Nuvolari

by Christopher Hilton
ISBN 1 85983 349 7
Published by Breedon Books, £25

Hilton’s aim here is to discover what made Tazio such a great driver, a racer as distinct from a racing driver; a man who “hovered between conjuring, faith-healing and mind over matter”! He exposes errors in books by Lurani, Neubauer and others, an entertaining innovation.

I am flattered that in the long discourse on the 1933 Tripoli GP lottery, Hilton says that it was my views on this, expressed in Motor Sport in the 1960s, that planted the seeds of doubt in the mind of Don Capps which induced him to investigate in detail this odd and often grossly inaccurately reported affair.

A lively book that concentrates on Tazio’s more important victories, linked with what the author calls intermezzos, Hilton has done a massive amount of new research, and the result is of outstanding importance: a fresh approach to the life of one of motorsport’s true racers, while correcting rubbish found in some books on the same man. WB