Covering the period from the first Grand Prix win in 1906, to Michael Schumacher’s 2006 retirement, this book is one man’s idea of the 20th century’s motor racing heroes.
The sport has attracted many men and women whose determination, raw courage, and skill at the wheel has driven them into that special, rarified atmosphere of heroism – this book tells the stories of 100 of these heroes.
Covering almost 100 years of motor racing history, humanity, not simple statistics, is revealed here as the true source of the subjects’ heroism. Take André Boillot; so tired at the end of the 1919 Targa Florio, he made a silly mistake, spinning his car backwards across the finish line – yet he still won. Or Grand Prix winners Robert Benoist, William Grover Williams and Jean-Pierre Wimille, all of whom became French resistance fighters during WWII. There’s David Purley’s valiant attempt at rescuing a trapped Roger Williamson by overturning Willamson’s blazing march with his bare hands during the 1973 Grand Prix of Holland. And Alessandro Zanardi, who lost both his legs in a CART accident, yet still came back to win races.
The lighter side of motor sport is also here, with Giannino Marzotto, who won the 1950 Mille Miglia wearing an immaculate double-breasted suit. Or Giovanni Bracco, who won the 1952 Mille Miglia as he swigged from a bottle of red wine!
There are so many heroes and heroines in this sport. This book is about 100 of them.
Benoist, Williams, Wimille: French resistance fighters
David Purley: tried to lift blazing car with bare hands
Hallé Nice: the stripper who became a Granbd Prix driver
Alberto Ascari: plunged into Monte Carlo harbour at 120 mph
André Boillot: won the Targa Florio backwards
Maria Teresa de Felippis: first woman F1 World Championship driver
Ferenc Szisz: winner of the world first GP in 1906; his report
Elizabeth Junek: heroine of the 1928 Targa Florio
Michael Schumacher: won his first championship at 7 years old
Archie Scott-Brown: the severely crippled race winner
