Le Mans: The Official History of the World’s Greatest Motor Race, 1980-89

The 1980s was a momentous decade in Formula 1 and this book captures its extraordinary drama. A superb range of 250 colour photographs by Rainer Schlegelmilch, one of the greatest motor racing photographers of all time, is supported by insightful commentary from Quentin Spurring, who had the senior editorial role on Autosport magazine for much of that decade. Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell all made their debuts in this decade and became, with Nelson Piquet, the stars of the era - they were arch rivals equipped, at one stage, with the most powerful racing engines of all time. McLaren and Williams first established themselves as regular winners in this period, and these teams, with Ferrari, remain big players today. This was a decade when Formula 1 was transformed by political upheaval, technical innovation and extended TV coverage, all of which laid the foundations for today’s globally popular sport.