At the age of twenty-four in 1968, Robert Hahn from Frauenfeld, Switzerland was able to immerse himself in the world of international motorsport. As a talented race mechanic, he got the job of looking after the Formula One racing car and the 5-litre sports car of the Swedish driver, Joakim Bonnier.
During his time working for Bonnier, Hahn developed his own rear wing and managed some very delicate technical emergencies. He found recognition among his colleagues in the big international teams and met racing legends like Jo Siffert, John Surtees and Jack Brabham, as well as top mechanics like Edi Wyss, Bob Dance, Dave “Beaky” Sims, Willie Southcott and Denis Daviss.
In his book, Robert Hahn gives us an insight into a world that would otherwise have remained hidden behind the glamour of the racing circus. He tells vividly of the successes, but also of what were sometimes hazardous working conditions. He describes the modest budget, the enormous time pressures and the seemingly endless transport journeys taking the race cars between venues that were among the special challenges of the racing mechanic’s profession in those days.
Also, from 1972 to 1974, during an important phase in Swiss racing history, he was active as a race mechanic in the Swiss Automobile Championship and in the Formula Two European Championship. When at some point the balance of reward and effort was no longer right for him in that role, he broke away from the scene. Instead, he found fulfilment as a driver in club racing and in the Swiss edition of the Trofeo Alfa Romeo during 1994 and 1995.
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