Most car of the world's motor racing literature is written in English. I would not dare pegging a percentage, but an educated guess is much more than 80%. Back in the 70's the percentage was even higher, as publishing technology and markets were very restricted.
As a result, much of what you read about racing in the period covers the USA (plus Canada), Western Europe, South Africa and Australia/New Zealand. That was pretty much what the British and American specialized media was covering these days in magazines, newspapers, books and annuals.
This gives a very wrong impression that racing was not taking place elsewhere in the world, especially in places where English was not spoken.
When I got the idea for my book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized, I would be doing what 99% of motoring writers had done when covering the period: focusing entirely on the major racing taking place in the SA (plus Canada), Western Europe, South Africa and Australia/New Zealand.
Then I had an epiphany of sorts. Why write another book that concentrated on major racing, leaving out the all other wonderfully "romantic" racing taking place in South and Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe? It seemed unfair, given that the book was supposed to be a celebration of the romantic racing being practiced in the area and comprehensive. I simply could not leave out the wonderful racing taking place in Argentina, the dozens upon dozens of venues around the world, races held in unlikely locations...Just writing about Formula 1, like hundreds of other books seemed to be a waste of time and money. Repeating the same old anecdotes you can read about in hundreds of Internet forums seemed unnecessary
Talking about world racing and leaving out the wonderful competitions and cars from Argentina - and dozens of other countries - seemed an unfair corruption of history.
.
I did not leave Formula 1 out. Instead, I picked out interesting bits and pieces, plus some specific statistics from the period. And did cover all the major championships.
The difference is in the details, the thousands of rare pieces of information concerning constructors, racing venues across the world (including hill climbs), the most significant drivers from seventy-two countries, some of which you had not idea held races way back then. Even from widely covered countries such as Britain, France, Italy, you will learn about categories long gone, certain makes you never imagined were involved in racing and find out about the local racing scenes of dozen of countries.
There are also sections on money in the period's racing, sponsors, female drivers and short bios of the most striking personalities from the period, as well as an essay that discusses the pivoting that is the core idea of the book.
There is also a bonus section that covers in detail the development of Brazil as a force to be reckoned with, which left the status of footnote in 1969 to relevance in three seasons.
This is the ultimate reference on 70s racing, a must-have for any true enthusiast.
The book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized can be bought here
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426
As a result, much of what you read about racing in the period covers the USA (plus Canada), Western Europe, South Africa and Australia/New Zealand. That was pretty much what the British and American specialized media was covering these days in magazines, newspapers, books and annuals.
This gives a very wrong impression that racing was not taking place elsewhere in the world, especially in places where English was not spoken.
When I got the idea for my book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized, I would be doing what 99% of motoring writers had done when covering the period: focusing entirely on the major racing taking place in the SA (plus Canada), Western Europe, South Africa and Australia/New Zealand.
Then I had an epiphany of sorts. Why write another book that concentrated on major racing, leaving out the all other wonderfully "romantic" racing taking place in South and Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe? It seemed unfair, given that the book was supposed to be a celebration of the romantic racing being practiced in the area and comprehensive. I simply could not leave out the wonderful racing taking place in Argentina, the dozens upon dozens of venues around the world, races held in unlikely locations...Just writing about Formula 1, like hundreds of other books seemed to be a waste of time and money. Repeating the same old anecdotes you can read about in hundreds of Internet forums seemed unnecessary
.
I did not leave Formula 1 out. Instead, I picked out interesting bits and pieces, plus some specific statistics from the period. And did cover all the major championships.
The difference is in the details, the thousands of rare pieces of information concerning constructors, racing venues across the world (including hill climbs), the most significant drivers from seventy-two countries, some of which you had not idea held races way back then. Even from widely covered countries such as Britain, France, Italy, you will learn about categories long gone, certain makes you never imagined were involved in racing and find out about the local racing scenes of dozen of countries.
There are also sections on money in the period's racing, sponsors, female drivers and short bios of the most striking personalities from the period, as well as an essay that discusses the pivoting that is the core idea of the book.
There is also a bonus section that covers in detail the development of Brazil as a force to be reckoned with, which left the status of footnote in 1969 to relevance in three seasons.
This is the ultimate reference on 70s racing, a must-have for any true enthusiast.
The book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized can be bought here
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426
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