeff Gordon is no diff erent – an
account of the severed ties to his family just
as he earned big-time Cup Series success.
It’s largely counterproductive to fi nd faults with
this book. Other than the artwork of Giuseppe
Camuncoli, there are no images. But there’s
no need, as the stories are largely graphic and
descriptive enough. To criticise the words on
the page is only more pointless – there’s little
to be gained from criticisms of such devastating
moments in the careers of motorsport aces.
My Greatest Defeat is in places a tough read
and many of the drivers’ seminal moments are
well known – some have dedicated Wikipedia
entries. But that’s missing the point, as the
drivers’ own accounts are massively poignant.
MATT KEWMCKLEIN