SOME people just never stop pushing the envelope. Aside from being an F1 champion on the race tracks, Sir Jackie Stewart was an innovator in racing safety, and paved the way for leveraging sports as a business and sportsmen as brands.

His famed attention to detail spills over into one of his latest endeavours - his aptly titled autobiography, Winning Is Not Enough, with his underlying theme being that it's not so much about winning, but how you win, that really makes a difference.

Sir Jackie's success in his post-racing business career is a testament to the character traits that served him well behind the wheel - namely his motto of integrity and care, which have been immortalised on his family coat of arms.

He's most certainly displayed care in choosing how to present his autobiography to the world. The book itself is a hefty 495-page tome.

Sir Jackie writes in a delightfully conversational style, and while he does sometimes get bogged down in race details and lists of drivers, longtime fans of the sport will no doubt appreciate the thoroughness.

It quickly becomes apparent that Sir Jackie isn't interested in just chronicling the events in his life, but to make a statement about issues he feels strongly about, such as dyslexia and motorsports safety.

Sir Jackie and his son Paul are both dyslexic, and have had to struggle against the ignorance surrounding the learning disorder.

The most innovative part of the autobiography, however, is the inclusion of a full-length DVD with the autobiography. "The publishing world has been far too conservative, and my son Mark and I wanted to do something different with my book," he explains. "It's one thing for me to tell you about a place, but quite another to actually show it to you on the television."

Penguin Books reports that within its stable, at least, Sir Jackie's book is the only one outside the reference section to include a full-featured DVD.

It comprises video segments that roughly follow the chapters of the book, and illustrate the events Sir Jackie details.

There's even extra material such as revealing interviews with actor Sean Connery and race car driver David Coulthard. With all this additional material, the price of the autobiography is a steal.

Winning Is Not Enough
by Sir Jackie Stewart
Price: S$32.95 w/o GST
Rating: B+

This article was first published in The Business Times on Mar 28, 2008.