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Scots have been involved in motor racing
from the very beginning. The three Darracqs that took part
in the 1904 British elimination trials for the Gordon-Bennett
Trophy were built in Glasgow by G & J Weir. Since then
Scots have had an influence in motor racing throughout the
world.
For example the original Ormond Beach and
Daytona races in Florida can be traced back to a friendly
challenge by a Grangemouth-born engineer called Alexander
Winton who jumped ship in New York and became a car builder.
He challenged Ransom E Olds to a race down the beach to see
whose car was the quicker.
The first Post-War winner of Le Mans (1949)
was a Scot, Lord Selsdon (Peter Mitchell-Thomson) who shared
his Ferrari 166 with the legendary Luigi Chinetti.
This book tells the complete story of motor
racing in Scotland and the Scots involved in motor racing
with hundreds of anecdotes and stories of the early days of
some of Scotland's best known racing names.
Published in December 2004 SCOTTISH
MOTOR RACING AND DRIVERS has over 200 pages and
more than 250 photographs.There is a biographical section
covering around 100 Scots who have triumphed in International
racing with feature-length biographies of some of Scotland's
best drivers like Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Ron Flockhart,
Innes Ireland, Johnny Dumfries, Allan McNish, David Coulthard
and Dario Franchitti.
Scotland has probably had more potential
motor racing circuits than most other countries but few ever
came into being. However the unseen designs and
plans for these circuits feature in this book along with a
rare insight into
how motor racing in the 1950's and 1960's was organised and
financed.
Graham Gauld has lived through the various
developments in motor racing for over 50 years and this remarkable
story, coupled with his unique personal photo collection,
brings the story to life through the people and the drivers
who have brought fame to Scotland. A few of those photos are
published here.
The book is available through specialist
bookstores or directly from www.smrh.co.uk.
Further information on the book can be obtained
from info@historicmotorracing.co.uk
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