Racing Reviews

Altho' not even an aspiring racecar driver, I read Metcalf's book, so I am approaching it with a "street car" mentality. With the first page of this book, he piqued my interest with his innovative approach to a disclaimer. His approach to racing is experienced, educated, informative and, as as added bonus, entertaining, with an understanding of to whom he is speaking -- you as the reader -- and you as a driver. It IS a very technical book on the art of race car driving. However, even readers like me can glean both an understanding of the race track with all its finer points, and some helpful hints on driving busy or clogged interstates, deduced from his knowlegable and insightive writing. I understand he has a novel in the works.

I have been racing most of my life and this book contains information I have never seen in print anywhere else. The other books I have read on this subject tell how to start racing but this one tells you how to get good at it. Metcalf explains everything from from how a driver should prepare himself mentally before going on the track to how sponsorship really works and how to get sponsored. He has chapters on driving, chassis setup, offensive and defensive passing manuevers, selecting the best car and class to race, running a team, planning a championship, physical fittness and more that are each directly related to what a driver must do be be successful. My girlfriend read this book and now she seems to have a better insight into why I race and the things I and all drivers must face. Because of her reaction, I think it is also a very good book for racing enthusiasts to gain a better understanding of what the inside of racing is all about. At first I thought the book to be a little expensive, but after reading it, it is worth every penny. If you are a racing enthusiast, it's the best book you will see on what the pro drivers must deal with on a day to day basis. If you are a racer, buy it and memorize it. It's that good.

Over 20+ years of being an enthusiast/racer, i've read pretty much every book on this subject i could get my hands on. This book is the most real world guide to racing i've seen yet. this book should serve to inform an aspiring driver what to expect and possibly remove some of the misconceptions that so many enter motorsports with. I could have used this book 20 years ago. ----------------------------------------- JBL

This book is among the best.

As background, I've been riding street/sport bikes for 18 years now, and have read nearly everything out there on the subject. Mr Park's book goes beyond Keith Code's (excellent) techniques list, exploring more diverse and usable territory like basic suspension tuning, body positioning, basic mental and physical conditioning, riding gear selection, and why racers do "X" as opposed to a street rider who should perhaps approach the same issue in a modified manner. He also does an excellent job covering more advanced matter, such as how to prep your bike for, and what to expect when you head for a day at a racetrack.

I got a lot out of this book. It's one of a select few I'll read again to brush up on my riding skills.

I really like using this book because Parks outlines several practical exercises to improve riding skills. My cornering skills have improved using these exercises.
This is not the a first book for the new motorcyclist, Proficient Motorcycling by Hough fills that spot.

However, I am not trying to suggest that Parks' book for the novice. Practicing the riding exercises from Total Control is a useful next step beyond the Experienced Riders Course, a riding class offered in the U.S.

Greater skills for me equals greater safety. Hough's and Parks' books are an excellent starting points.

Total control is a very informative book. I've been riding motorcycles for 12 years and the tips that Lee gave me in this book really helped my riding. I've took the MSF ERC and they don't even mention some of the helpful ideas in the class that Lee gives in his book. Corners use to be a hurdle I had to overcome but after reading Total control they are so much easier and More FUN! Thanks Lee.

I've read Sport Riding techniques by Nick Ienatsch also and Total control is a little easier to read. Both are must reads for all motorcyclist.

If you have yet to read a book by Ms Burton, you don't know what you are missing. This lovely lady tells stories that keep you turning every page. Never do you want to put the book down nor do you ever want it to end. They are stories that you wish to continue on and on. And the next day you awake still having those characters inside your head. I fell in love with Brenda and Alex and kept wondering when the two were going to come to their senses and finally get together. I loved the way that Alex would go to the school to see her and help out with her activities. This was a love story; one that everyone should read. This is a five stars two thumbs up book!! An incredible writer, another incredible story. I would recommend this sweet love story to one and all. It was so wonderful!!

I just finished reading The Tycoon and it was great. The descriptions of the couple's conflicting thoughts are wonderful. The inclusion of many time elements make it so much more exciting. I couldn't put the book down.

I found this book to be a page-turner. The characters were likable, the conflict believable and the content interesting. I like the way the one antique care was woven into the story. When I reached the end of the story, I wanted to read more but it had ended! I recommend this sweet romance to all.

Taking into account the difficult task of giving fair representation to BMW's extensive motor racing history, this text serves as the definitive tome on BMW's racing exploits. For the most part it covers BMW's sedan racing from the 60's to 80's, with a smattering of formula car history thrown in, too. The text describes the overall racing history and details quite extensively the technical aspects of the various cars. This is augmented by a fantastic collection of photos of racecars, homologated streetcars, and technical drawings. While it isn't cheap (even on Amazon) it's well worth it.

