Michael Oliver went to his first Formula One race when he was just two weeks old, and contends that he learned to count looking at the number roundels on the sides of racing cars. A professional writer, he has contributed features to a wide range of magazines and websites, including autosport.com, itvf1.com, Motor Sport, Octane, Classic Cars, Vintage Racecar, Victory Lane, Chequered Flag and Motor Racing Australia. He is also the author of two other motor racing books: Lotus 49: The Story of a Legend, published in 1999; and Lotus 72: Formula One Icon, published in 2003. It was the contact he made with mechanics while researching these books, and the mechanics' wealth of untold stories, that inspired him to write this latest work.Eoin Young is a New Zealander who left his job to join Bruce McLaren and help set up his racing team. He arrived in the UK in 1961 as a freelance journalist, covered the Formula Junior season with Denny Hulme. He joined McLaren in 1962, as founding director of the team. Established Motormedia in 1976, wrote a weekly diary in “Autocar" from 1967 until 1998, and also covered the CanAm, Indianapolis 500 and Formula 1 racing series. In 1979 he became a dealer in rare motoring and motor racing books and ephemera. Eoin has written 2 autobiographical books: It Beats Working (1996) and It Still Beats Working (2003). He writes regular columns for Cars for the Connoisseur, Pitpass.com and others. After more than three decades based in the UK he has now returned to his native New Zealand.
