- Stealing Speed - July 26, 2025
- The Midnight Sun - July 19, 2025
- Motorradtouren - July 8, 2025
By Mat Oxley
I have known of this book for some time but only just got around to reading it on my way home from Norway.
This was such a fascinating story I could not put it down and I am not a big follower of motorsport.
I used to watch the MotoGP occasionally in the Doohan era and then regularly from when Rossi arrived on 500cc through to when Stoner retired and then less and not at all since it left free to air TV and was made only available to view with a subscription.
But you need not be a motorcycle racing enthusiast to enjoy this book. The story of the espionage and the history of Europe at the time is terrific and Mat brings it alive from many sources and interviews as well the book really conveys the difficulties of racing then and how truly terrifying it was.
With no safety gear and tracks that were death traps it is amazing that a few racers actually survived to tell about the time.
I found the information about the development of the racing technology of the time very interesting. In particular some of the amazing engineering between Honda’s desire to win with four stroke Vs other manufacturers using two strokes. You are probably aware of the 250cc inline 6 Honda made but even more exotic engines were being readied such as a tiny V8 while Suzuki had a 18 speed gearbox.
I’m halfway home currently having a rest in Tokyo and have enjoyed this book so much I just added another of Mat’s writings to my Kindle for the next flight.
Highly recommended.
