'Moto GP is about the individual’s story, the battles between the individuals, the different personalities, the different men that are striving for one goal, to win the world championship'. Freddie Spencer, three-time world champion Since its earliest beginnings on public road courses to today’s purpose-built championship courses, Moto GP has always been about one thing: pushing man and machine to new heights of performance. Telling the story of how leading manufacturers such as Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki, have strived to build the perfect machine, and detailing the incredible rivalries of such sporting legends as Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene, Freddie Spencer and Eddie Lawson, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo – to name just a few – Phil Wain uncovers the stories behind historic races, the innovations that made the best bikes on the grid and describes the infamous moments in which riders were made champions. Moto GP is a photographic celebration of the heroes, bikes and circuits that have defined the adrenaline-soaked world of motorbike racing.
Moto GP has never been seen like this before This stunningly unique visual study of the world's leading motorcycle championship features vintage photographs alongside related images from the modern era. Offering a fresh perspective, it covers the legendary champions, famous tracks, great races, and life away from the track. Written by leading Moto GP journalist Michael Scott, Moto GP Yesterday & Today reveals how the details of the sport have changed over the years, but also how many fundamentals have remained unaltered.
Valentino Rossi's retirement brings down the curtain on an incredible career in the MotoGP motorcycle world championships. With his nine titles, including seven in the premier class, he is widely regarded as the greatest motorcycle racer ever, and his 26 seasons of Grand Prix racing make him unique across both motorcycling and Formula 1. Rossi has been captivating fans since he won his first Grand Prix at the age of 17 and even in his final season, at the age of 42, he has been riding faster than ever. In Valentino Rossi: All His Races, by top journalist Mat Oxley, each and every one of these races comes under the microscope, complete with perspectives about Rossi's achievements, the controversies, his character, and analysis of his bikes. This is a Valentino Rossi book like no other, with photos by Henk Keulemans, who was shooting grand prix racing when Rossi's father Graziano was winning races. Early days, from karting and minimoto bikes to a first GP win, on a 125 Aprilia in the 1996 Czech GP, then onwards to claim the 125cc world title in 1997. Moving up to the 250cc class in 1998 brought four consecutive end-of-season wins riding for Aprilia, followed by a decisive title in 1999 with nine victories. Grabbed by Honda to race its super-successful NSR500, Rossi graduated to the 'class of kings' for 2000, almost becoming champion that season -- but the following year he sealed MotoGP, for 990cc four-stroke bikes, took over and Rossi immediately reigned supreme aboard his Honda RC211V, securing back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003, before a surprise departure to uncompetitive Yamaha. Rossi rates his first year with Yamaha, 2004, as his best: defying expectation, he won first time out on the YZR-M1 and took a fourth successive title with nine wins. In six more seasons with Yamaha, 2005-10, Rossi collected three more championship crowns, his 2008 success especially sweet because it involved a fightback after two leaner years. Rossi's move to Ducati looked to be an appetising all-Italian prospect but his two winless seasons there, 2011 and 2012, were disastrous. A return to Yamaha never quite recaptured his greatest glories, but Rossi was championship runner-up three times and came very close to another title in 2015. Beautifully designed and comprehensively illustrated, this book is the complete record of Valentino Rossi's remarkable career in motorcycle racing.
The Complete Book of BMW Motorcycles offers a thorough year-by-year guide to every production machine ever built by Germany’s leading motorcycle manufacturer. From the first model, the 1923 R32 that launched BMW's motorcycle dynasty, to the latest (and fastest) superbike, the S1000RR, this book captures nearly a century of motorcycling excellence in a combination of historic and contemporary photos. Technical specs are provided for each model. This comprehensive review covers all of BMW's bike families: The side-valve machines from the early years The early overhead-valve performance bikes The modern Airheads and Oilheads The four-cylinder and six-cylinder touring bikes The early pushrod singles The modern overhead-cam singles The latest parallel twins, and inline-four cylinder sport bikes Among them, you'll find all the classic bikes—pre-World War II BMWs like the R5 that defined performance in that era; the military R12 that carried the Wehrmacht as it blitzkrieged its way across Europe; the Earles-forked R69S that offered the perfect platform for mounting a Steib sidecar; the R90S café racer; the K1 “flying brick”; and the GS (Gelände Sport) series that launched a dual-sport revolution right up to today’s world-class S100RR and retro-inspired R nine T. Like the other titles in Motorbooks' Complete Book series, this guide to BMW's motorcycle output offers the most complete reference to the subject available.
