Great Read

No doubt there were occasions when Derek Bell secretly wished for an engine failure and an early bath. Perhaps in the middle of a dark, dank night at Le Mans,…

In grand prix racing’s most potent demonstration of yin and yang, the six seasons leading up to WWII were both a golden era for the sport and one malign component…

To preface this article with some anecdote or little-known historical fact would be to miss the crux of the Ford F3L. Twenty-seven years ago, the mechanics at the Byfleet-based Alan…

The World Championship of Makes in 1977 was a rather disjointed affair, consisting of nine events including classics such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 1000Km of Nürburgring and…

For someone of my vintage it’s a tremendous breath of fresh air to see someone like Lewis Hamilton doing so well. The statistics are amazing enough already, but they only…

It was during his spell as a McLaren works driver, first with the Church Farm Racing M10A in Formula 5000 and later as a member of the Grand Prix team,…

Perhaps I just don't eat enough seafood, but I've never quite been able to picture how the Brabham BT34 earned the soubriquet 'lobster claw' — although its unusual disposition of twin…

This, it should be said, was one of the bigger gambles. When this Jaguar XJR-9LM, chassis number 488, won Le Mans in 1988, it was the greatest triumph in sportscar…

Down the years there have been exceptions to the rule, of course, but by and large the running of two bona fide number one drivers in a single team is…

Jackie Stewart was never going to be part of the Tyrrell team in 1974, having given Ken ample notice of his intention to retire at the end of ’73, but…

It was a country on the verge of a revolution, in need of a hero. Three years had passed since the death of Eva Peron and an uneasy nation watched…

Childhood wishes drew Tony Crook to motor racing, and eventually made him decide to leave it. Until recently best known as the man behind Bristol Cars, Crook had a distinguished…

Make a list of the cars Chris Amon raced to earn his living in the 1960s and 1970s and two things strike you. First that there's an awful lot of…

Motor racing fans measure success in terms of wins and that's not a bad thing. The Cosworth GP car never even entered a race, let alone won one. So why…

It's bright red, true blue British sports-car, with the charisma and presence of Sir Anthony Hopkins, but will any of the post-rush hour drivers let it join the traffic flow?…

Great racing drivers have come from many parts of the world, a blinding glimpse of the obvious as readers of Punch once used to say of similar wideopen assertions. I…

Over the past seven years, on your behalf, I've had lunch with more than 80 motor racing characters. But this is the first in whose career I can claim to…