Eoin S. Young (9 June 1939,

Cave, New Zealand Cave is a town located in the Timaru District, South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous ...

– 5 September 2014,

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand) was a motoring

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

who wrote an ''Autocar'' column for some 30 years starting in 1967. After first working in a bank in

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

and writing motor sport columns for the ''Timaru Herald'', he moved to the UK in 1961. He initially worked with

Denny Hulme Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992) was a New Zealand racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Bear", Hulme won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Brabham, and won eight Grands Pri ...

for the Formula Junior series in Europe, and then in 1962 he became

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing driver, automotive designer, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . McLaren was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...

's secretary, ghosting his column for ''

Autosport ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London, England. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a we ...

''. In 1964 McLaren founded his own racing organisation, Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd, and appointed Young as director. When McLaren stepped up to Formula 1 in 1966, Young decided to return to journalism full-time. His weekly Formula 1 column with ''Autocar'' magazine, ‘From The Grid’, would run for 31 years and be syndicated at its height to seven other magazines worldwide. In 1971 he authored Bruce McLaren's biography, ''McLaren: The Man and His Racing Team''. In 1976 he wrote ''Against All Odds'' with

James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Shunt", Hunt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and wo ...

, the story of the British

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver's only F1 championship, In 2003, he authored ''Forza Amon!'', a biography of

Chris Amon Christopher Arthur Amon (; 20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win a Formula One Grands Prix, ...

, and in 2007 ''Memories of the Bear'', a biography of Denny Hulme. He wrote columns and articles for many publications including ''Cars for the Connoisseur'' (UK), ''F1 Racing'' (UK), ''Victory Lane'' (USA), ''NZ Classic Car'' (New Zealand), ''Autosprint'' (Italy) and ''Am Klassiek'' (the Netherlands). He also wrote for the web-based motor sport magazine pitpass.com. He returned to New Zealand and became ill in July 2014; he died on 5 September 2014.Biodata on Eoin Young
mclaren.com; accessed 5 September 2014.

Selected bibliography

* ''McLaren Memories'' * ''The Amazing Summer of '55: The Year of Motor Racing's Biggest Dramas, Worst Tragedies and Greatest Victories'' * ''Memories of the Bear: A Biography of Denny Hulme'' * ''Jim Clark and his most successful Lotus'' * ''Bruce McLaren: The Man and His Racing Team'' * ''James Hunt: Against All Odds'' (by Young, James Hunt and David Hodges) * ''It Beats Working: My Thirty Five Years Inside Motor Racing'' * ''It Still Beats Working: My Forty Years of Motor Racing Fun'' * ''Forza Amon!: A Biography of Chris Amon'' * ''Power and Glory: 1952-73 v. 2: History of Grand Prix Motor Racing'' (by Young and William Court) * ''Classic Racers: New Zealand's Grand Prix Greats''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Eoin 2014 deaths 1939 births Motoring journalists New Zealand journalists New Zealand people of Irish descent Formula One journalists and reporters McLaren people New Zealand motorsport people