07/12/12….Chinnor-based author wins motoring writers’ award

CHINNOR-based author, Ian Wagstaff has won the Mercedes-Benz award for the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy for the second time. At the Guild of Motoring Writers? Annual Dinner in the RAC, Pall Mall, last night, Ian was presented with this prestigious prize for his biography of former Grand Prix mechanic, Tony Robinson.

Tony was one of the foremost racing mechanics of the 1950s and 1960s. He worked for Stirling Moss ? who described him as ?an important contribution to my racing successes? – and eventually designed cars for Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.

Ian, who first won the Montagu Trophy in 2006 for his book, ?The British at Le Mans?, is now working on a series of books for Haynes Publishing ? best known for its owner?s workshop manuals ? about famous racing cars. The first of these, on the iconic Lotus 72 of the early 1970s, was published earlier this year and he is now writing one on the McLaren M23. This was the car that took James Hunt to the World Championship in 1976, a season that will be the subject of the eagerly awaited feature film, Rush!, scheduled for launch next season.

The Montagu Trophy is awarded to the member of the Guild of Motoring Writers who has made the ?greatest contribution to recording, in the English language, the history of motoring? during the year. Ian?s 2012 winning book, Tony Robinson ? the biography of a race mechanic, is published by Veloce.

Photo caption: Ian Wagstaff (centre) receives the 2012 Montagu Trophy from Doug Hill (right) chief engineer at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. Mercedes-Benz PR manager Angus Fitton (left) was also on hand for the presentation.

SOURCE: Contributed