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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Motor sports > General
Derek Bell has become one of motor racing's 'national treasures'.
He is best known as one of the world's finest ever endurance sports
car drivers, winning Le Mans five times and the Daytona 24 Hours
three times, as well as numerous other significant sports car
races. This completely new and updated edition of his autobiography
celebrates the superb motor racing career of one of Britain's most
popular racing drivers. Derek Bell is one of the survivors from
1960's motorsport, who made a real name for himself in Endurance
Racing for over a twenty years driving primarily for Porsche but
also other top teams from the late 1960's through to the 1990's. A
multiple winner at Le Mans and Daytona this book takes you through
the details of his life racing around the world from his early
years leading up to F1 and then in to Endurance Racing and other
branches of the sport. It shows the vast difference in Motorsport
in his early career and how motorsport has progressed through the
years.
This long-awaited book is a photographic memoir by the only man to
have won World Championships on motorcycles and in cars. Containing
nearly 300 photographs from Surtees' own collection as well as from
the world's finest motorsport picture libraries, this major book
presents a complete visual record of Surtees' life accompanied by
fascinating commentary written in collaboration with co-author Mike
Nicks. Chapters of particular interest are those covering Surtees's
formative years and the extraordinary 1960 season in which he raced
both motorcycles and cars, winning two World Championships on MV
Agusta bikes as well as taking second place for Lotus in the
British GP, which was only his second Formula 1 race. Royalties
from sales of the book will go to the Henry Surtees Foundation,
which was set up to honour the memory of John's son Henry, who was
killed in a freak accident at Brands Hatch in 2009. - The early
years (up to 1952): a childhood around motorcycle racing,
apprenticeship with Vincent, then racing a Vincent Grey Flash. -
Getting established (1953-55): Moving on to ride mainly Manx
Nortons, he did 86 races in one year, and in 1955 achieved his
first grand prix win, in the 250cc Ulster GP on an NSU. - The glory
years (1956-60): dominating top-level motorcycle racing for five
years with Italian team MV Agusta, taking seven World Championship
titles on 500cc and 350cc bikes. - The remarkable year of bikes and
cars (1960): overlapping his last year of motorcycle racing with 17
car races, including four F1 World Championship events. - Ferrari
driver (1963-66): established in cars, he joined Ferrari, winning
his first race - the Sebring 12 Hours for sports cars - and the
following year becoming F1 World Champion. - Can-Am champion
(1966): after recovery from a huge crash in a Lola T70 sports car
and acrimonious departure from Ferrari, he bounced back in North
America to win the spectacular Can-Am series. - Turning Japanese
(1967-68): Honda invited Surtees to develop and drive its F1 cars
for two years, with victory in the Italian GP at Monza the
highlight. - Becoming a constructor (1969-78): going into
single-seater racing, including F1, with Team Surtees and cars of
his own manufacture; Mike Hailwood won the European F2 Championship
in 1972. - The latter years (1978 onwards): fully active on the
historic scene as a restorer and driver of motorcycles and cars,
then nurturing son Henry's career until the tragic accident. Royal
Automobile Club shortlist of contenders for Motoring Book of the
Year!
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