The Stig gets his kit off and reveals how he came to be Top Gear's iconic racing driver and so much more - including what it's like to thrash an Aston Martin DBS, train for the Army and face the terror of Jeremy Clarkson's underwear

When the Black Stig disappeared off the end of an aircraft carrier in 2003, we were introduced to The White Stig. Faster. Stranger. Harder to keep clean. And ever since, millions have wondered who is The Man in the White Suit? They're about to find out.

Ben Collins caught the car the bug young, kicking his dad's boss in the balls for not giving him a company Jag. This was the attitude that eventually led him to spend seven years sharing a cabin with Jeremy Clarkson's underwear, James May's PhD thesis and Richard Hammond's hairspray. Because he is The Stig.

Now he tells all about life inside the iconic white helmet. What it's like to guide a blind ex-RAF officer around the Top Gear track; pit a drug dealer's Mitsubishi Evo against a Trojan tank; set a Vauxhall Monara against Chloe the dancing Ninja; and race double-decker Routemasters against bendy buses. Not to mention all the inside stuff on how the show's amazing driving sequences are made.

He also reveals how he got to be there settinga Dunsfold lap time faster than Michael Schumacher's. Breaking records with the best of the best at Daytona and Le Mans.

It's an awesome story, told by an amazing man."

This extraordinary event, which started as a sort of joke and almost by accident, today gathers journalists from all over the world, managers but especially the Scuderia Ferrari and Ducati MotoGP the drivers and riders with their respective wives and companions. To tell the story of these rather special 'white weeks', during which just about everything happens, is the expert eye of Ercole Colombo, one of the most celebrated Formula 1 photographers, as well as some of the most prestigious motor sport journalists. Vrooom is the chance to get to know the stars of Formula 1 and MotoGP from close-up but far away from the circuits, almost as private people.

Between 1965 and the Nineties, the 1000 Km of Monza-Filippo Caracciolo Trophy, was one of the most classical endurance races - a sort of 24 hours of Le Mans - and for many seasons was, rightfully, a round in the world championships for sports cars and prototypes. Top drivers and cars challenged each other on that historic Italian track and banking, the car makers including Porsche, Ferrari and Ford, bringing to life many unforgettable pages in the history of motor sport. Aldo Zana, prominent motor racing historian, tells this fabulous story, year after year, included the competitions held between 1995 and 2008. Every edition is enriched with starting grids and final placings. A huge work, never attempted since now, illustrated with outstanding pictures, many of them never before published.

Laurel and Hardy, Ant and Dec, Morecambe and Wise, Herbert and Hill. The history of entertainment is studded with brilliant comic duos.

Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill between them competed in 261 Grands Prix, amassing twenty-five wins, forty-nine podium finishes, one World Championship, 458 championship points, a Le Mans win, two smashed ankles, a broken arm, wrist and leg, sixty broken ribs, and two bruised egos.

Having retired from racing, Johnny and Damon have become the one constant for passionate English F1 fans in a rapidly changing landscape. They have earned cult status as commentators and pundits, with viewers loving their unerring dedication to the sport’s greatness. Drawing on a lifetime of sniffing petrol fumes, Lights Out, Full Throttle stands large over the landscape of Formula One and takes the temperature of the good, the bad and the ugly of the petrolhead’s paradise.

It offers F1 fans a tour of the sport – from Monaco to Silverstone; Johnny’s crowd-surfing and Bernie’s burger bar; the genius of Adrian Newey and Colin Chapman; why Lewis Hamilton will never, ever move to Ferrari (probably); getting the yips; money; safety; what it’s like to have an out-of-body experience while driving a car in the pouring rain at 200mph; and the future of the sport in the wake of Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter.

Whether you’re a fan of Nigel, Niki, Kimi or Britney, pine for the glory days of Brabham, Williams, Jim Clark and Fangio, or believe that Lewis is one year away from retiring as the GOAT, Lights Out, Full Throttle is the oily rag for the petrolhead fan to inhale while waiting for the racers to line up on the grid.

