Biography of the late Irish motorcycle racing legend, Joey Dunlop, who won a record 26 Isle of Man TT races over the famous road circuit, as well as a host of other titles, during a 30-year career.
Joey Dunlop, ‘Yer Man’, as he was affectionately known, was a racing legend, adored by the Irish people. Born and raised in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, Dunlop started racing in 1969 on a 199cc Tiger Cub for which he paid £50. It was the beginning of a passion that would rule and ultimately take his life.
He was never more at home than competing in the famous Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (TT) races. His mastery of this treacherous course was total, and his passion for success mirrored that of his fans. In 1998 he arrived having crashed in the 100-mile Tandragree road race, breaking his pelvis and collarbone. Still, there was a race to be won and Dunlop duly took the lightweight TT by a margin of 47 seconds. His first two TT victories came on Yamahas, but Honda would be the ally from 1983, the plain yellow helmet a beacon to the supporters who idolised the Irishman. In all he took the chequered flag in 26 TT races, until his tragic death on 2 July 2000 while racing in Estonia.
There were honours off the bike too. In 1986 he was awarded an MBE for services to motorcycling. That was followed 10 years later by an OBE in recognition of his efforts transporting food and medical supplies to Romanian orphanages.
The Author has blended archive material and freshly conducted interviews with Joey’s friends, family and racing peers like Steve Hislop, Carl Fogarty and Roger Marshall to produce this book. The result is a balanced, revealing and passionate account of a genuine sporting hero.

Just Joey: The Joey Dunlop Story

Sports & Outdoors

Walker, Jimmy

Biographies

Willow

The 40-year-old Scot has been Britain's most successful Grand Prix racer since the legendary Barry Sheene. At his final race in Knockhill in August 2001, more than 20,000 fans turned up to watch Mackenzie and to bid farewell to their local hero.
Niall has come a long way from Denny where he would regularly get into trouble for racing round the streets, as well as in and out of the local chip shops, to impress the girls.
As an amateur it was recognized he had an abundance of talent, especially after winning his first race at Knockhill, but he also had a wild side and looks back on a time when chasing girls and getting drunk were as important as winning races.
After moving up through the amateur ranks and securing his first factory 500cc rides on a Suzuki, Niall notched up a host of 500cc GP podium finishes before moving to Superbikes. He proved unbeatable between 1996 and 1998 when he claimed a hat-trick of British Superbike titles. On each occasion he beat big-name team-mates such as Jamie Whitham, Chris Walker and Steve Hislop.
This fascinating look into the British GP and Superbike scene through the eyes of one of its legends, has now been fully updated with Mackenzie’s latest adventures in his career off the track in 2003.

Niall Mackenzie: The Autobiography

MacKenzie, Niall

Steve Hislop was one of the most famous motorcycle racers in the world. He had always been a controversial and outspoken character having had many famous clashes and splits with teams and riders over the years, not always to his advantage. Season 2003 was no different. Steve’s life was incredible, funny and ultimately tragic.
Hislop made his debut in 1979 on a bike paid for by his father, but when the latter died of a heart-attack, he embarked on a self-destructive quest that resulted in more crashed bikes and cars than he can remember. Three years later his brother Garry was killed racing at Silloth.
It looked as if he would never race again but while on holiday at the Isle of Man TT races in 1983, he was mesmerised by the sight of Joey Dunlop and he knew he had to try it.
He took to the roads immediately, amassing an amazing career record of 11 wins and was the first rider in history to lap the course at an average speed of over 120mph. Hizzy's TT victories over big name rivals like Joey Dunlop and Carl Fogarty made him a living legend beyond the confines of just the UK. He turned his back on the Isle of Man in 1994, claiming it was too fast and dangerous for modern superbikes.
However, he had already proved he was just as fast on purpose-built short circuits having won the British 250cc championship in 1990 and then went on to win the British Superbike (BSB) title in 1995 and 2002.
Defending a title is always difficult and made even harder when your current team doesn't give you a new contract. However, season 2003 started positively for Steve, inasmuch as he found a new team, but he was sacked half way through the season after a string of poor results on an uncompetitive bike. These events, however, paled into insignificance when Steve was killed in July 2003 when the helicopter he was flying crashed in a remote Scottish border region. His book is a fitting tribute to a motor racing legend.

