What They Are Saying…

Peter’s story is gripping; he has been writing since the Nineties, and he does it with wit and a casual ease of expression. And when the story reaches the relevant stages, he has the ability to explain ground effect, porpoising, active suspension, the twin-chassised Lotus T86 and T88 cars and the like in a manner that even laymen can start to understand.

The stories are packed with familiar characters and associated anecdotes, rendering the foregoing so interesting as he also revealed how the various interactions influenced many of his career decisions.

This is a superbly produced book, which gives us great insight to a man who had huge influence on F1 design and direction, and played a key role in safety enhancement, yet has never basked in the light of his achievements.

Typical of a man used to creating projects from start to finish, the hardback book was self-published. It has pleasing heft, its narrative rattles along at the speed of Mario Andretti qualifying a Lotus 78, and is complemented by many great illustrations. It’s also an absolute bargain at £30 direct from Peter.

To say that Peter Wright is the guru of ground effect is like saying that Sir Ian McKellen is just the Gandalf guy. To characterise a career spanning more than half a century to just one role is both glib and reductionist, and both deserve better. 
    In this fascinating autobiography, Peter Wright takes us through a long career, studded with so many highlights that he’s a shoo-in for Renaissance Man status.
    … Every student of motorsport history should read this book. It’s an absorbing and thought-provoking book from a relatively unsung hero of the sport and it deserves every success.

John Aston (speedreaders.info) 
See the full review at How Did I Get Here? (speedreaders.info)

To the background of his recently-published autobiography, Peter Wright, the former BRM, Lotus and FIA engineer, talks about winning races with Ayrton Senna and General Motors in 1987. Peter’s book, fittingly titled How Did I Get Here? is the revealing and captivating story of one of the most important engineers in F1 history. In a career that began in the late 1960s, Peter has ridden the edge of the racing envelope in every direction, looking at composite materials and a full wing car for BRM in 1968-69; maximising the benefits of ground effect with Colin Chapman and Lotus in the late 1970s; creating the first active-ride F1 car in the late 1980s; and, for 26 years with the FIA, playing a major role in the team that brought into motor sport such life-saving devices as the HANS collar; the survival cell; wheel tethers; the halo; safer track barriers – plus mandatory aero fixes to prevent sports prototypes from becoming airborne. Peter has also been significantly involved with NCAP (the New Car Assessment Programme) and, along the way, not only learnt to fly a Tiger Moth and gliders but also designed his own “self-sustaining” glider. He has lived in both France and the UK countryside; where, in the early 1960s, he even found time to be a bit of a hippy. It’s all there in Peter’s brilliant book.

In this video, and in part two, Peter Windsor asks Peter Wright about some of the nuggets he found in the book. These videos hopefully capture the essence of Peter’s thoughts and achievements; for the full story, however, you must read the book.

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