Niki Lauda drove a car for sport, but crossed the line between life and death and fought back to even greater glory. Even people who know nothing of Formula One have heard of his crash at Nurburgring in 1976, when we was dragged from the inferno of his Ferrari so badly injured he was given the last rites. Within 33 days, he was racing again at Monza. His wounds bled, he had no eyelids. He was terrified. A year later, he reclaimed his World Championship title.

In To Hell and Back he reveals how he battled fear to stage a comeback that seemed beyond human endurance. Then it’s Lauda vs Hunt, an epic rivalry later dramatized in 2013’s Hollywood blockbuster Rush, and he looks back on the strict childhood and parental disapproval that he believes gave him an ‘addiction to excellence’. There’ll never be another like him.

The 1928 quest for the Land Speed Record on the sands of Daytona Beach was a first for America, a singular mix of technology, thrills and tragedy. Tens of thousands lined the dunes along the beach, a crowd larger than any yet seen at Indianapolis 500. Three contenders, two Americans and a Briton, raced for the ultimate distance-averaged top speed, in magnificent machines built by different schools of design. This book chronicles the high-speed drama. The top American driver, Frank Lockhart, 25, survived a spectacular accident and rebuilt his Stutz Black Hawk, only to meet his fate in the new runs. The facts and myths behind the competition are examined in depth for the first time, along with the innovations and fatal mistakes of vehicle design.

Invercargill, at the far southern end of New Zealand. It's the late 1960s and two blokes sit in a modest shed drinking tea. The old bloke is telling stories about his life; the young bloke, a junior reporter, is typing earnestly on his Olympia portable typewriter. Dramatic tales abound - of youthful scrapes, motorcycle races and ingenious repairs, of international travel and friendships and road trips, of high speeds and accidents and meetings with dutiful policemen. Burt Munro became known around the world through the 2005 movie The World's Fastest Indian, but had long been known to motorcycle fans as a colourful character and speed record-holder. Our young journalist, Neill Birss, moved away from Invercargill and the interviews he had typed out were never published. In fact, they were lost during the move and only resurfaced under strange circumstances many decades later. Here they are in this book - the lost interviews with Burt Munro, legendary Kiwi motorcycle rider - his voice as fresh and his stories as vivid as the day he told them to the young reporter. Also available as an eBook.

This book is the first English-language study of motorsport and Italian Fascism, arguing that a synergy existed between motor racing and Fascism that did not exist with other sports. Motorsport was able to bring together the two dominant, and often opposed, cultural roots of Fascism, the Futurism of F. T. Marinetti, and the Decadence associated with Gabriele D'Annunzio. The book traces this cultural convergence through a topical study of motorsport in the 1920s and 1930s placing it in the context of the history of sport under Mussolini's regime. Chapters discuss the centrality of speed and death in Fascist culture, the attempt to transform Rome into a motorsport capital, the architectural and ideological function of the Monza and Tripoli and autodromes, and two chapters on the importance of the Mille Miglia, a genuine Fascist artefact that became one of the most legendary motor races of all time.

This is a compelling and moving sports drama, played out in the bloody arena of highly dangerous Grand Prix motor racing of the fifties. It is a real-life story that matches the excitement and suspense of the very best fiction. It is definitely a must-read for all motor racing fans. This story is arguably the most compelling and moving sports drama of all time. It matters because it is a testament to the eternal values of friendship, honesty of purpose and self sacrifice. It is played out in the bloody arena of highly dangerous Grand Prix motor racing of the fifties, an age in which the drivers were still amateurs and the sport controllers and team owners as yet untainted by the corruption of big money. It is as inspiring as it is tragic. In 1976 I was commissioned by BBC TV to write a film about Mike Hawthorn, the first British world motor racing champion. It was never made. The reason? The facts of his life and death were then unclear. Had I known what they were it would have catapulted the drama into the bracket of classical tragedy. Despite research I found myself faced with a well kept secret. During the following thirty five years I kept returning to it, but still failed to penetrate that mystery. Until now. This true story is driven by suspense as the hero is faced with a dreadful dilemma. Rarely does a real life story, as that of Mike Hawthorn, match the best of fiction. ONE GLORIOUS HOUR does just that. Set in 1958 he is one of the four man Ferrari motor racing team in Grand Prix. And he is favourite to become Britain's first world motor racing champion. And he is dying.