Hizzy: The Autobiography of Steve Hislop

Hislop, Steve

The definitive life story of the seventies world 500cc motorcycle champion Barry Sheene – the Brit whose death-defying crashes and playboy lifestyle made him the most famous bike racer on the planet. Written by the only journalist to have ridden on the roads with him, and featuring interviews with closest friends, team mates and former rivals.
Born in London's East End in 1950, Sheene was introduced to motor sport at the age of five, with his father Frank building him his first ever motorbike.
His story traces his humble beginnings as a maverick opposed to every educational influence, through an apprenticeship as a part-time rider and full-time mechanic, to a works team racer, with a host of diversions in pursuit of the opposite sex.
It charts his success between 1975 and 1982, a golden period during which Sheene won more international 500cc and 750cc Grand Prix titles than anyone, including the world 500cc title in 1976 and 1977. This despite the horrendous carnage from a series of near-fatal crashes from which Sheene miraculously survived and overcame, against all odds.
Outside the sport, Sheene discovered an acting talent, appearing in the ITV show Just Amazing and in numerous TV commercials, making him a household name. On his retirement, he found fulfilment (and a friendlier climate for his battered body) in Brisbane as an expert motor sport commentator and an accomplished businessman. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2002 he shunned conventional treatments, preferring natural remedies, but died early in 2003.
This is the complete portrait of perhaps the greatest circuit racer of them all.

Barry Sheene 1950–2003: The Biography

Barker, Stuart

Life of Evel: Evel Knievel

Biographies & Memoirs

Harpercollins Pub, Ltd.

Following the retirement of the legendary Carl Fogarty, Chris Walker has become Britain's most popular motorcycle racer. Incredibly brave, outspoken and with talent to burn, Chris is frank about his hell-raising exploits on and off track, his legion of fans and his action-packed career in World and British superbikes.Chris Walker's first book recreates his zest for life, passion for bikes, but most-of-all, his unique sense of humour. It includes not only the inside story of his racing, but revelations of his and fellow riders' more 'racy' exploits.Chris will also expose some of the inner demons that are rarely shown to the public. Major storylines include:• A childhood surrounded by bikes, and his first girlfriend: 'She was 13 going on 21 and had the biggest boobs I have ever seen.'• A catalogue of broken bones: just weeks after spending four months in plaster following a serious road bike accident, he almost severed his other leg when motocrossing.• The inevitable attention of the opposite sex: 'Girls would not have been knocking on my motorhome door offering a blow-job if I hadn't been racing bikes…'• The classic season-long ding-dong battle with arch-rival Neil Hodgson, which went to the courts over disputed points.• The loyal support, and exploits, of his five-strong 18-stone posse of mates known as the 'Big Lads' and the less-welcome attentions of a fully-fledged stalker.• A switch to Carl Fogarty's race team: 'The bike caught fire during practice at Silverstone and I jumped off to avoid serious injury – but not before all my pubic hair had burnt off!'• His battles with the debilitating Bell’s Palsy.• His long-awaited first World Superbike win from the back of the grid at Assen in 2006.Updated and told in Chris's inimitably self-deprecating style – and with all the drama of the opening races of the 2008 World Supersport series – the book breaks the mould of recent motorcycling autobiographies.

Stalker! Chris Walker: The Autobiography

Walker, Chris

HarperSport

A true story of death and survival in the world's most dangerous sport, cave diving. Two friends plunge 900 ft deep into a water-filled crater in the Kalahari Desert to raise the body of a diver who had perished there a decade before. Only one returns. Unquenchable heroism and complex human relationships amid the perils of extreme sport. On New Year's Day, 2005, David Shaw travelled halfway around the world on a journey that took him to the Kalahari Desert of South Africa, to a site known locally as Boesmansgat: Bushman's Hole. His destination was nearly 900 feet below the surface. On 8 January, he stepped into the water. He wore and carried on him some of the most advanced diving equipment ever developed. Mounted to a helmet on his head was a video camera. David Shaw was about to attempt what had never been done before, and he wanted the world to see. He descended. About fifteen feet below the surface was a fissure in the dolomite bottom of the basin, barely wide enough to admit him and his equipment and the aluminum tanks slung under his shoulders. He slipped through the opening, and disappeared from sight, leaving behind the world of light and life. Then, a second diver descended through the same crack in the stone. This was Don Shirley, Shaw's friend and frequent dive partner, one of the few people in the world qualified to follow where Shaw was about to go. In the community of extreme diving, Don Shirley was a master among masters. Twenty-five minutes later, one of the men was dead. The other was in mortal peril, and would spend the next 10 hours struggling to survive, existing literally from breath to breath. What happened that day at Bushman's Hole is the stuff of nightmarish drama, juxtaposing classic elements of suspense with an extreme environment beyond most people's comprehension. But it's also a compelling human story of friendship, heroism, unswerving ambition and of coming to terms with loss and tragedy.

