Daytona 24 Hours

How is it that a comprehensive history of the most famous US sportscar race does not already exist? Never mind. This volume has broken new ground, and I suspect there won’t be any more soon — because they’d do very well to better it.

Author J J O’Malley dedicates eight pages to each year’s race since the first Continental event in 1962. The text does not go into infinite detail, but does give a thorough overview of the entry, the battle for the lead and other interesting cars, while also giving us background to the evolution of the event.

The pictures are a strong point, with an especially excellent array of colour shots from the 1960s and, with over 400 in the book, a great many of Daytona’s weird and wonderful cars are recorded. A strong layout and quality production do the photos justice. Finally, it’s also a useful reference tool, with Janos Wimpffen’s full results and an index of participating drivers at the back. Full marks all round. TS