Arguably the fiercest and most hotly contested sport in the world, Formula One Icons details some of the most memorable cars to have ever raced in the sport, along with the most iconic tracks on the Formula One circuit. Formula One Icons gives a detailed account of the legendary cars, tracks and teams that cemented their place in the history of the sport. Formula One Icons is 112 pages full of everything an F1 fan could ever want to know about the most iconic tracks, cars and teams in the world of racing. 

"The legacy and mythology of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL-aka the "Sports Car of the Century"-is beheld through the genius lens of top automotive photographer Rene Staud ..." - Maxim "What a stroke of fate: 70 years of the SL, 70 years of Staud and 10 years of The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Book. You might even say: The star is reborn." - Maxim Australia This iconic sports car, from the first Mercedes 300 SL to its latest successors, proves that technology can indeed evolve into art. And who better to showcase this procession of pioneering automobiles than Rene Staud, whose striking photographs will captivate any enthusiast. This book, based on Staud's successful calendars, is an ode to an extraordinary vehicle whose spell stars such as Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Alfred Hitchcock have all fallen under. The elaborately orchestrated pictures show sleek curves and precision in every detail, conveying the passion for this breathtaking automobile. A photographic tribute to the "sports car of the century", covering the 70-year history of the 300 SL racing car models from 1952 to the latest SL generation. Text in English, German and French.

UPDATED EDITION With over 300 photographs - from the 1950s to the present day and many previously unpublished - this stunning book is the ultimate celebration of Formula One. This new updated version includes photographs from Rosberg's winning and retiring year. From the charismatic rivalries of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss and the highly competitive Championship battles of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, through to the historic tales of Monaco's winding course and the atmospheric crowds of Monza, the adrenaline-fueled, high-octane world of Formula One has created some of the greatest moments in sporting history. Chronicling both the changing face of the teams and their cars, from Lotus and Cooper to Williams and Ferrari, and of course the legendary drivers who have pushed their machines and themselves to the limits, these incredible photographs are from the archive of Bernard Cahier and his son, Paul- Henri who have been trackside capturing the drama of the Formula One Championships since the 1950s. Brought to life by Formula One correspondent Maurice Hamilton, they tell the story behind the infamous circuits that have played host to intense rivalries which have produced moments of tragedy and triumph that read like a film script.

Coming to cinemas in November 2019, under the title LE MANS '66 ____________________ In the 1960s Enzo Ferrari emerged as the dominant force in sports cars in the world, creating speed machines that were unbeatable on the race track. In America, the Ford Motor Company was quickly losing ground as the pre-eminent brand. Henry Ford II saw a solution. He decided to declare war on Ferrari, to build a faster car than anything Ferrari had brought to the track, and to beat him at the world's biggest race, Le Mans. Ferrari was just as determined to see off this challenge from across the Atlantic. With practically no safety regulations in place in the European Grand Prix races, horrific accidents were routine, with both drivers and spectators killed in many races. The stakes were incredibly high, money and men were thrown at the competition, neither Ford or Ferrari would accept anything but victory. The battle to become the fastest in the world truly became a race to the death.

Brooklands, near Weybridge in Surrey, holds a unique and highly important place in the histories of both motoring and aviation. It was the first purpose-built motor racing track in Britain and the first major circuit in the world. From 1907 to the outbreak of the Second World War, the banked circuit was the epicenter of British motor sport, and events at Brooklands - races and speed record attempts - were an important part of the sporting and social calendar.
Motor sport was not the only activity for which Brooklands was famous, however: it became an important center for aviation. The first flight of a British pilot in a British aircraft took place there in 1908, and Britain's first flying school was opened within the circuit in 1910. Several manufacturers began aircraft production at Brooklands, and the most important of these, Vickers, took over large parts of the site when motor racing stopped in 1939. Many aircraft, including the Wellington bomber, were built here in large numbers during the war.
When peace returned in 1945 the race track at Brooklands was in poor condition and built over in places. Racing never resumed, but the aviation history of the site grew ever stronger, with design and production of airliners including the VC-10 and Concorde. Today Brooklands is home to a thriving museum and, as the years pass, more and more of the old track is being restored to its former glory. This book tells the story of this unique and important site, and conjures up the atmosphere of pre-war race meetings, of wartime aircraft production, and the birth of some of the world's most famous aeroplanes.

