The author, Craig Watkins, an accomplished racer and race engineer and became a full-time engineer in 2001 in World Challenge GT for a team driving a Porsche 996 GT3 Cup. Eventually, that led to a 10-year job as Chief Engineer for Flying Lizard Motorsports which included 102 races including many runs of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 8 runs of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and all the races in between, winning three championships. In his job as an engineer, Craig Watkins met Roland Kussmaul. The latter has been involved with developing every racing car Porsche has built since 1975, from Le Mans-winning sports cars to Paris-Dakar Rally-winning cars, to winning Indy cars, to the complete decade-long dominance of Group C prototypes, to the GT3 Cup and GT3 RSRs, as well as the famous RS Spyder.

© Smart Racing Products (Craig Watkins)

Craig and Roland kind of became close friends, due to spending many hours working together near the race-track. And the intriguing life of Kussmaul inspired Craig Watkins to write a biography. However, this is not just a regular biography. The story of Roland Kussmaul isn’t told chronologically but rather uncommonly, which makes it, in my opinion, better. The author interviewed Kussmaul for hundreds of hours and had him take the word, and the result of these interviews was written down in separate chapters and stories resulting in a sublime book ‘The Kussmaul Chronicles’.

© Smart Racing Products (Craig Watkins)

For readers without technical skills and knowledge, it may sometimes lead a bit too much into the tech details. Others probably like it since most books don’t go that far. Anyway, no matter what kind of reader you are, if you are interested in Porsche and their racing exploits or in the fascinating life and career of Roland Kussmaul, there is no way you won’t like this book. Many of the pictures and technical illustrations come from Roland Kussmaul’s personal collection, others were taken by the author himself or come from the Porsche Archives or other sources. And what is great about this book, are the QR codes that can be scanned, giving you access to audio and video files. You’ll hear and see Roland Kussmaul, which makes ‘The Kussmaul Chronicles’ quite unique, and they’ll make sure the stories become more vivid. Don’t hesitate, just buy it. Absolute worth the money !!

Details

Title: The Kussmaul Chronicles
Author: Craig Watkins
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Smart Racing Products
Release Date: 2016
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 432 pages
Pictures: Over 330 pictures and illustrations
Language: English
Price: €37,95
ISBN: 978-0692665749

Rating: 5 out of 5.

You can buy the book directly from the author at Smart Racing Products.