Perry McCarthy (the original Stig from Top Gear) decided at the age of 18 that he wanted to reach the top in the world's most expensive sport. With no racing experience, no cash, and little going for him except a passion for speed, the exuberant Cockney shouldn't have stood a chance. He never gave up, however, and his relentless search for backing and recognition led the man The Times dubbed "the world's unluckiest racing driver" to heroic, often hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking efforts to make it into Formula 1.  The 3rd Edition of his autobiography has just been released.  Buy Here

The book is now well within the top 20 best selling motor sport books of all time.

What People Are Saying About "Flat Out ... Flat Broke"

The Independent on Sunday

Perry McCarthy does for Formula One what Bill Bryson did for travel writing. But beneath the black humour and wisecracks – funny enough to make you laugh out loud in public – lies an inspiring and at times poignant tale of that rarest kind of racer: one who never gave up and was, literally, prepared to die trying.’

F1 Magazine

‘Sometimes books, like cigarette packets, should come with a surgeons health warning. Flat Out Flat Broke is a case in point, not just because it contains photographs of the author in the long forgotten days of his early childhood, but because it will make your stomach ache from laughing