Award-winning writer Richard Williams tells the remarkable story of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the world's most iconic motorsports events, which celebrates its centenary in 2023. The event was created by a group of Frenchmen in 1923 and remains uniquely compelling to spectators, to the major motor manufacturers who continue to see it as an opportunity for priceless publicity, as well as to drivers hoping to add their names to its distinguished roll of honour. Between the wars, those manufacturers included Bugatti, Bentley and Alfa Romeo. Subsequently, Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Ford, Porsche, Audi and Toyota have all been serial winners, guaranteeing the continuation of ferocious inter-marque rivalry. Over the decades the race acquired a rich folklore, including stories of leaking petrol tanks being sealed with chewing gum, one competitor making his last pit-stop for a fill-up and a glass of champagne, or the woman who drove her MG through the night wearing a fur coat. Competitors have included princes, debutantes, drug smugglers and a Nazi spy. Leading Hollywood film-makers lured to the romance of the race include Steve McQueen, who conceived and starred in Le Mans in 1971, and James Mangold, who made Le Mans '66 in 2019. But in 1955 it had also been the scene of the greatest tragedy ever to befall motor racing, when 82 people were killed by a competing car, an accident that for a while threatened the sport's entire future. From the Bentley Boys of the 1920s, through record-breaking multiple winners Jacky Ickx and Tom Kristensen to modern stars such as Allan McNish, 24 Hours celebrates the skill, courage and technical brilliance of the men and women who gave the race its worldwide renown.

This book is the first independent exploration of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) institutional history. Virtually unexamined compared with similar institutions like the FIFA and the IOC, the FIA has nevertheless changed from being a small association in 1904 to becoming one of the world's most influential sport governing bodies. Through chronologically organised chapters, this book explains how the FIA manages to link together motorsport circuses like Formula 1 with the automotive industry and societal issues like road safety and environmental sustainability. In an exciting narrative spanning seven decades, it reviews the FIA's organisational turning points, governing controversies, political dramas and sporting tragedies. Considering the FIA to be a unique type of hybrid organisation characterised by what the author calls 'organisational emulsion', this case study contains theoretical innovations relevant to other studies of sport governing bodies. It makes an empirically grounded contribution to the research fields of institutional logics, historical sociology and sport governance.

Jeff Scott serves up yet another portion of methanol inspired lunacy to satisfy your speedway craving appetite with his latest book CONCRETE FOR BREAKFAST. Although some view speedway as little more than a fairground sideshow attraction, Scott continues to validate the sport's authenticity as he celebrates the romance of its racing, the bravery of its competitors, and the idiosyncrasies of its partisans on and off the track. An equal opportunity offender, motorcycle speedway thumbs its nose at the nanny-state bureaucrats of Health and Safety as well as the ubiquitous corporate media that enlists the drama and daring of the sport to validate its mission of spin, profit, and mediocrity. But, of course, any sport composed of individuals who willingly embrace the physical and mental challenges of speedway must by definition be considered daring, maverick and subversive. Consider the physical challenges of speedway: riding a high powered motorcycle without brakes or gears, steering only by balance, gravity, and gyroscopic luck four times round a shale covered track at speeds exceeding 60 miles per hour. The bike itself, a huge single piston 500cc machine, without suspension, powered by methanol, roars its sweet hymn to oblivion to those who ride and to those who watch. The mandated helmets and kevlars are the merest genuflection in the direction of self-preservation. In short, the entire enterprise constitutes a complete commitment to barking madness. Let Jeff Scott introduce you to this most anachronistic of sports in 21st Century Britain. If you do you will eventually succumb to the spectacle, the people, and the journey across its peculiar landscape and geographies. You will learn the rhythms of the unvarying repetitiousness of the team meeting format as well as the uniqueness of each individual race. With his gift for location, dialogue, and the human comedy, Jeff will escort you into his world of speedway. There you will accompany him as he watches every speedway team in Britain compete. He lends you his nose as he savors the aroma of methanol, burgers, chips, stressed toilets, and excitement. From his favorite vantage point in the lee of the stadium grandstand or lost in thought on the road to (or from) yet another event behind the wheel and the wipers of his much abused car, Jeff will help you begin your own pilgrimage to speedway. And even though there may well be CONCRETE FOR BREAKFAST for some unlucky riders whose quest for glory ends in a bruised heap of broken bones and bike, Jeff will cleave the chaos for you in a such a way that the event will be invariably portrayed with the charm, irreverence, humanity and compassion that informs the style of this most unique of sports' most unique diarist. This volume is the fifth book in a planned trilogy gone terribly, terribly wrong. It's a "must have" companion to Jeff's masterpiece Showered in Shale as well as his others: Shifting Shale, When Eagles Dared, or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

