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Keith Duckworth was the brains behind Cosworth, the firm
formed by Keith and Mike Costin. The name is an formed from
the first part of Costin and the second part of Duckworth. It seems
that Keith considered Ducktin, but his then girlfriend’s mother
(and later mother-in-law) suggested Cosworth.
The title of the book refers to Keith’s determination to work things
out from first principles, after following established practice
without success in trying to develop a camshaft for the Anglia
105E derived Formula Junior engine.
Keith explained his decision thus: “...I decided to stop reading
books, which only tend to mislead me. I decided that it was always
better to work things out from first principles.”
This decision also led to one of the earliest “Duckworthisms”
which are quoted throughout the book, namely: “It is better to be
uninformed than ill-informed.”
That Ford FJ engine was the start of the Cosworth legend, but this book is about Keith
Duckworth and covers much more than engine development. In fact, Burr refers the reader
to Graham Robson’s
Cosworth - The Search for Power
on a number of occasions through the
book where the topic under discussion has been properly described by Robson.
Duckworth did not meet any mould but his own and this is clear right from the beginning
of his story. He always ploughed his own furrow and even the people at Rolls Royce, to
whom he applied for a postgraduate apprenticeship, said that they had “...severe doubts as to
whether I was suitable to be a member of a team,” (Duckworth quote lifted from
Cosworth
).
Most people remember Cosworth for the Ford based engines for lesser formulae, the DFV
and the Sierra Cosworth, but Keith Duckworth had much wider interests than that. He was
interested in boats, aircraft, helicopters and more. A twin cylinder motorcycle engine that
was designed for Norton was put to one side when Norton went broke, making it the only
Cosworth racing engine not to win a race.
However, Bob Graves, a Cosworth director disinterred the engine,
wrapped a bike around it and chasing the anual Battle of the Twins
races at Daytona. At the third attempt in 1988, it won but was little
raced after that. However, a measure of how fast it was can be
gauged from the fact that after a “demo” at the North West 200 in
Northern Ireland Bob found rider Roger Marshall sitting, stunned,
on the bike. Roger said: “I just realised I did two laps flat out
15mph faster than the works Hondas!”
The BOTT win meant that every Cosworth racing engine had
won at least one race, and that is a measure of Keith Duckworth’s
genius.
It is a great read and tells the story of a unique and remarkable
man. A man who did things his own way and almost always
proved his way to be superior to the accepted, traditional way.
Book Review:
First Principles
–
The Official Biography
of Keith Duckworth OBE by Norman Burr