Great Read

January 1982. Tears at Number 10, newsreaders scrabbling for a map of north-west Africa and travel agents panicking to get News of the World scribes on the first plane to…

At 8.46 on the morning of January 4 1967 Donald Campbell took what became the last great gamble of his life on Coniston Water. Only moments after speeding down the…

Death fully defines a man. Potential for things not yet done no longer exists." Someone said this in a book about jazz great Eric Dolphy, but it applies universally to…

There are numerous cars greater than the sum of all their parts. There are few, though, infinitely greater. And this is one of them. From its Unipart-sourced pressure cap to…

Niki Lauda is a legend. There is no other word for it. This is the man who cheated death, was given the last rites and went on to win a…

The one that got away Jacques Laffite: 1983 Monaco Grand Prix "There are a few frustrating races I remember from the Ligier days, especially in 1979 and '80 when we had…

He smiles in a manner that appears more resigned than amused. It’s clear that Ian Ashley has heard the same question in various guises all his professional life. “Ah, the…

X stood for experimental, G for Guinness; same manufacturer, but, as you might have already guessed, radically different mindsets. X had its eye on the midterm future, was – or…

One evening, several years ago, and over a degustivo or two, Jenks was reminiscing about the Mille Miglia. "I've often thought," he said, "what fun it would have been to…

What do racers do when they stop racing? All that competitive edge has to go somewhere. Many attack the world of business with the same will to win that they…

What the history books tell you first about Rubens Barrichello are the statistics: and they are indeed extraordinary. This man was 20 when he came into Formula 1, and 39…

Can a man be cursed by having too many abilities? Spending his life torn between what he's got and what he thinks he wants, struggling to confine his talents and…

The arguments about who is the greatest racing driver of all time have gone on as long as motor racing itself, and, no doubt, they always will. But the truth…

Like every car enthusiast, you have probably had the odd daydream about finding a valuable car covered in dust in a shed. A Le Mans car, say, perhaps with some…

It's one of those eternal motorsport quiz questions: 'When and where did Ayrton Senna make his only appearance in a sportscar?' Most aficionados know the answer, but few are aware…

It was, as Charles Dickens once wrote, the best of times and the worst of times. As Phil Hill completed the final laps of the 1961 Italian Grand Prix he…

On 19 April, 1970, a pair of Lotus 72s made their F1 debuts in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama. Striking and purposeful in the distinctive red, white and gold…