Motorcycle Racing with the Continental Circus 1920 to 1970
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€19.99
978-1-787112-74-2
9781787112742
A01=Chris Pereira
Aermacchi
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Author_Chris Pereira
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bike races
bike racing circuits
BMW
Bob McIntyre
Bremgarten
Brooklands
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=SMFK
Category=WGCK
Category=WSPM
Chris Pereira
Classic motorbike racing
Continental Circus
Continental Circus riders
Continental race circuits
COP=United Kingdom
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
DKW
Donington
Eddie Grant
Eirelrennen
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Excelsior
Featherbed Norton
German motorcycles
Ginger Molloy
Graham Walker
GT 250
Honda
Isle of Man
Jim Curry
John Hartle
John Surtees
Kawasaki
Language_English
Mallory Park
Manx Norton
Matchless
Mike Macintyre
Moto GP
motor bike racing
motor cycle races
motorcycle grand prix
motorcycles
Norton
NSU
Nurburgring
PA=Available
Paddy Driver
post-war motorcycle racing
pre-war motorcyle racing
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
racing
racing history
Richard Morley
Rudge
Sechsenring
softlaunch
Solitude
Spa Francorchamps
TT races
V5274
Veloce
Velocette
vintage bike racing
Yamaha
Product details
- ISBN 9781787117785
- Weight: 388g
- Dimensions: 209 x 250mm
- Publication Date: 15 Aug 2021
- Publisher: David & Charles
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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A fascinating history of European motorcycle racing, going back to a period far removed from the world of Moto GP today: a time when many young men from all walks of life decided to give up their livelihoods in favour of earning their living by racing motorcycles on the dangerous public road circuits of the European Continent. It was a nomadic existence that involved travelling from circuit to circuit, circus fashion, hence the title ‘Continental Circus.’
The book begins with the pre-war period, when many young British riders travelled to the Continent to take part in the Grand Prix races, held from around 1920 and across Europe. British riders such as Alec Bennett, Stanley Woods, Jimmy Guthrie and many more, gained notable success and established their reputations on the European circuits. Moving on to the post-war era, the book details the riders from around the world who joined the Circus – self-financed ‘privateers’ from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The 1950s and ’60s were the days of the true Continental Circus, when private riders earned their living riding all over the continent. The book also covers the development of the machines that became the essential tools of the private riders, and the eventual demise of the Continental Circus in the 1970s, due to new safety regulations and the escalating cost of racing.
Chris Pereira’s historical account is sourced both from first-hand experience of racing, and from his own vast library of racing history records and photographs.
Born in Sri Lanka, Chris became interested in Motorcycle Racing in the late 1940s after reading the Motor Cycle and Motor Cycling magazines and acquiring his father’s scrapbooks of pre-war TT riders.
He emigrated to England in 1955 and worked for racing dealer Arthur Taylor who was the sponsor and father-in-law of former World Champion Cecil Sandford. He attended many race meetings during the 1950s and 1960s, and then started Club Racing briefly in 1965, followed by more extensive Vintage and Classic racing from the 1970s to 2015. Chris rode in the Classic Manx GP in 1984 and the Classic TT in 1990. He accumulated an extensive library covering all aspects of motorcycle racing, both pre-war and post-war, and a photo library of over 1000 racing photographs. He has written for several magazines and he was also historian to the TT Riders Association.
