The book on Jaroslav Juhan “Life Without Brakes, The man that brought Porsche to Carrera is written by Jan Králík in Czech and published by Grada Publishing
The translations (with help from Google), narration and video were done by myself. The views are my own and any the use of the book as a reference is with permission of Frankie Juhan. Frankie let me use his hard copy to augment the PDF Jaroslav sent me from Geneva before the book went to print.
The book is broken down into four videos inspired by sections of the book. please let me know what you think.
#1 : Franta Juhan, Czechoslovakian Speedway champion and Jaroslav’s older brother.
#2: The pre-war years Life was good!
#3: The war years and imprisonment by the Nazis
#4: Porsche 550 and Jaroslav Juhan The man who brought Porsche to the Carrera.
Life with Porsche, Lotus and Ferrari
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Jaroslav Juhan was a Czech racing driver who played a significant role in bringing Porsche to the forefront of motorsport. In the early 1950s, he raced a Porsche 550 Spyder in several endurance events, including the legendary Carrera Panamericana race in Mexico.
Juhan’s success in the Panamericana race in 1953, where he finished third overall and first in his class, Porsche’s management invited Juhan to join its works racing team, and he continued to compete in endurance races around the world, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Mille Miglia. Juhan’s success on the track helped to establish Porsche as a formidable competitor in international motorsport.
His contributions to the development of the Porsche 550 Spyder also helped to shape the future of sports car racing, with the lightweight, mid-engined design becoming a template for future Porsche race cars.
Juhan’s achievements in motorsport were not limited to racing for Porsche. He also won several Czechoslovakian national championships and competed in Formula One, becoming the first Czech driver to do so.
Overall, Jaroslav Juhan’s career as a racing driver helped to shape the course of motorsport history, and his legacy continues to inspire fans and competitors alike. His brother was the famous Speedway star Franta Juhan so the family was influential on four and two wheels.
The process I used to do these included my writing notes as I read the book to give me a reference point. This wee clip was to show my best friend Frankie Juhan and Jaroslav’s nephew peek at my process.