Book Review

[Ziggy]

Ronnie Peterson, Formula 1 Super Swede by Johnny Tipler.

Having studied the sport of Autoracing over the past 30 years, it is a fact that a few very talented drivers have paid the ultimate price for the sport. We all ran down to the local newstands and phoned the local papers for instant results of Mario's title quest during the 1977 and 1978 seasons. It was during this time that I really started to notice Ronnie Peterson. Sure, I knew that he had taken the number one mantle driving the Lotus 72 after Emmo left for greener pastures. The newspaper clippings and short coverage by North American rags did not even touch the tip of the iceburg on what was really going on in Europe, and more precisely, Formula One.

Seeing the cornering graphics in Car and Driver where they took JY Stewart and Ronnie Peterson to a skid pad with a fully instrumented Formula One machine was one of the most enjoyable reads for me, ever. They showed the graphs of steering wheel input, adhesion levels, slip angles, brakes and throttle position. This is when Peterson's talents hit me full force. Ronnie Peterson was one bad hombre in the car control department.

John Tipler was a PR agent for John Players Cigarettes during Team's rise with the Lotus 72. He formed a friendship with Ronnie which is the basis for this book. The photographs are out of this world. Autocourse quality here, no others need apply. There are also several personal photographs of Ronnie and Barbo Peterson (his wife) goofing around in Europe. Very casual, very cool. Peterson's short career is covered year by year. Sportscars, Formula 2, Formula 1, Texaco Stars, BMW M1 racing. Its got it all folks.

I have several books written by John Tipler. Let me say this, He is a very gifted author and his work is top shelf. I look forward to many other titles by John from this era of Motorsport.

The book has a very bad ending. We all know that Ronnie lost his life at Monza that horrible day in September. The accident is covered from every angle imaginable. Ronnie's career could be summed up by saying, Right guy, wrong car. It was all coming right for him. He was giving Mario fits. Something unknown to me was Peterson already having signed a contract with McLaren's for the upcoming '79 season.... which would have been "wrong car" again.... and a different spin on the Andretti/Peterson relationship than I have ever read. Very interesting, and one I tend to believe...

Great book, a welcome addition to any motorsport library.

Forward by Max Mosley

We love you Ronnie
Ziggy

[Mariofan]

and a different spin on the Andretti/Peterson relationship than I have ever read. Very interesting, and one I tend to believe...

You can't just hang that out there. Can you briefly explain what that relationship was?

[Badger]

Good review Ziggy. Are you telling us that Mario and Ronnie were not as good of friends as Mario would have you believe?

[Ziggy]

Its hard to question friendship when the other guy is dead. Anybody here ever actually have a conversation with Mario Andretti?

Ziggy

[pchall]

Yes.

But being a complete wanker, I only talked about the Lambo he was driving and how much I enjoyed following his career when I was a kid. Who am I to ask about those intimate details of his career?

[johnny tip]

Many thanks indeed for the review and your kind words about my other books, Ziggy! It’s not often that I get detailed feedback from outside the UK. Very gratifying! Anyway, Mario Andretti was kind enough to talk to me on three occasions. The first session was when I was researching Graham Hill’s biography, because Mario was his team-mate at Lotus briefly in ’68 and ’69, and there were parallels to do with both men’s lengthy and varied careers that I wanted to quiz him about. The second session was when I was researching the Lotus types 78 and 79 ground-effect cars for the book that came out earlier this year. Mario was absolutely fundamental in the harnessing of that whole aerodynamic phenomenon during 1977 – and of course we are living with its legacy today. I also spoke to him about his relationship with Ronnie, and there was never any question of animosity between them – quite the contrary, they were very good friends – having been team-mates in the Ferrari 312P sports-prototype squad of '72. However, Ronnie did get pissed off as the ’78 season wore on having to play second fiddle to Mario. As I report in the book, Ronnie was originally glad of the chance to drive a car with podium potential, so he readily accepted Chapman’s stipulation that he should defer to Mario if he (Ronnie) was leading and Mario was in with a chance of a win. In those days of iffy reliability, it was a fair bet that he’d pick up wins when Mario’s car failed, and so it proved. What seems to have got to him most was the discovery that, for qualifying, his car would be on a heavier fuel load and harder tyres than Mario so he’d be at a disadvantage, and this came to a head at Brands Hatch prior to the British GP, when he demanded a level playing field. Anyway, I quote Mario extensively in the Lotus 78 & 79 Ground Effect Cars book as well as the Ronnie book, and his comments are invaluable.

[devilmaster]

Welcome to OC, Johnny. :thumbup:

Glad you could find our little corner of the racing world.

Steve

[johnny tip]

Thanks for that, Steve. It's all fascinating stuff!
JT

[Railbird]

Great review Zig


and thank you for the insight johnny tip.

Having read varying accounts on their relationship you have filled in the gaps.

Quite understandable from both Mario and Ronnie

[Ziggy]

All I can say is "WOW"

HEy send me your next one free, and I will review it!

Ziggy

[JT265]

from one JT to another, welcome! :thumbup:

And Ziggy, I'll gladly help with the review!

(not that you need any help, I'm just thinking about all those free books) :D

[RTKar]

$25 Border's gift card...and so many books to choose from...The Senna book, the Peterson book....I'll probably end up getting them all. Thanks for the reviews :cool:

[johnny tip]

Yes, I’ll get the publisher onto that, Ziggy. But it’ll probably be about a year from now - expect another Lotus oriented title! Out of interest, how d’you think a book on Jacky Ickx would sell in the States?
Happy New Year, guys!
JT

[Ziggy]

A book on Jackie would be good. I dont know how many copies you could sell. There are many on the Internet who would not have a clue who Jackie Ickx is.

