Derek Warwick: Never Look Back

Derek Warwick has been a popular and highly respected figure in motor racing for nearly 50 years, known for his tough and determined personality as well as his talent and bravery behind the wheel. Now, with characteristic honesty and humour, he tells his inspiring story in a memoir that holds nothing back. Although he never won in Formula 1, due to ill fortune and so often being in the wrong car at the wrong time, he did achieve the results he deserved in sports car racing, winning the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Championship in 1992, plus finishing series runner-up with Jaguar in 1986 and 1991. In the twilight of his racing career, that world title was a fitting companion to the one he had earned as a short-track oval racer nearly 20 years earlier.

Derek’s unconventional racing baptism saw him excel on short-track ovals, winning the World Championship at Wimbledon Stadium in 1973 aged 19. Climbing the ladder: winner of 33 Formula Ford races and the European championship in 1976; champion in one of two major British F3 series in 1978 battling against Nelson Piquet and runner-up in the other; second in the European F2 Championship to Toleman team-mate Brian Henton in 1980. Into F1 with Toleman, gradually establishing himself as the fledgling turbo team gained momentum after a disastrous start in 1981–82, then scoring points in 1983 and becoming sought-after by other teams. After landing a plum seat at Renault for 1984, bad luck stopped him taking a deserved victory in the opening race, but he did achieve four podiums; but it all turned sour in 1985 with the team’s decline and then withdrawal. With F1 opportunities drying up, Derek switched to the World Endurance Championship with Jaguar for 1986, finishing second in the standings; by mid-season, he also found himself back in F1 with Brabham after the sad death of Elio de Angelis. Three F1 years with Arrows (1987–89) saw him add to his reputation as a fast and committed racer, followed by a difficult season with Lotus (1990) that brought a huge accident at Monza and an even worse one for team-mate Martin Donnelly at Jerez. Back with Jaguar in a Ross Brawn-designed sports car for 1991, Derek won four races, but one disqualification meant he was runner-up in the Sportscar World Championship for the second time. On 21 July 1991, the Warwick family was torn apart when Derek’s younger brother Paul was killed at Oulton Park. Paul was pursuing a racing career of his own and had graduated to the British F3000 Championship, which he dominated and ended up winning posthumously. World Champion again: invited to join Peugeot’s sports car team for 1992, Derek started to rebuild his life with a hugely successful year, winning both Le Mans and the Sportscar World Championship. One final year of F1 (1993), back with Footwork-branded Arrows, followed by some touring car racing, including with his own team 888. And more besides: he built up a small group of car dealerships in the UK and Jersey, selling the UK ones in 2003; he constructed or renovated over a dozen houses in Jersey, two of them at the time the most spectacular ever built on the island; ownership of three building companies in the UK; President of the British Racing Drivers’ Club; serving as an FIA steward at Grands Prix; coping with cancer. 

Derek Warwick: Never Look Back is a brutally honest and often very amusing memoir by one of Britain’s most prominent and successful racing drivers.

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