I bought this book at amazon.com's great price when I knew the original edition was difficult (and expensive) to locate. The book, with its great commentary and numerous photos, really shows the essence of the motorsport successes (and failures) of one of the world's great auto makers. If you are interested in racing (and BMWs in particular), I very much recommend this book.

This book may well be the ultimate bmw book. It details everything down to the tee. If you have an avid interest in BMW, this book is a "MUST HAVE NOW" title.

Hello everybody.I think this book is very good because it's pretty cool and the author did a good job writing this book.This book is about Nat and her bike.Nat and the gang were riding a trail and a tree fell over and Nat got hurt.It was pretty cool in the middle.You got to read the book to find out the whole story!

this was one of the best books in the 8 book seires i really liked it because it had a very hard mystery to try to solve and when they would describe when they where riding the trails was reall tight (i think that is one of the things that laban does best) but i think there are two better books in this series those are the first book deep powder deep trouble and the last book in the series total whiteout but this was one of my favorites.

this book was a action and adventure that was fun to read

This is an excellent book on the history of Yamaha in GP road racing! I don't think i have ever seen such a comprehensive and detailed account of EVERY aspect and step along the way in the development of Yamaha's 2-stroke racing programs.

Follow every design change from year to year, through the 1990's. This is a great book with no equal. Full of many photos and lots of interesting history, it is without a doubt one of my favorite Motorcycle related books!

This is an excellent book about motorcycle racing during the last 40 years. It is very well researched, accurate and will provide plenty of information to seasoned racing enthusiasts as well as new-comers to the sport. Definitely a must have. O. Rossi /Kaohsiung /Taiwan

This has to be one of the most comprehensive books on Yamaha racing. A few errors have been found in the book, but for the most part it is very well researched and chocked full of great pictures of some of the best riders in the sport. Past, Present and future. If you are into two-strokes, there is no better book.

This book has been a pleasure to read. I may be a bit bias as Mary is my Sister, but all in all the book captures the fun and entheusiasm Mary releases to everyone she meets.

This is a delightfull book about the good and bad times of Mary King and her horses. It is written from the heart and you will laugh and cry. Annie's views and stories are wonderfull. She deserves, and gets, alot of credit for being a top groom. A must read for any eventer.

I very much enjoyed this book, so much so I read it in one weekend and was sorry it wasn't much longer. The author discusses his connection to pigeons from his very young years to midlife. Even though he grew up on the East Coast and I grew up on the West Coast we had some of the same experiences with pigeons and those who keep and race them. Reading it brought back fond and bittersweet memories of my birds and the loft I had at my parents' house. Both the birds and my beloved parents are long gone and I miss them all and those carefree days of adolence. I enjoyed reading about the author's experiences with his birds, especially finding and raising rare and exotic breeds. I hope the author writes another book about pigeons and it is much longer than this one. He has an easy to read style of writing.

nice and helpfull book for me and my childre

I just got my copy and spent the better part of the day reading it and enjoying all the beautiful photos. The history is not overdone, but informative enough to let even the casual Drag Racing fan appreciate the history of the sport. There are many beautiful, full color pictures of legendary cars and their drivers, in action from their heyday and recent. The book has nice touches like some of the original Drag Race Posters and tributes to drivers and engines. The memories this book brought back of being a kid at the track is worth many times the price. I'm looking forward to wearing out my copy of this book throughout the winter months while counting the days to the next Nitro fix at the track.

This book is brilliant! It is not only for the hardcore fan but also for the novice to the sport. It gives a detailed story of most fo the stars and founders of drag racing with incredible photos of not only todays machines but of some of the best from the past.
This is the book that the NHRA should sanction to document the first 50 years of drag racing and not the one they have put out that excludes the main man of drag racing, Don garlits! Genat gives credit to all the contributers of this great sport and "Big Daddy" is given the credit he richly deserves.
All of the pictures in this book are of the highest quality and truly ad to the statement this book tells about the sport.
I am looking forward to the next book by Mr. Genat!

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Especially for European fans like myself, who don't know the history of American grand prix drivers and cars, this is an execelent book. I've just loved it. Five stars, at least.

Over the course of modern Formula One racing since 1950, there have been two publicly successful and one publicly unsuccessful U.S. Grand Prix racer, but did you know that there are more than 140 American men and one woman who have challenged in Grand Prix since 1906? Tim Considine spent seven years of his life in research for this volume, which includes biographies of many of the racers, period photos by some of the top photographers, including Pete Biro, Bernard Cahier and Dave Friedman, and a time line history of U.S. drivers, teams and tracks in Grand Prix. As a reference alone, this book is worth having in anyone's GP collection, but as a read, it's a "can't put it down" book. You're going to love this.