[Books] best books. What is your oppinion?

[Morcilman]

If you would recommend a book to reed wich one would you? I will go for the "living in the fast lane" (I think) written by a Benneton 94 mechanic. Is his day to day work during the 94 seasson. That is the best motorracing book I´ve read by far. any sugestions?

[Mr V]

Morcilman, if you enjoyed "Life in the fast lane" (by Steve Matchett) then i'd recommend another book by him..... "The Mechanic's tale"

[Morcilman]

great! whats that about?

[Aysedasi]

I recommend

"A French Kiss with Death"
"Colin Chapman - The Man and His Cars" - Jabby Crombac
"The Certain Sound" - The story of John Wyer and Aston Martin, Ford and Porsche

.....for starters......

[ASCII Man]

I recommend the book of Gilles Villeneuve.
Quite a long read but definately worth it.

[Morcilman]

The Villeneuve one sounds good, but A frenck Kiss with death!!!!! what a title! is it good? what is about?

[Aysedasi]

Morcilman, its the story of the making of the film "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen. A great read with masses of fantastic photographs.

[Logrence]

There was an old musty book at the back of my school library that I read years ago and really enjoyed - Graham Hill's autobiography...really interesting read...there's this rank old story about him falling over drunk on a table and getting the stem of a wine glass stuck in his knee...

The Professor Sid book is interesting as well...

[Raven]

The Mechanic's Tale, I thought was better than Matchett's first book, which was mainly about 1994. This one has more variety as Matchett talks about how he got started, working with Ferrari and BMW. He does go into his time with Benetton and how the team evolved, but covers a lot of ground in this book (88-98) and is highly recommended by me!

[Raven]

...BTW: Has anyone has read "The Piranha Club" by Timothy Collings? I have thought about buying it, but I'm not sure. It looks quite interesting, but it seems to have got fairly mixed reviews.

[rdjones]

One of the best Motor Sport books I have read is Life At The Limit (Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One) by Professor Sid Watkins, well worth a read. I also enjoyed Flat Out Flat Broke by Perry McCarthey.

[Amaroo Park]

The book for me has to be "Journeys with Gelignite Jack"
It was written by Evan Green and it revoles around driving a new Morris 850 and Austin 1800 through and around Australia in the early 60's.

Now most Aussie would have heard of Gelignite Jack Murray, he is the man who used to compete in the Round Australia trials and when he got borded or had waste soem time he would blow up dunnies or anything else that he could find. It is one ot the most entertaining reads I have come across.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Raven
...BTW: Has anyone has read "The Piranha Club" by Timothy Collings?

I've got it............but only read some of it, it's one of those books that i read "in-between" other books as each chapter is about different people in F1 (i.e... it doesn't follow on from chapter to chapter like a normal book)

The first chapter is all about the Schumacher/Jordan/Benetton debacle which is what strated the Piranha Club in the first place.......... mind boggaling stuff!!!

[SALEEN S7R]

Personally Id recommend the Le Mans 2002 Annaul authorised by the ACO, for a F1 book however Ive just read Professor Sid Watkins "beyond the limit" which I think is a fantastic book.

[pirenzo]

I don't tend to read many books about personal accounts of various people, but i did read a old book from 1977 about James Hunt that was my dads.

I got for christmas this year a very good book about Le Mans called (surprise, surprise) Le Mans 24 Hours by Brian Laban.

It charts the history of the race right back from the early 1900's, giving detailed accounts of races, and the accidents with contemporary accounts from publications like Autocar etc.

It also has some amusing tales of the early racers misfortune, with things like being thrown into duck ponds when the seat came off, and the Maison Blanche pile up of '27.

[Aysedasi]

Yes, I've got the Laban book. I thought it was a good read with a lot of good pics.

Look out for a new book about Mario Andretti. (I have a copy on the way - I hope).

[racer69]

Two good reads;

- 'Challenge Australia' The story of the 1979 Repco Round Australia Reliability Trial

- '25 Years of the BMC Competitions Department'

[paul-collins]

Originally posted by Aysedasi
Yes, I've got the Laban book. I thought it was a good read with a lot of good pics.

Look out for a new book about Mario Andretti. (I have a copy on the way - I hope).

Are you talking about Gordon Kirby's "A Driving Passion"? I've got it, haven't had a chance to read it (or Laban's book, for that matter). I'm still wrapped up in Pete Lyon's Can-Am.

I will say this, though - I was expecting a better story about how Mario won Sebring in 1970.

[Aysedasi]

No, it's a new book by a chap called Mike O'Leary. I have no idea if its a good book or not - I hope the former. (I have a minor connection with it, if you come across it!). And I have a signed copy on the way across the world to me as we speak!

[bcobbus]

Well, there is always that classic "The Unfair Advantage" by Mark Donahue. It's a bit boring at times, but still worth your time.

Also another book I read was "Deadly Obsessions, Life and Death in Formula One" by Phil Shirley. The title says it all really, an intersting book on a not so happy topic.

And finally the book I'm reading now, "Inside the Mind of the Grand Prix Driver" by Christopher Hilton. This book takes a psychological view of drivers and what makes them tick.

[Aysedasi]

Hilton is pretty good. His Senna books are well worth a read.