Lap of the Gods (Vols 1 & 2), by Terrific Stuff Videos. £14.99 each.

Since launching Terrific Stuff, Chris Nixon and Jock Simpson have hit the target with each successive release. These are no exception, even though they differ markedly to the archive film material that has formed the backbone of the series to date.

Lap of the Gods is an A-Z of the world’s racing circuits, viewed from over the shoulders of the world’s leading F1 exponents of the late ’70s and early-to-mid ’80s. Volume 1 covers Adelaide to Monaco, volume 2 Montreal to Zolder.

The moment you switch on, something smacks you in the chops. This is not the on-board camera view we are fed today. These cameras are mounted centrally, over the drivers’ heads. You can see the driver hard at work, watch him changing gear (remember gear levers?), see him applying opposite lock (remember when there was no traction control?) . . .

It raises an interesting point, one which puzzles commentator Murray Walker. Why on earth isn’t this angle, pioneered in these films by French cameraman Alain Boisnard, used today? Modern-day cameras are scarcely bigger than the average audio-cassette, so it must be possible to house them aloft, where the TV viewer can gain a greater perspective of what’s really going on?

Until such time as that happens, we recommend you buy these and enjoy the trip, which includes some of Grand Prix racing’s most majestic, though nowadays obsolete, venues: Watkins Glen, Brands Hatch and the Osterreichring spring to mind.

S A