Remarkable Motor Races
by Andrew Benson
“When I set out to write this book, I discovered that I couldn’t tell the story of the race tracks without also detailing the experience of the people whose heroics made the circuits famous. I wanted to get to the heart of the locations, and give a sense of the feelings created by racing, or watch racing, there rather than produce a list of statistics about length and age and winners, although there’s some of that here too.”
Taking a view as global as that of our readership it is regrettable that so many outside of Britain or the reaches of BBC Radio 5 will simply not recognize the author’s name and qualifications. Nor is it an obvious assumption that a mainstream publisher like HarperCollins would even carry such a rather specialized niche book. And the fact that they have a whole series of Remarkable XYZ books would only feed the prejudice that this cannot possibly be anything more than a formulaic connect-the-dots treatment of a topic the marketing staff has singled out as viable.
Quiz: where are we? The serious elevation change into and out of the turn (l) is a clue.
While we cannot speak to the other books in this series, this one is anything but superficial and, in fact, moves the needle inasmuch as it has a an original point of view supported by discriminating analysis. Benson is first and foremost a motorsports enthusiast, and has been for longer than he’s been a professional commentator (Autosport magazine, the Guardian newspaper, and BBC Sport since 2000 where he took on full-time F1 duties in 2008).
A good example of Benson taking the broad view: this circuit in India isn’t even on the calendar anymore, and was on it for only a short time. But it illustrates that not everything in F1 works, no matter how much money you throw at it.
Also, he has an interest in any top-level sport, and that is evident in why he sees F1 as fundamentally, structurally, archetypally different from other forms of sport: be it soccer or billiards or tennis, a sport normally takes place on a uniform physical surface (pitch, field etc.) that is the same anywhere. Motorsports decidedly does not, unless a race or series is always run at the same venue. In other words, the “action is defined by the track.” More to the point, “a race track, then, does not just host a race, it defines it. Each circuit is different.” As soon as someone says it out loud it seems patently obvious but it really isn’t, or if it is, it is so obvious that the practical implications of that realization fade into the background.
Big Air in Finland. The conditions here are so hard that Benson comments, “It took 40 years before [the 1000 Lakes Rally] was won by a driver who was not from Scandinavia.”
“Even in a book dedicated to extraordinary motorsports events and achievements, Pikes Peak stands out from the crowd.” Well, the road rises to 14,115 ft above sea level, so, yeah.
Strictly speaking, the book has no subtitle but the publisher positions it as “An illustrated guide with interviews and photography of some of the world’s most famous motor races, including F1, NASCAR and more.” The and more bit refers to mostly rallying and series such as touring cars. At any rate, two-wheel activities are not included.
Forty-eight events are presented, in alpha order, and in varying degrees of magnification and also, probably, of varying degrees of “fame”—big-name events like the Dakar rally or the F1 Monaco Grand Prix are treated with the same respect as a hillclimb in the French countryside. As to what it is that Benson means to say about any of them the reader is reminded of the intro quote above: “a sense of the feelings created by racing or watch racing there.” Which is probably a good time to say that the wallet-friendly MSRP of $40 makes this a pretty much regret-free purchase!
A hillclimb in Brittany. The French connection prompts Benson to remark, elsewhere in the book, that despite France being “the cradle of motorsport” (1906) there has not been an F1 race in France in years despite the country having two active Grade 1-licensed circuits. What’s up with that? Ironically, the FIA is headquartered in Paris.
Most of the photos are sourced from stockhouses, which mainly means they are technically sophisticated, well framed, and taken by pro shooters who had the credentials to get up close. The book’s landscape format takes full advantage of many images’ impactfulness.
That this is Benson’s first book is almost odd, given his degree of immersion and wide-ranging contacts. Well, better one than none, and maybe it won’t be the last!
Copyright 2024, Sabu Advani (speedreaders.info).
Remarkable Motor Races
by Andrew Benson
Pavilion Books/HarperCollins Publishers, 2024
224 pages, 300+ b/w & color images, hardcover
List Price: $40 / £25
ISBN-13: 978-0008659691
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