Motor Racing Heroes

Book excerpt: 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.