Motor Racing's Strangest Races: Extraordinary But True Stories from Over a Century of Motor Racing

by Geoff Tibballs

In 1894, when the motley assortment of steam and petrol-powered vehicles lined up at the start of the trial from Paris to Rouen, motor-racing's colourful history was launched. Many of the pioneering events were death-defying, trans-continental marathons, in which the competitors were obliged to negotiate basic dirt tracks, muddy bogs, fast-flowing rivers, over-zealous policemen and a seemingly ednless supply of stray dogs. Barely contained in this new hardback edition are 80+ bizarre, brilliant and bonkers stories from over a century of motor racing. They include the Frenchman who drove 25 miles in reverse; the Grand Prix where the leading drivers were so far ahead that they stopped for a meal in the pits; the Le Mans 24-hour race won by a car patched up with chewing gum; and the driver who drunk six bottles of champagne on the way to winning the Indianapolis 500. Word 45,000

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

Reviews

[Michael John · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a collection of interesting little stories about motor racing history it's fine. I'm not convinced that it's a great collection of the strangest races however. I did learn how Sainte Devote is spelled though so that's a plus.

[Gareth Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read - especially some of the older and more outlandish tales from the very start of motor racing. Nice to have memories of more recent events jogged as well!

[Richie Schimkus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly interesting vignettes presented in chronological order.

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strangeness is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. I'm not sure all of these are actually strange, but they are actually interesting. The book starts with the very earliest racesand works its way up through to the modern age. Each race taken is explained over a couple of pages. The majortiy it has to be said seem to be based on F1, but there are rallys, sheds and lawnmower races as well. An entertaining toilet book.

[M.K. Aston · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. Each section or chapter gives a short account of a particular race some of which were quite frankly bizarre, i.e. a lawnmower race. For me, the historical accounts and earlier F1 races were the most interesting but it was nice to be reminded of a couple of more recent 'incidents' too.

[Patty J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for any motor-racing fan of any age, size, gender :) It's very funny, in the British humour sort of way. Great way to learn the history of Formula One, to be honest.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting series of 2 - 4 page stories of various odd race. A fun read especially for Formula 1 fans.