"In the early days, it was OK," he answered. "You could eat whatever you want or smoke or drink and it didn't matter because we were all doing it! It was Ayrton who started all this training shit!" While Ayrton perhaps doesn't deserve all of the credit, it's certainly true that the days of Keke Rosberg walking out to the grid with his helmet in one hand and a cigarette in the other are long gone. The importance of health and fitness in maximising the performance of a driver is now too well known for things to be any other way.

A few driver instruction books have touched on the issue of fitness and diet in relation to motorsport (starting with, not surprisingly, Ayrton Senna's 'Principles of Race Driving') but this is the only one I can think of which focuses on the topic exclusively. Jutley speaks from a position of some authority, being both a rally driver and a cardiac surgeon, and he seems to have called upon a number of other specialists to double-check the information in this book. It's just as well, because for such a slim volume, Jutley manages to cover a fair bit of ground.

As these sort of things go, much of the information in this book is entry-level stuff, but when you are talking about fitness advice being applied directly in a motorsport context then that's exactly what's needed. You don't have to look hard to find a driver who knows that they are supposed to train, but don't know exactly what kind of training to do. This book is no substitute for a good coach or personal trainer, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

The thing that really impressed me about 'Fit for Motorsport', though, was how many other topics Jutley managed to touch on. If there is any other book that can tell you not only how to go about getting an entry-level racing license, but also how to mix your own hypotonic or isotonic drinks (and then how to assess the colour of your urine afterwards), then I'd like to see it.

Upon reflection, it is perhaps a mistake to talk too much about the fitness element of this book – although that is the primary emphasis. But the overall theme of the book is about preparation. Thus, Jutley leads the reader through a discussion of such factors as mental preparation, drawing where possible upon the techniques of a handful of top-level competitors. But he also covers less obvious things, such as the exact procedures that you could expect a medical team to follow in particular situations should you be involved in an accident. In other words, he is preparing you for a difficult situation, and offering a few pointers as to how you can not only help yourself, but also help others to help you.

Should the situation arise, chances are that you won't sit there thinking, 'now what did that book say to do?', but you might find that it contributes to whatever action you instinctively take.

The physical training section seemed fairly sound and as comprehensive as you could expect from a small-ish book. There are a good range of routines and training ideas that cover all the major areas of the body, and it is nice to see a book such as this go one step beyond telling the reader what they should be doing and also explaining why.

All of the exercises are accompanied by photographs, although the quality of a few of them is considerably less than desirable. Many of the shots taken inside the gym are especially poor – I'd say the photographer responsible owes the author a few beers (oops, make that mineral water) for some of those efforts.

The only other section of the book seemed to fall a little short was the diet chapter. While full of extremely useful information, I'd like to have seen the author go just one step further and perhaps collaborate with a dietician to come up with some sample menus as a way of applying his information in an accessible manner. It's fine to say, "a healthy balance diet should have around 60% carbohydrate, 15% protein and 35% fat", but unless you know your stuff, how do you plan your shopping around that?