Great Read

Ten years ago I wrote a not terribly good book. And while I cannot claim responsibility for its somewhat cheesy Dream Cars title, the content was all mine. My brief…

At his first attempt, Jacques Villeneuve has already enjoyed a more successful Grand Prix year than his legendary father, Gilles, ever did notwithstanding the four-and-a-bit years Villeneuve Snr spent dazzling…

In May, Luigi "Gigi" Villoresi will be 88 years of age, and after a remarkable career he is now the last of the great pre-war Italian racing drivers. His esteemed…

Sitting in the Galleria Ferrari at Maranello, the 126CK is certainly not the most elegant racing car to have emerged from the Gestione Sportive. Yet this in no way debars it from staking…

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…

Chapman the designer; Chapman the race team manager; Chapman the business entrepreneur; we are used to these pictures of the charismatic Lotus supremo. But way back at the beginning, he…

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…