
A celebration of the best of our motor sport heroes compiled by Will Hagon, a legend of ABC Radio. Australia has had the first and third winners of the world's oldest motor sport world championship - five world champions in all - in motorcycle speedway; six GP m/c champions (plus three others); two world champion drivers among the 16 who have driven in F1 grands prix; four winners of the Le Mans 24 Hour race, including our first in the sixth year of the race's running, 1928. One of these, the first motor racing knight, Sir Jack Brabham, was not only world champion driver three times: he achieved two things that have never been done by anyone else - and never will be. He got a small team of clever Australian engineers to design an engine to take on and beat the likes of Ferrari, while the Australian designer who worked with Jack became the world's biggest and best racing car designer. These achievements were remarkable yet are least valued in their home country. We've had top riders and drivers, engineers and mechanics, designers, racing car and engine builders, who have, almost since the birth of the car, packed their bags, tools, machinery and gear, headed for overseas and, as the late Peter Brock used to say, "given it a red hot go". We've invented events and series that have brought the world's best to our shores. Sometimes we've beaten the world's best - bikes and riders, cars and drivers - with cleverly concocted local machinery. ABC Radio's Will Hagon will celebrate these heroes - the ones we know and the ones we don't - in Great Australian Motor Racing Stories.
Page Count:
304
Publication Date:
2015-01-01
ISBN-10:
0733333788
ISBN-13:
9780733333781
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