The Illustrated History Of Moto Gp

Text and illustrations look at the history of high-performance motorbike racing.

This illustrated history jam packed with more than 150 stunning photographs celebrates high performance motorbike racing since the start of the world championship in 1949.The daring exploits of motorcycle race legends Valentino Rossi, Barry Sheene, Casey Stoner and John Surtees are all gloriously celebrated in Moto GP: The Illustrated History. Each racing decade is dissected and discussed, as are the big incidents, top personalities and technological innovations. To complete the book, motorcycle racing's greatest names – including John Surtees, Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner and young phenom Marc Marquez – provide exclusive personal insights and accounts of what it is like to race at speeds of 180mph. Moto GP: The Illustrated History is a unique book which brilliantly conveys the exhilarating spirit of this popular sport.

The daring exploits of motorcycle race legends Valentino Rossi, Barry Sheene, Casey Stoner and John Surtees are all gloriously celebrated in MotoGP: The Illustrated History. Updated for 2023 and packed with more than 150 stunning photographs, this authoritative and long-overdue illustrated history celebrates high performance motorbike racing since the start of the world championship in 1949. Each racing decade is dissected and discussed, as are the big incidents, top personalities and technological innovations. To complete the book, motorcycle racing's greatest names - including John Surtees, Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez - provide exclusive personal insights and accounts of what it is like to race at speeds of 200mph. MotoGP: The Illustrated History is a unique book which brilliantly conveys the exhilarating spirit of this stunning sport.

Moto GP has never seen anything like this before, in what is a unique visual study of the world's leading motorcycle championship. Moto GP Yesterday and Today is a stunning illustrated book where vintage photographs are shown alongside related images from the modern era. The topics covered include the legendary champions, famous tracks, great races and life away from the track, which has resulted in a unique record that reveals Moto GP from a new and exciting perspective. Written by leading MotoGP journalist, Michael Scott, Moto GP Yesterday and Today illustrates how much the sport has changed over the years but also how several of the fundamentals of motorcycle racing has remained unaltered.

Officially licensed and published in the 60th anniversary year of World Championship motorcycle racing, this book presents a fact-packed and statistics-laden year-by-year history, concentrating on the premier class (500cc, then MotoGP) but not forgetting the other categories along the way. Beautifully illustrated and designed, written by acknowledged experts and featuring extensive data compiled by MotoGP’s official statistician – all these elements combine to create a history book with a difference.

This book examines the classic period of Grand Prix racing from 1960 to 1969, and the men and machines involved. A fascinating exploration of the last decade of ‘traditional’ Grand Prix racing, before significant events changed the nature of the sport forever.

'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.

A lavishly illustrated and definitive look at the design evolution of the racing motorcycle. The dynamic between competition and design has always fueled the evolution of racing motorcycles and inspired astonishing feats of design and engineering. This book traces the development of the sport bike, from the earliest French motorcycles to the dominance of British machinery in the 1930s, the exotic Italian motorcycles of the 1950s and 1960s, the influence of American racing in the 1970s and 1980s, and today’s Japanese superbikes. More than fifty classic motorcycles—from Harley-Davidsons to Peugeots, Velocettes, Moto Guzzis, BMWs, Kawasakis, and Ducatis—are presented chronologically illustrated with stunning studio photographs that present the machines as works of art and wonders of design in themselves, accompanied by rare and beautiful archival images that place the subjects in the contexts of classic races, rallies, and motorcycle shows, and accompanied by essays revealing the legends behind the machines. Some of the championship motorcycles featured include the 1902 Manon, the 1922 Harley Davidson 8-valve, the 1935 Terrot 500, the 1948 AJS Porcupine, the 1954 Moto Guzzi V8, the 1965 Honda GP 250, The 1976 Suzuki RK67, the 1986 Cagiva GP, and the 1990 Ducati Supermono.