This book tells the story of one of the world’s most innovative, beloved, and famous motorcycle manufacturers on its 100th anniversary. In 1921, Giorgio Parodi founded Moto Guzzi with the mechanic Carlo Guzzi. The purpose of the company was to design innovative motorcycles in the Mandello del Lario headquarters on Lake Como, where the factory still stands today. Moto Guzzi bikes immediately stood out for their high performance and technical sophistication. Their greatness was proven by competition wins, and these sporting triumphs were accompanied by commercial success that made Moto Guzzi the most important motorcycle manufacturer in Italy. These victories did not happen by chance, but were the result of continuous innovation. The company soon decided to withdraw from competitions because of its “manifest superiority” and instead focused on production. It has since continued to churn out iconic innovations and models, like the California, which was chosen by the LAPD for their patrols. Moto Guzzi is no longer just a motorcycle but, like Harley-Davidson, it has become a style, a philosophy and a sign of belonging to the Guzzi tribe that unites movie stars like Ewan McGregor with acclaimed designers like Tom Dixon, musicians like Billy Joel, and astronauts such as Paolo Nespoli.
Pryce spent her weekdays working at the BBC stuck in a career rut, but she also led a parallel life as a biker with overwhelming wanderlust. Follow her hilarious adventures as she travels by motorcycle from Alaska to the southernmost tip of Argentina.
The bestselling autobiography of Casey Stoner, Australia's two-time MotoGP Champion. 'If you never give up, anything can happen' - Casey Stoner Showing anything is possible when determination meets talent, two-time World MotoGP champion Casey Stoner shares his inspirational journey from Queensland toddler, with an extraordinary ability on a motorbike, to his decision to retire at twenty-seven with nothing left to prove. For the first time, he tells of his early family life, the development of his riding skills and why his parents decided to sell everything and travel from Australia to Europe to chase the dream and support his aim to become World Champion when he was only fourteen years old. As fearless with his opinions as he is on the racetrack, Casey includes all the highs and lows of his life so far: the real reason he left for Europe so young, his thoughts on racing as it stands today, the riders' hierarchy, the politics of racing, the importance of family, his battle with illness and why he decided to turn his back on a multimillion-dollar contract when he was still winning. And he will let us in on some of the new goals he has set for himself. Pushing the Limits is a unique and remarkable account of self-sacrifice and determination to succeed against the odds, the inspiring story of a young Australian who took on the world on his terms, his way. . . and won.
'AN EXCEPTIONAL READ' - Motor Cycle News 'STUART BARKER IS TO WRITING WHAT VALENTINO ROSSI IS TO RIDING [...] A MUST-READ FOR ALL BIKE NUTS' - DAILY MIRROR 'At high speed everything becomes more difficult and more beautiful. When you're racing at 180mph, the semi-bends become bends, the little holes become big holes, everything becomes extreme and bigger. And then it becomes beautiful.' Valentino Rossi is an icon: the most successful and most loved motorcycle racer of all time, he has transcended MotoGP to become a symbol of courage, risk and daring. To race for twenty-three years at the very highest level of the world's most dangerous sport is unprecedented. But then, there has never been a motorcycle racer like Valentino Rossi. He is a modern-day gladiator, a man who still risks his life every time he throws a leg over a motorcycle. Yet for all his two-wheel talents, it is Rossi's endearing character that has seen him transcend the sport. His popularity is phenomenal. For Rossi, every race is a home race. He turns MotoGP grandstands across the world a sea of yellow - his traditional lucky colour. In more than two decades of Grand Prix racing, Rossi has seen it all. The deaths of rivals and friends, the glory of his unprecedented success, serious injuries, fabulous wealth, the greatest battles ever seen on two wheels, the infamous on and off-track clashes with his fiercest rivals . . . Using exclusive new interviews with those who have been part of Rossi's story from start to finish, critically-acclaimed and bestselling motorsport author Stuart Barker has produced the most in-depth book ever written about the Italian superstar - a tale of speed, love and loss, told in full for the very first time, in all its adrenalin-charged, high-octane glory.
BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.
Formula One 2022, the world's bestselling Grand Prix handbook, is the essential resource for the season ahead. Formula 1 fans will be kept fully up to speed with detailed examinations of all the teams racing in 2022 (from Mercedes and Red Bull to Ferrari and Aston Martin), every driver in competition (including Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton), and all the tracks featured on the packed Grand Prix calendar. It also reviews the 2021 season with race-by-race reports and statistics; highlights changes to the rules and regulations for 2022, and discusses major talking points in F1. As well as the drivers' and constructors' world championship tables from 2021, there is a fill-in guide for 2022, so each book can become a personalised record of the Formula One season. Complementing Bruce Jones's insightful text are dozens of color photographs, detailed circuit maps and a statistics section containing the major records from more than 70 years of the world's most thrilling and glamorous motor sport.