I think an all inclusive book on his entire career would be a worthy undertaking. He was king of the Sportscar world and many think his ability to race in the rain is of all time status.

I think he was a bit of an under achiever in OpenWheel cars.

not responsible for spelling errors as always

Ziggy

[RacinM3]

Interesting title. Wasn't there a book titled "Ronnie Peterson-SuperSwede" by Alan Henry published quite a long time ago?

[johnny tip]

Well remembered! It was first published in 1975, with a chapter added after Ronnie’s death in ‘78.

In Ronnie’s heyday he was universally known as SuperSwede (everything was Super this or Super that), and I guess it was as natural for Alan Henry (whom I knew quite well in those days) to use Ronnie’s nickname in the title of his book back then as it is for me to use it today.

It’s an interesting topic, thinking up titles for a book. Sometimes it’s obvious, like, ‘Lotus 78 & 79: the Ground Effect Cars’. But in today’s increasingly web-driven marketplace you have to include as many relevant reference points as possible for the search engines to pick up on, as well as keeping the title concise – hence, for the Ronnie book, we needed not only his name but an F1 reference, and a pointer to that particular era, plus his native country, and including his Super Swede nickname (no copyright on that) was a neat way of encapsulating the two.

Buy the book and you’ll note that I credit Alan Henry in the bibliography (I think I quote him once), along with half a dozen other (mostly Swedish) books that were produced in Ronnie’s lifetime.

Cheers! JT

[Ziggy]

I have a copy of "The Viking Drivers" by Fredrik Petersens. Its a dual biography of Ronnie and Gunner Nilsson.

There was a copy of the book by Alan Henry on ebay leading into Christmas. It was autographed by Ronnie himself. I had to budget my money in order to buy several other books.

Reviews coming soon

Ziggy

[RTKar]

Took my Border's gift card and bought the Senna book, sorry tip, couldn't find the Peterson book :( , so I grabbed Jackie Stewart A Restless Life by Timothy Collins and Stuart Sykes instead.

[indyracer56]

Originally posted by Ziggy
A book on Jackie would be good. I dont know how many copies you could sell. There are many on the Internet who would not have a clue who Jackie Ickx is.

I think an all inclusive book on his entire career would be a worthy undertaking. He was king of the Sportscar world and many think his ability to race in the rain is of all time status.

I think he was a bit of an under achiever in OpenWheel cars.

not responsible for spelling errors as always

Ziggy

I don't think that he did too bad for himself in F1.

8 wins, 13 poles and twice runner up in the world championship.

Not too shabby.

[Ziggy]

Well, your up to two books!

indyracer56, the guy asked for an opinion. Were allowed to give opinion's over here :-) Nice quote however.....

Ziggy

[indyracer56]

Originally posted by Ziggy
Well, your up to two books!

indyracer56, the guy asked for an opinion. Were allowed to give opinion's over here :-) Nice quote however.....

Ziggy

Opinions R Us.

:)

[johnny tip]

Sorry you couldn’t get hold of the Ronnie book, RTKar. The publisher (Coterie Press) has an exclusive wholesale agreement with MBI (Motor Books International) in the USA, so is unable to sell to Amazon in the USA (although it can and does in the UK). However, the good news is that almost any bookshop in the US can buy through MBI, who received a shipment just before Christmas, so you should be able to get the book by now.

The Ronnie book can also be ordered for USA delivery, direct from Coterie Press via their website at
<A REF="http://">www.coteriepress.com</A> anytime from 10th January.

As well as mastering sports cars, F1 and touring cars, Jacky Ickx came close to winning the Paris-Dakar desert rally as well! So, yes, any book on him would need to cover his whole career.

Regards, JT

[RTKar]

Originally posted by johnny tip
Sorry you couldn’t get hold of the Ronnie book, RTKar. The publisher (Coterie Press) has an exclusive wholesale agreement with MBI (Motor Books International) in the USA, so is unable to sell to Amazon in the USA (although it can and does in the UK). However, the good news is that almost any bookshop in the US can buy through MBI, who received a shipment just before Christmas, so you should be able to get the book by now.

The Ronnie book can also be ordered for USA delivery, direct from Coterie Press via their website at
<A REF="http://">www.coteriepress.com</A> anytime from 10th January.

As well as mastering sports cars, F1 and touring cars, Jacky Ickx came close to winning the Paris-Dakar desert rally as well! So, yes, any book on him would need to cover his whole career.

Regards, JT


Thanks Johnny, Once I get on a roll reading I start to devour books and am always looking for a good read, especially come winter.

[Ziggy]

RTKar, I think your home town has all your autoracing needs. See Paul Zimmerman for the latest and greatest.

Ziggy

[johnny tip]

Ziggy, your comment about the Alan Henry book signed by Ronnie advertised on e-bay reminded me that no-one, but no-one, was as prolific at signing their autograph as Ronnie Peterson! Not for him the perfunctory brush off. He would sit outside the JPS-Lotus Travco motorhome after a GP, just signing programmes or whatever until the last fan had gone home, and then some!
JT

[Ziggy]

Yeah, dont tell everyone! There are several things that show up on eBay from time to time signed.

I really liked Peterson. The bill on the helmet, the colors, the car control. I wish I could have seen him race.

Ziggy

[RTKar]

Originally posted by Ziggy
RTKar, I think your home town has all your autoracing needs. See Paul Zimmerman for the latest and greatest.

Ziggy

Thanks Zig, Motorsport Collector is a good place for books, whenever I go there, I spend too much. Thank goodness it's far enough away that I don't go on a weekly basis.