Formula 5000 Motor Racing
By Derek Lawson
Perhaps my standards, and my expectations, are too high, but I find this new 256-page book disappointing. The first fact to accept is that it effectively ignores the popular North American series—birthed and “nurtured” by the SCCA for nine seasons before being summarily abandoned—to focus instead upon iterations of the American V-8-based formula as it transpired elsewhere in the world. The second disappointment is that the narrative of these events in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand seems very much a third-person recounting, in a dreadfully passive voice, of reportage from events of the day rather than a story based in those reports but supplemented by fresh comments from those who were there taking part. Finding a quote of any kind is all but impossible.
The more than 200 photographs are interesting if not illuminative, but data is limited to top-10 listings of championship results. Fans and friends of Formula 5000 deserve better than this. Still, if you feel you must, it’s available for US$89.95 (£47.50 in the UK) from enthusiast bookstores and Web sites or directly from the publisher at www.veloce.co.uk
