disclosure: we were sent this book in exchange for an honest review

As regular readers will know I’m a bit of a Formula One fan.  I’ve grown up with the sport and love to support Ferrari through good and bad times.  I also love reading, so when I heard about Tracks Racing the Sun recently, I knew I had to read it.

Tracks Racing the Sun is a novel written by Sandro Martini and published through Aurora Metro.  Based on a bygone era of motor racing.  We follow the Golden Years of the sport between the 1920s and ’40s, following the lives of the key drivers of the era.

My Dad is the real historic motor racing buff, my knowledge of motor racing pre-1976 is sketchy, so I was really interested to read more about racing from that period of the sport’s history.  To read about Enzo Ferrari and how my team came to be born.

We meet the pre-war Italian legends – Achille Varzi and Tazio Nuvolari and follow their careers and lives both on and off the tracks.  I had heard of Nuvolari, but not Varsi, and was eager to read about these racing pioneers.  There is no comparison to the cars these guys drove and the Formula One cars I watch today.  They all have an engine, 4 wheels and a steering wheel – but that’s it.

Can you imagine driving at speed on roads, up the sides of mountains; most races in that era where not held on purpose-built circuits.  They raced predominately on roads, no safety barriers, death was normal.

I wanted to read about what would make men risk their lives so freely.  Yes, modern motorsport is still dangerous, but this was at a different level.  Racing Drivers did not live to a ripe old age in those days.

Tracks Racing the Sun takes the reader through the changing political scenes in both Italy and Germany, and how the changing times affect the drivers and racing in general.  I love stories that are based on fact, you learn about the racers and their lives both on and off the track; flawed characters, heroes of their time.

I was captivated from the start, I enjoyed Sandro Martini’s writing style. The book flicks through different time periods as an aging former Motor Racing journalist is interviewed in 1968.  Do you need to be an avid motor racing fan to enjoy this book?  Well, it helps to have an interest, but I think I would have enjoyed this book even if I wasn’t a big fan of the sport.  It’s an interesting and intriguing read.

Tracks Racing the Sun is currently on special offer on Amazon for £6.99 (see my affiliate link below) – an interesting read, which I can thoroughly recommend.  I’m off to learn more about these drivers now!