Raising the Dead: A True Story of Death and Survival

Phillip Finch

Harpercollins

A true story of death and survival in the world's most dangerous sport, cave diving. Two friends plunge 900 ft deep into the water of the Komali Springs in South Africa, to raise the body of a diver who had perished there a decade before. Only one returns. Unquenchable heroism and complex human relationships amid the perils of extreme sport. On New Year's Day, 2005, David Shaw travelled halfway around the world on a journey that took him to a steep crater in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa, a site known locally as Boesmansgat: Bushman's Hole. His destination was nearly 900 feet below the surface. On 8 January, he stepped into the water. He wore and carried on him some of the most advanced diving equipment ever developed. Mounted to a helmet on his head was a video camera. David Shaw was about to attempt what had never been done before, and he wanted the world to see. He descended. About fifteen feet below the surface was a fissure in the dolomite bottom of the basin, barely wide enough to admit him and his equipment and the aluminum tanks slung under his shoulders. He slipped through the opening, and disappeared from sight, leaving behind the world of light and life. Then, a second diver descended through the same crack in the stone. This was Don Shirley, Shaw's friend and frequent dive partner, one of the few people in the world qualified to follow where Shaw was about to go. In the community of extreme diving, Don Shirley was a master among masters. Twenty-five minutes later, one of the men was dead. The other was in mortal peril, and would spend the next 10 hours struggling to survive, existing literally from breath to breath. What happened that day at Bushman's Hole is the stuff of nightmarish drama, juxtaposing classic elements of suspense with an extreme environment beyond most people's comprehension. But it's also a compelling human story of friendship, heroism, unswerving ambition and of coming to terms with loss and tragedy.

Extreme Sports

The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, the Fast Lane and Me

Top Gear's iconic driver The Stig is finally revealed! Ben Collins divulges how he came to be Top Gear's iconic driver, as well as what it's like to thrash an Aston Martin DBS, train for the Army, face the terror of Jeremy Clarkson's underwear, and much more. When The Black Stig disappeared off the end of an aircraft carrier in 2003, audiences were introduced to The White Stig—faster, stranger, and harder to keep clean. Ever since, millions have wondered—who is The Man in the White Suit? They're about to find out. Ben Collins caught the car the bug young, kicking his dad's boss in the balls for not giving him a company Jag, and this was the attitude that eventually led him to spend seven years sharing a cabin with Jeremy Clarkson's underwear, James May's PhD thesis, and Richard Hammond's hairspray. Now he tells all about life inside the iconic white helmet: what it's like to guide a blind ex-RAF officer around the Top Gear track, pit a drug dealer's Mitsubishi Evo against a Trojan tank, set a Vauxhall Monaro against Chloe the dancing Ninja, and race double-decker Routemasters against bendy buses—not to mention all the inside stuff on how the show's amazing driving sequences are made. He also reveals how he got to be there—setting a Dunsfold lap time faster than Michael Schumacher's. It's an awesome story, told by an amazing man.

Collins, Ben

Arts & Literature

HarperCollins, UK

The Stig gets his kit off and reveals how he came to be Top Gear's iconic racing driver and so much more - including what it's like to thrash an Aston Martin DBS, train for the Army and face the terror of Jeremy Clarkson's underwear…
When the Black Stig disappeared off the end of an aircraft carrier in 2003, we were introduced to The White Stig. Faster. Stranger. Harder to keep clean. And ever since, millions have wondered – who is The Man in the White Suit? They're about to find out.
Ben Collins caught the car the bug young, kicking his dad's boss in the balls for not giving him a company Jag. This was the attitude that eventually led him to spend seven years sharing a cabin with Jeremy Clarkson's underwear, James May's PhD thesis and Richard Hammond's hairspray. Because he is The Stig.
Now he tells all about life inside the iconic white helmet. What it's like to guide a blind ex-RAF officer around the Top Gear track; pit a drug dealer's Mitsubishi Evo against a Trojan tank; set a Vauxhall Monara against Chloe the dancing Ninja; and race double-decker Routemasters against bendy buses. Not to mention all the inside stuff on how the show's amazing driving sequences are made.
He also reveals how he got to be there – setting a Dunsfold lap time faster than Michael Schumacher's. Breaking records with the best of the best at Daytona and Le Mans.
It's an awesome story, told by an amazing man.

The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, The Fast Lane And Me. The Sunday Times Bestselling Autobiography from the Motor Racing Icon

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books on the Extreme Sports subject. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Extreme Sports Books

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books on the Extreme Sports subject. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Just Joey: The Joey Dunlop Story

Niall Mackenzie: The Autobiography

Hizzy: The Autobiography of Steve Hislop

Barry Sheene 1950–2003: The Biography

Life of Evel: Evel Knievel

Stalker! Chris Walker: The Autobiography

Raising the Dead: A True Story of Death and Survival

Raising the Dead: A True Story of Death and Survival

The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, the Fast Lane and Me

The Man in the White Suit: The Stig, Le Mans, The Fast Lane And Me. The Sunday Times Bestselling Autobiography from the Motor Racing Icon