Yorkshire has been a hotbed of motorsport since the early years of the last century in this latest book.
Motorsport broadcaster and journalist Larry Carter presents a selection of memorable motorsport events, competitors, venues and personalities in the county from the 1920s onwards.
The Sutton Bank Time Trials and the Harewood Hill Climb started in the early years of last century and the latter is still going strong today. The 1938 Scott Trial was held on the Yorkshire Moors as war clouds gathered and in 1971, one of the most iconic RAC rallies ever started at Harrogate.
Yorkshire competitors include Formula One world champion Mike Hawthorn, several generations of the Lampkin family, Superbike aces James Toseland and Tom Sykes, Wakefield stars Mick Grant and Denis Parkinson on two wheels as well as Doncaster’s Tony Sugden and Leeds entrepreneur Chris Meek on four wheels.
The tragic Carter family from Halifax linked to speedway and road racing, the lost tracks at Carnaby and Rufforth which staged massive races in the 1980s, motocross at Hutton Conyers and Boltby was regularly shown on TV and Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough welcomed a roll call of world champions for over half a century from the 1940s.
Croft Autodrome’s links with royalty and the controversial social elite, the Wainman stock car dynasty, Yorkshire rally legends and folklore, plus the Ginetta sports car story, 96 pages of memories which will whisk you back to yesteryear through often rose-tinted glasses.
York’s ten times World Sidecar champion Steve Webster has written a fitting Foreword and with photographic contributions from the archives of Tony Todd, Terry Wright and Mortons Media Group amongst others, many of which have never been published before, it is a snapshot of a county steeped in motorsport history.
Delving through the archives with most pictures previously unpublished, Carter has unearthed a fascinating collection of the most memorable motorsport events and achievements over the last 100 years in Yorkshire which will appeal to all motorsport enthusiasts in the area and beyond.
Out now and priced at £15.99, Yorkshire Motorsport – A Century of Memories complements Carter’s first book, North Eastern Motorsport – A Century of Memories published in 2022 and are both available at www.amberley-books.com, on Amazon or in selected local bookstores.
