[Books] Jo Ramirez - Memoirs of a Racing Man

[Pete Fenelon]

I read this pretty much in one sitting, which is something that normally happens only with books that are either very short or very good. Jo's autobiography is 340 pages, so draw your own conclusions

Put simply, it's the best non-driver autobiography since Tony Rudd's, and for those whose interest in F1 remains current it may be even better. Jo describes his entire career in racing from his Mexican upbringing and early days as an unpaid gofer in Italy, with no work permit and no money, through to his retirement as McLaren's team coordinator. In between are fascinating insights into the Rodriguez brothers, Ferrari, Maserati, the Ford GT40, AAR, Tyrrell, Fittipaldi, Shadow, ATS, Theodore, and many more. There are great insights into all of the teams, with some very interesting background to the Arrows/Shadow split and the strange circumstances at ATS....

Although immensely entertaining and hugely readable, this isn't a book that pulls punches. Jo isn't afraid to say exactly what he thought - fans of Emerson Fittipaldi will find the section on jo's time there uncomfortable reading, in particular, and the portrait he paints of Ron Dennis is very complex - there's a clear mix of vast admiration for what Ron's achieved and genuine anger and perhaps pity about the lack of grace with which he can behave.

There's a lot of insight into the characters of drivers and engineers he's worked with - quite trenchant in some cases. It's clear that Jo's all time favourites were the Rodriguez brothers, particularly Riccardo, and Dan Gurney; he was no great fan of Lauda the man, recognised Prost and Senna as deeply flawed geniuses (and managed to remain on good terms with both, although it's difficult to hide the fact that he has perhaps more admiration for Senna than any other modern driver), and had a lot of time for Berger, Hakkinen and Coulthard. I would imagine Michael Andretti and Nigel Mansell don't figure strongly on the Ramirez Christmas card list.

What Jo tells, in a compelling, readable and often humorous style, is essentially the story of how Formula 1 has changed from a small-scale sport fought out by small bands of enthusiasts to a war fought between huge egos and huger corporations, and how as the stakes increased the human element started to disappear from the sport.

There are a very few minor mistakes - down at the level of minor typos on some names - but that doesn't spoil the enjoyment at all.

Unconditionally recommended. It's been well worth the wait.

[John Turner]

This sounds a really great read. In your top 20, Pete? Must get it, anyway, even though it looks as though he is a bit critical of a few of my heroes!

[Pete Fenelon]

It's certainly near the top 20. I admit to being very surprised by some of the things he had to say about Emerson (who he reckons "wasn't trying" when he drove the Copersucar) and Ron - who seems to be phenomenally churlish and inconsiderate at times although fundamentally a decent bloke. But he provides lots of evidence to back up the claims.

I don't know if Jo was assisted by anyone else in the production of the book - Quentin Spurring's listed as 'editorial director' and the selection of chapter titles has a whiff of Mark Hughest to it - but it's told in a very individual style and I think the vast majority of it is Jo's own words.

[andy_b]

I worked with Jo for a few years and you wont find a nicer guy than Jo in motorsport. You could gaurantee wandering down to his office around 7-8pm, he would still be there and he'll reel out a anicdote.

I'm sure Jo had a few stories about Nigel. One of the best was went he went AWOL as the helmet paint guy had moved his Union Jack a few mm around on the chin to allow for the Mobil sponsors. to say Nige' flipped his lid was a massive understatement

Really looking forward to this book. Pleased he's back in motorsport as well

[Knowlesy]

I've just ordered this....sounds great!