CLASSIC TEAM LOTUS FESTIVAL (20/6/2010)

Press release from Veloce author Johnny Tipler

Thanks to the generous support of owners worldwide, the Classic Team Lotus Festival at Snetterton on Sunday 20th June presents the first ever gathering of one of every Team Lotus F1 car.

For just one amazing day, The Team Lotus Pavilion will hold the greatest collection of Team Lotus racing cars ever assembled. From the 1958 type 12 through to the 1994 Type 109, there will be 33 Team Lotus F1 design types on view. These precious cars will be lined up in grid formation undercover, so that visitors can walk through the grid to experience a unique close-up encounter with famous racing machinery at the cutting edge of the evolution of F1 car design.


Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman and Managing Director of Classic Team Lotus comments: "We set about bringing the cars together for this unprecedented event when we realised that we could make a full grid of Team Lotus F1 design types. Cars are coming from all over the world – many from Europe, and the 109 is travelling from the Barber Museum in the USA. Owners from Japan and Australia are participating as well.‟

During the lunchbreak at midday the cars will be wheeled through the crowds and out onto the circuit grid, lined up in five abreast formation, for an aerial photograph recording the unique gathering. This special moment can be witnessed by the public from the pitwall, during the pit lane walkabout.


Between 2.00pm and 3.30pm, the race programme will be halted and the Team Lotus Pavilion will come alive, with most of the F1 cars being demonstrated on track. They will be fired up in the public area of the paddock, and then driven out in batches to make four lap runs.Famous guest drivers will include the current Lotus F1 Racing drivers and original Team Lotus Works drivers. As impressive as the Team Lotus grid will be, there is nothing to match the awesome cacophony of these World Championship winning F1 cars and their mechanical soundtrack. This is the real thing.

Newly reprinted! Lotus 49 - The Story of a Legend (Gold Leaf Edition) by Michael Oliver.

The definitive story of the Lotus 49 from inception to the fate of the cars today. Includes a racing record and individual chassis histories.

More info.

INTERMECCANICA - "A FASCINATING TALE ..."

Check out this review of Intermeccanica - The Story of the Prancing Bull in the June 2010 edition of Octane.

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Click here for more info about the book.

WIN a copy in our Twitter competition! (winner chosen at random on 18th June 2010)

FABULOUS GIFTS FOR FATHER'S DAY (20/6/10)

We've added 12 books to the Special Offers section of the Veloce website at bargain price. The perfect gift for Father's Day!

Click here to check out the books on Special Offer!

ONE OF THE BEST-LIKED 'BAD BOYS' IN BRITISH MOTORSPORT!

'Mr Big Healey' – The Official Biography of John Chatham
By Norman Burr.

John Chatham, driver, racer, repairer, rebuilder, tuner, trader and lover of Austin-Healeys, was in the words of Geoffrey Healey “uncontrollable” in his youth, and has only mildly mellowed with age. Burly and genial but formidably competitive, and not above bending the rules when he thought he could get away with it, to many he is the archetypal club racer. John is so synonymous with Austin-Healeys that the most famous racing Healey in the world, DD300, is so well-known mainly because John campaigned it for decades, notching up tens of thousands of racing miles. But his career embraces far more than one car, and until this biography no-one had attempted to fill in the gaps.
The book is not a dry description of one club race after another. It does include a list of John’s principal sporting achievements, but no complete record exists of the hundreds of events which made up his competitive career, so the writer has not attempted to compile one. Instead Norman Burr, who was himself acquainted with John in his youth, has created a more rounded and personal account, full of motoring and sporting anecdotes, but also telling the story of John’s family, his work, his business, his three wives and his lovers. John has a comprehensive photo library from which the book is generously illustrated, with cartoons added to illustrate some of the moments that a camera was not around to record. Thoroughly politically incorrect even by the standards of the 1960s, it’s an account which will strike a chord not only with admirers of Big Healeys, but also with anyone who believes that independent thinking, and the courage to apply and enjoy it, is the greatest virtue of all. With 150 photographs, many previously unpublished, this , which is available now from bookshops or www.velocebooks.com, is an important and entertaining account of one of motorsport’s biggest characters.

SIGNED COPIES
Motorsport fans will be delighted to hear that John Chatham and author, Norman Burr, will be signing copies of this brand new biography at MG Live! 2010 on both Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th of June at Silverstone.

INDEPENDENT REVIEWS
"This is an engaging story, well told, and decent value too." – Octane
"Like its subject, it never comes off the gas." – Classic & Sports Car

Click here for more info about the book.

WIN INTERMECCANICA BY USING TWITTER!

Click here to find out more!

THE BRITISH AT INDIANAPOLIS

It was an eventful weekend for the Brits at the 2010 Indianapolis 500. With four British drivers finishing in the top seven of the final standings, including winner for the second time, Dario Franchitti.

Dario Franchitti now becomes the 17th driver to win Indy 500 more than once, with his second official win, the first coming in 2007. Dario hails from Bathgate, West Lothian Scotland but currently resides in Tennessee. Second place was taken by Dan Wheldon, followed in third by Alex Lloyd.



We're delighted to announce that Dario has written the foreword for forthcoming Veloce book The British at Indianapolis by Ian Wagstaff.

A history of the British influence on the Indianapolis 500, including not only the drivers and cars, but the many others – mechanics, designers, and officials – who have been involved. The story is set out in a series of stand-alone chapters, with a wide variety of informative sidebars, and goes back 100 years to the early days of the race, through the British-led, rear-engined revolution of the 1960s to the present day. More info.

The fantastic achievement of British drivers at this year's Indy 500 was somewhat overshadowed in the media by Mike Conway's spectacular crash. All at Veloce wish Mike a speedy recovery.

TOMCC MEMBERS DISCUSS BONNEVILLE BOOK

The Peterborough TOMCC Branch Meriden Co-op Forum and Save the Triumph Bonneville book signing by John Rosamond took place at The Talbot Inn - Shilton - Peterborough. Nigel Strong organised the event and Mick Barratt chaired the Forum. The pre-publicity in the magazine Nacelle ensured that many TOMCC members taking part were from other branches. The above photograph (courtesy of Mick Barratt) shows John Rosamond sat next to visiting TOMCC member Roy Shilling during the packed Forum.