1994 was a watershed year for F1 in so many ways, the fatal accidents of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna shook the sport to its core. What followed was mayhem. For the first time all the arguments are painstakingly examined in one book. Fresh insights, exclusive interviews, and a plethora of evidence is brought together in a story that is guaranteed to amaze and shock.
This book is a thorough examination of a turbulent season, including…
′ Rushed car changes
′ Teams unhappy with how the crisis was managed
′ A power struggle for control of the sport
′ Vague rules being exploited
′ Accusations of politically motivated penalties
′ An alleged cover-up after a horrific pit-lane fire
′ A controversial conclusion
It also saw Michael Schumacher and Benetton first emerge as championship contenders, upsetting the establishment. Many believed their sudden rise was down to cheating, whilst others felt they were scapegoated because of politics. For the first time all the arguments are painstakingly examined in one book. Fresh insights, exclusive interviews, and a plethora of evidence is brought together to give the clearest analysis yet into the above events. The book contains over 250 photos which help bring this story to life, many of which are rare and from those involved.
There are exclusive contributions from former F1 driver Mark Blundell, Benetton insiders: Willem Toet, Frank Dernie, Simon Morley (the “junior employee” blamed for the Hockenheim fire). Williams’ insiders Paul West and Richard Wise. You will be astonished at what is unearthed. 1994 was tragic, chaotic, political, technical and involved some very colorful characters at the heart of the action. It’s a story that will amaze.
′ Did Senna hear illegal traction control on Schumacher’s Benetton at Aida?
′ Concealed launch control was later found on Schumacher’s Benetton. Why?
′ Was the Hockenheim fire caused by Benetton removing their fuel filter?
′ Despite pleading guilty, why did Benetton receive no serious punishments after the fire?
′ Schumacher was banned / disqualified from a quarter of 1994 races due to various infringements. Politics or cheating?
′ Did a return to simpler cars contribute to the accidents?
The book seeks to answer these and many more questions.
Told in 60 brief chapters, Williams builds a fascinating and revealing portrait of a driver who was a hero to millions. As the long years of war began to recede, sport in Britain was getting moving again and there was a need for heroes. Denis Compton and Stanley Matthews were in their pomp, playing to packed houses. But Stirling Moss was a fresh face, just 17 years old when he first emerged in 1947. Too young to have served and been scarred by the war, he was soon revealed to possess not only an unearthly degree of skill but the qualities of courage and resolution noted in the generation that fought in the air and on land and sea. Their youth had been stolen; his was new and unspoiled.
The Boy explains how and why he came to occupy such a unique place in the esteem and the affections of the nation. Why him, rather than some of his contemporaries, such as Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, who shared a role in the rise of Britain as a power in international motor racing? Moss may never have been world champion, but he created a remarkable and enduring legacy, and Williams brilliantly shows just how he did it.
For many years, it was thought that Richie Ginther, one of Formula One’s best known drivers of the 1960s, later became an angry, reclusive and drunken bum. The classic, archetypal hero-to-zero tale. In addition to this, as a racer he was thought incapable of ever winning and lacking the inherent talent to be a success.
But as the first ever authorised biography of Richie reveals, this diminutive Californian enjoyed astonishing triumphs in racing as a driver, a mechanic and as a team manager. His 59 years on the planet also saw him overcome bullying and terrible personal and professional tragedy to live an enriched and absorbing life.
Still just one of five Americans to have won a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, Ginther helped two of motor racing’s most iconic teams, BRM and Ferrari, to World Championship glory as well as being instrumental in Honda’s motor racing success, all of which is explored comprehensively.
With memories from his family, friends and fellow racers, this biography is also packed, after meticulous research, with an abundance of quotes from Richie himself to create as thorough and as deeply personal Richie’s life story as possible.
It’s not just the words that bring Richie alive. There are a plethora of photographs, with the vast majority of them neither seen nor published before. Insightful and moving, this refreshingly balanced and thoroughly detailed book by debut author Richard Jenkins is the definitive guide to one of motor racing’s underappreciated heroes.
When Valerie Pirie interviewed for her first real secretarial job after college, she did not expect to end up working for Stirling Moss. Regarded as the greatest driver who was never crowned world champion, he would become not only her new boss, but a lifelong friend. Here, in this playful and moving memoir, she opens up about the man behind the steering wheel.
With a joie de vivre and unparalleled pluck, Pirie details the highs and lows of her many years working and occasionally living at very close quarters with a true pioneer of Formula One, recounting anecdotes from the track, the office and nights out in the West End of London with one of the best-known names in motor racing. Whether at Goodwood, Le Mans or the Nürburgring, Pirie was often there beside Moss to witness the wins, losses and technical malfunctions and, of course, his career-ending crash in 1962.
If she wasn’t at his bedside in the hospital, managing his never-ending building works or on one occasion transporting his spare pair of dentures to France, Pirie was accompanying Moss wherever he needed her most. Never just colleagues, the pair were true companions, and this book brings to light the story of their enduring friendship from the classic post-war era of motor racing through to today.
We’re back! And this time we’ve got your back when it comes to you and your car.
In Dare to Repair: A Do-It-Herself Guide to Fixing (Almost) Anything in the Home, we opened the door for you into the world of basic home repairs. Now, we’re opening a different one — a car door.