Formula One is known for glitz and glamour, but lurking in the background are dark, and sometimes deeply strange, goings on: sex scandals with prison camp themes, Nigerian prince scams, protests of its grands prix in countries known for their human rights violations, tax evasion--the list goes on. These things often stay in the background, thanks to efforts by the series to maintain an opulent aura. But with the 2019 season came a force louder than Formula One could dream of muffling: William Storey, the founder of British startup Rich Energy. Storey became a multimillion-dollar sponsor of the Haas Formula One Team a year after records showed Rich Energy having a mere $770 in the bank, but that didn't matter. Storey equated his doubters to moon-landing truthers and publicly mocked entities winning legal disputes against him. In the six months between Storey's first race as a Formula One sponsor and his very public exit, he became the most visible part of the world's most visible racing series, easily tearing down its red-carpet facades with a loud mouth and an active Twitter account. Haas team boss Guenther Steiner described the Rich Energy news cycle, as: "I'm getting sick of answering these stupid fucking questions on a race weekend. I've never seen any fucking thing like this." This book is the fascinating, bizarre, and complete story.

On a bright October morning in 1904, thousands of people flocked to Nassau County on rural Long Island to witness the first international motor sports competition in America: the newly created Vanderbilt Cup. By 1906, the number of spectators multiplied to a quarter million and America's place in motor racing history was assured. In 1908, the Vanderbilt Cup was joined by a second international competition, the International Grand Prize, the first grand prix held outside France. By 1913, the Indianapolis 500 would supplant the Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prize as America's preeminent race, forever turning mainstream America's attention away from road racing and toward the oval tracks then proliferating around the country. Concentrating on the years between 1904 and 1916 and featuring a wealth of photographs, this book examines the early and relatively unknown history of American motor racing. Beginning with an overview of motor racing history, it covers the French origins of the sport and the first international competitions such as the annual Gordon Bennett Cup and the ill-fated Paris to Madrid race. The primary focus is on America's first three races of international stature: the Vanderbilt Cup, the International Grand Prize and the Indianapolis 500. Compiled in great part from contemporary sources such as newspaper accounts and automotive journals, the book covers not only these races, but also the ways in which each spurred development of the American automobile industry, making it at last a true competitor for that of Europe.

Auto racing legend Roger Penske began as a successful sportscar driver before transitioning to owning a race team and opening a car dealership. Within eight years, Team Penske won the Indianapolis 500. Today, the team boasts more than 580 victories, including an unparalleled 18 Indianapolis 500 wins and two at the Daytona 500. Penske's efforts on the track have been intertwined with his business ventures. Penske Corporation, with $32 billion in revenues, includes Penske truck leasing and rentals, retail automotive centers and logistics. In 2019, he bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and related assets, including IndyCar, and led both through the coronavirus pandemic, when racing continued with no fans in the stands. This book chronicles more than 50 years of Roger Penske's racing history, with an overview of his business career, including the turnaround of Detroit Diesel.