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On The Table Read Magazine, “the best book magazine in the UK“, Weekend Warrior recounts Jon Dean Smith’s life working as a tyre and garage technician as part of the motorsport racing world’s weekend warrior community.
Weekend Warrior
Die-hard and passionate enthusiasts make the difference to almost every sport, and newly published memoir, Weekend Warrior, immerses motorsport fans in the ‘other’ life of Jon-Dean Smith. Working as a freelance contractor to support the endeavours of one team involved in the British Touring Car Championship and another in the British GT Championship, his love of the race circuit and the pits leaps from the page in this tale of competition, camaraderie and cars.
Every weekend, far away from the glitz and glamour of Formula 1, there are thousands of hard-working people making British motorsport happen. Many are the ‘weekend warriors’: contractors who supplement their weekday job working on race teams as mechanics, engineers and support staff. They may not stand on the podium or spray the champagne, but they’re the men and women who put blood, sweat and tears into finding those extra few tenths of a second.
In ‘Weekend Warrior’, Jon Dean-Smith tells his story of his 2023 season as a tyre and garage technician in British Touring Cars and British GT, traversing the country (from Brands Hatch, to Donington, Silverstone to Snetterton and more) whilst author Dan McCalla (a former young motorsport journalist of the year) captures the adrenaline fuelled triumphs and the gutting disappointments of the team. From joy and camaraderie to pain and frustration, read his account of a world where money comes second to passion for racing.
A must-read for motor enthusiasts of all persuasions, Weekend Warrior shares the very ‘real’ side of motor racing. This book is all about working hard all week, and then making dreams happen.
Jon Dean-Smith
Weekend warriors don’t earn megabucks for doing what they do. They aren’t necessarily doing it for career progression either. And they often have to put up with a whole lot of crap (dodgy weather, long days, shit hotels, worse toilets). But the one thing that brings them all together is that they love the sport and want to be involved in whatever way they can.
For every Ash Sutton, Tom Ingram and Dan Cammish, there are dozens more dedicated, passionate people that put blood, sweat and tears into bringing thrilling racing to fans like you.
-Jon Dean-Smith
Dan McCalla
Dan McCalla is a former MSA Young Motorsport Journalist of the Year who met his new neighbour Jon in 2021 and found that they have a shared passion for motorsport. Dan is now a freelance copywriter, who covers B2B marketing in the technology sector during the week and spends his weekends shouting at cars and motorbikes going around on the telly.
Other titles written by Dan McCalla include Stadium Chase, Builders’ Blunders, and Sushi, Suzuka and the Shinkansen.
Find more now:
Kindle: https://amzn.to/45b41b0
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3wZVlYx
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