Dare to Repair Your Car is a basic car care and safety book written by women for women … and men, and new teen drivers, and senior drivers. Okay, it’s for every person who dares to drive a car.
Here are just some of the things that will keep you and your family safe:
Changing a flat tire
Maintaining fluids
Jumpstarting a battery
Replacing a headlamp
Finding a great mechanic
Installing a car seat
Driving tips for teens and seniors
Preparing for a road trip
Filled with detailed illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions, Dare to Repair Your Car will help you shift gears and get you moving in the direction of maintaining your car — yourself. You’ll be so excited about what you’ve learned you’ll want to toot your own horn!
“In 1964, Chrysler gave the world a glimpse of the future. They built a fleet of turbine cars–automobiles with jet engines–and loaned them out to members of the public. The fleet logged over a million miles; the exercise was a raging success.
These turbine engines would run on any flammable liquid–tequila, heating oil, Chanel #5, diesel, alcohol, kerosene. If the cars had been mass produced, we might have cars today that do not require petroleum-derived fuels. The engine was also much simpler than the piston engine–it contained one-fifth the number of moving parts and required much less maintenance. The cars had no radiators or fan belts and never needed oil changes.
Yet Chrysler crushed and burned most of the cars two years later; the jet car’s brief glory was over. Where did it all go wrong? Controversy still follows the program, and questions about how and why it was killed have never been satisfactorily answered.
Steve Lehto has interviewed all the surviving members of the turbine car program–from the metallurgist who created the exotic metals for the interior of the engine to the test driver who drove it at Chrysler’s proving grounds for days on end. Lehto takes these first-hand accounts and weaves them into a great story about the coolest car Detroit ever produced.”
Picking up where the first volume left off, this is a photographic journey covering a period of ten years in motor sport. Moving year by year, this book is written from the perspective of a passionate motor sport enthusiast of the day. Exciting, dramatic, sometimes tragic events are described on the spot, as seen over the driver or mechanic’s shoulder. These are the events that often made headline news the following day, complemented by stunning, previously unpublished photographs.
The story of the driver rated by many as the best woman ever to race cars, and the most capable ever to have driven in Formula One. Her 50-year career began at the age of five in South Africa, moving to Holland and England and then the USA, before gaining renewed life at the famous Goodwood Revival historic race events. This fascinating story shows that a woman can, and did, fight her way to the top of motorsport.
Back In Print! Novi V-8 Indy Cars 1941-1965 (Ludvigsen Library Series)
By Karl Ludvigsen. Few cars of any kind have exuded the charismatic appeal of the great Novi V-8 racing cars that competed at Indianapolis from 1941 (the engine only) to 1965 – an incredible record of longevity and persistence. With its centrifugally-supercharged four-cam V-8 engine the Novi was a power prodigy in all its incarnations.
First a front-wheel-drive car, it earned a reputation for wicked handling by killing two of its drivers. But the Novis were so fast – so often- that more racers were always willing to take them on. Though a Novi never won at Indy, these magnificent cars are fondly remembered by all enthusiasts.
From his Ludvigsen Library, Karl Ludvigsen has selected a splendid collection of photographs displaying these grand cars. Andy Granatelli writes a moving introduction about the Novis he rescued from the racing scrap heap. 10.25″” wide x 8.5″” tall Landscape.
Published to mark the 50th anniversary of John Surtees becoming Formula 1 World Champion, in 1964, this long-awaited book is a photographic memoir by the only man to have won World Championships on motorcycles and in cars. Containing nearly 300 photographs from Surtees’ own collection as well as from the world’s finest motorsport picture libraries, this major book presents a complete visual record of Surtees’ life accompanied by fascinating commentary written in collaboration with co-author Mike Nicks. Royalties from sales of the book will go to the Henry Surtees Foundation, which was set up to honour the memory of John’s son Henry, who was killed in a freak accident at Brands Hatch in 2009.
• The early years (up to 1952): a childhood around motorcycle racing, apprenticeship with Vincent, then racing a Vincent Grey Flash.
• Getting established (1953–55): Moving on to ride mainly Manx Nortons, he did 86 races in one year, and in 1955 achieved his first grand prix win, in the 250cc Ulster GP on an NSU.
• The glory years (1956–60): dominating top-level motorcycle racing for five years with Italian team MV Agusta, taking seven World Championship titles on 500cc and 350cc bikes.
• The remarkable year of bikes and cars (1960): overlapping his last year of motorcycle racing with 17 car races, including four F1 World Championship events, the second of them – the British GP – bringing a second place with Lotus.
• Ferrari driver (1963–66): established in cars, he joined Ferrari, winning his first race – the Sebring 12 Hours for sports cars – and the following year becoming F1 World Champion.
• CanAm champion (1966): after recovery from a huge crash in a Lola T70 sports car and acrimonious departure from Ferrari, he bounced back in North America to win the spectacular CanAm series.
• Turning Japanese (1967–68): Honda invited Surtees to develop and drive its F1 cars, with a two-year programme in which victory in the Italian GP at Monza – Ferrari territory – was the highlight.
• Becoming a constructor (1970–78): going into single-seater racing, including F1, with Team Surtees and cars of his own manufacture; good results in F1 were sparse but Mike Hailwood won the European F2 Championship in 1972.
• The latter years (1978 onwards): fully active on the historic scene as a restorer and driver of motorcycles and cars, then nurturing son Henry’s career until the tragic accident.
