While at track novice school yesterday, they recommended the following books. Happy reading...

Also, have any of you read any of these? Your advice would help me decide which ones to buy.

1. Porshe High Performance Driving Handbook, Vic Elford
Motorsports International

2. The technique of motor racing, Piero Taruffi
Bentley Publishers

3. Going faster, Carl Lopez
Bentley Publishers

4. Speed secrets, Ross Bentley
MBI Publishing

5. Grassroots Motorsports
904-673-4148

6. Winning Autocross Solo II Competition, Turner and Miles
National Academy for Professional Driving

7. BMW Skip Barber Advanced Driving School
203-824-0771

8. Competition Driving, Alain Prost
Motorbooks International

9. Sportscar and Competition Driving, Paul Frere
Bentley Publishers

10. Driving in Competition, Alan Johnson
W.W. Norton Publishers

11. Winning ... A race driver's handbook, George Anderson
Motorsbooks International

12. Motorbooks International Catalogue
800-826-6600

 

I found Bentley's book to be fairly easy to understand and well organized. Another book recommended to me that's not on your list is "Secrets of Solo Racing" by Henry Watts, but I don't feel it's as clear and well organized as the Bentley.

Another title I liked was "Think to Win" by Don Alexander. You might also be interested in "How to Make Your Car Handle" by Fred Puhn.

I'm strictly a novice myself, so I'm really only commenting on the books' clarity and ease of use for me. I'd sure like to hear what others have to say about any of these titles.

 

What? No Carroll Smith books in the list?

Good reading there...

Also, the Keith Code motorcycle books are good too. A Twist of the Wrist et al are good ones...

 

Which school did you go to and would you recommend it? Been looking at driving schools in the area ...

Have fun,
Derek

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by nova s2k
[B]

Which school did you go to and would you recommend it?

 

I also liked "Going Faster" from Bentley Publishers. After you do a Driver's Education track event, it really helps explain things in easy to understand language.

 

been through the following
- Ayrton Senna's Principles of Race Driving - a "basics" book but nice to have for the Senna collector. well explained for a short read.

- Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving - a little more indepth than the Senna book - its been a few years since I've picked this one up.

- Going Faster : Mastering the Art of Race Driving : The Skip Barber Racing School - a more indepth version of the two books mentioned. still going through so, give me some time on this one.

other books to note:
- Race Car Engineering and Mechanics - great explaination on various suspensions, even if they do not apply to your car. Paul Van Valkenberg is quite the engineer, also publishes "Race Car Engineering" magazine if you've ever seen it - usually 8 bucks or so at Barnes & Noble.

there are others out there, but I must agree with Tex, you gotta get out there and at least do a DE, and you'll get to the finer points of the text.

 

Another vote on the Aryton Senna's book. It's really suited for the beginner. It's very basic, teach you a lot of things about the racing line, and nice diagrams too.

In fact, I just happen to write an article for it too.

Aryton Senna's Principle of Race Driving


Another one that I've read is Skip Barber's book. It's really good, but it's really targeted toward the more advanced students. The far more detailed explanation can easily confuse a beginner.

 

Bought Prost's Competition Driving about 6 years ago, pretty good. Also read Watts' Secrets of Solo Racing last weekend, had a couple extra bits of info that Prost didn't. So, among those two, I'd vote for Watts. But I'm sure I'll get around to the others too.

 

I've read #9 and enjoyed it. Paul Frere looks at lots of things from the engineering side of things, so if you understand things best that way, I recommend this book. Along the same lines "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics" by Milliken(sp?) is another great book if you can find a copy. FYI, both these books get a little heavy into the physics and can get a little dry, if that's not your thing.