Racing Reviews

Dick Francis puts you in the midst of the action. Close your eyes and you are there, smelling the sweat, feeling the adrenalin and the rush of the wind as you hurtle over the fences onto the next adventure. Reading Dick Francis ensures the reader always comes away with a new found knowledge, whether it be photography, veterinary science, painting,skiing, .the list is endless. Once read, you will be chomping at the bit in anticipation of his next masterpiece.

The Newshounds in the Great Balloon Race was a hit with my third grade students. As an elementary school librarian, I am always looking for the opportunity to reinforce curriculum topics in the library and when I can use a good story, all the better. My students thoroughly enjoyed Isaac and his crew as they travelled to our state (Texas). The book is presented as a "geography adventure" and includes suggested questions and activities from the author to assist in curriculum reinforcement, but it is also an enjoyable and humorous story as well. The students enjoyed pouring over maps and locating the places in the story. Being a former New Yorker myself, I enjoyed the opportunity to provide some information on the Hudson Valley (home of the WDG-TV news team). My students all asked: "Where will the next "On the Trail" report be from?

Lauda hits the sweet spot with this book. You are taken behind the scenes of Formula 1 from an insider's insider. You learn what it is like to drive for "The Old Man" Enzo Ferrari and Mclaren's Ron Dennis. What I found fascinating was how Lauda applied his cold non-emotional approach to racing to his life in general. In days where superstar athletes are out 3 months for a hamstring injury, Lauda was back racing after receiving "the last rights" from his near fatal crash at the Nurburgring. If you love racing, you will love this book.

i read this book about 25 years ago. i have not read it since but can remember it being a fantastic book about a 'driven' young man's career in the heady days of the european motocycling circus.

if you are into motorcycles and history it is a great read.

enjoy.

paul brown.

This is one of those books that influence young minds. I read it when I was in junior high, and then bumped into it here. All sorts of memories came back to me after seeing the title. This is the second book in a series (Ive only read two and dont know if there are any others), the first book being called the Wonderful Jalopy (also a neat car book). The Nothing Special is about this car nut of a young man that has dreams of racing sports cars. This book takes place in the early 60's when sports car racing was real big in California, and around the U.S. This guy decides to take all his friends to a race in order to see if they also can catch the racing bug and help him sponser a race car. Well his friends all catch racing fever and they all pitch in to buy a kit car (seemingly the cheapest way to accuire a "nice" race car). Anyway the car is a nightmare to build and sets off all sorts of interesting adventures. Among other things getting their racing licences and actually getting the thing to race ready trim. The book hits it's climax when they actually get to the "BIG" race. Its a 24 hour monster, and the best driver of the bunch (the original car nut) is doing some driving for a Porsche team and there is much loyalty and friendship at stake. In all its a great book about friends, girlfriend relationships and how cars ruin them, and most of all the love of cars and how ordinary people can do extraordinary things. I must say the last page still rings in my mind and heart even almost 21 years later. Its a really good read, even if it is geared more torward 15-18 year olds :) Oh yea, the title comes from the name the car nut's girlfriend gives her rival (like racing special) Dan Pierce

This is one of the finest books on working with horses that I have ever had the good fortune to read! Amateur and professional, breeder and trainer, teacher and student, boarder and owner, stable manager and event director - all will find a wealth of invaluable information gained by the author over a life time of working with horses. DEFINITELY a MUST read!

With lots of color (black and white) photos, this book looks at the most powerful (& at 15 million German Marks - a lot of money in the late 60s - most expensive at the time to develop)sports car ever to take to the track.

It goes into its history at Le Mans - its originally purpose being to win there at virtually any cost, including looking at the long tail version that would reach around 240 mph on the long (Mulsane) straight there, and the factory sponsored John Wyer/Gulf sky blue & orange colored short tailed cars that dominated many long distance races.

It also looks at the 917s that might be more familiar to Americans - the turbocharged open cockpit Roger Penkse prepared Can-Am series monsters that produced outrageous horsepower and which arguably put the final nail in the coffin of an already dying racing series. This was due to their enormous power - more than any normally aspirated engine could produce, the attention to preparation by the Penske team - more than any other team but the then underpowered McClaren works team, the driving skill of its drivers, not least Mark Donahue, and the rising costs of gas due to the October war in the Middle East causing presssure to be brought on the series' governing body.

No other team could equal Penske's Porsche turbo 917 and once McClaren pulled out of the series it was all over bar the shouting.

The book has a good, easy to read but informative text - the author, Michael Cotton, obviously did his homework - as well as a list of the car's successes at the back.

The book is maybe a little on the slim side - it almost got a 4 star rating from me as a result, nevertheless, a great addition to any real motor racing enthusiast's library.

This book was sold through Porsche Cars North America's dealer network in the late '80s under a "BOU" (Porsche Boutique) part number. It is a compendium of the famous "Factory Calendars;" from the 356 of 1952 to the Rothmans Porsche 956 of 1984. Posters are displayed in full, half, and quarter pages. This is the only place you will find the entire collection in one place. Large format book; hardbound; 160 pages of quality reproductions with text in German, French, and English. Extremely hard to find and a welcome addition to any Porscheophile's library.

A concise, colorful history of the first 120 winners of America's most famous horse race. A short page story accompanies each lovingly done portrait. This lady knows how to draw horses--she doesn't pretty them up, she shows them how they are, beautiful enough without having to add any artificial ingredients. The stories are fascinating if you are a racing fan or like to read biographies of people and animals. The book is relatively inexpensive for art and history of this quality

Dr Walker's book, Positioning, has provided me with an integrated and logical framework with which to formulate my own racing strategy. The categorisation of beats and runs into category I, II or III conditions and a thorough discusion of the principles pertinent to each, greatly simplify the process of data collection and effective strategic decision making during a race. The book is made very readable by Dr Walker's use of interesting examples from races in soling yachts conducted at a high level (names such as Torben Grael, Buddy Melges and Hans Fogh feature regularly). The book integrates much of the content of Dr Walker's earlier books such as Advanced Racing Tactics into a far more digestible format which is suitable for beginners, but also is beneficial for experienced sailors wishing to achieve true mastery of sail boat strategy and wind shifts.