113 replies to this topic

[Joe Bosworth]

I am interested in hearing from others who they believe are the most influential, favourite motor sports writers of their lifetimes.

As an english speaker I can not comment on those who contribute outside my language of choice but let's keep the field open for all.

To kick things off I will throw my choices in the ring and nominate, (in alphabetical order):

Chris Economaki
Dennis Jenkinson
Karl Ludvigson
Doug Nye
Eoin Young

[PhilKerr]

1) Mike Lawrence
2) Tom Rubython
3) Chris Balfe
4) Eric Silbermann
5) Eoin Young

Those 5 are personal faves not most influential

[Racer Joe]

I don't have a favourite but I am very impressed with Mark Hughes.

[jonpollak]

I'm with Joe the Spurs fan.
Mark Hughes writes my favorite column. It's called Trackside View.

I always wanna know what's going on trackside...
He seem to look at/for the same things I do and conveys it with these great in the moment observations which I can easily visualize.
Way better than most TV coverage we get these days...


To Mr.Bosworth...(the other Joe)
I assume you know Chris has a book out?
http://www.motorbook...tails_36096.ncm

Jp

[Hiatt]

I must nominate Nigel Roebuck as one of the most influential.
I think he has most readers among the not so die-hard fans and he has also a role of "ask me and I tell you".

[Speed Racer 99]

Nigel Roebuck

[911]

Originally posted by Hiatt
I must nominate Nigel Roebuck as one of the most influential.
I think he has most readers among the not so die-hard fans and he has also a role of "ask me and I tell you".

He's my clear choice. Although I may not agree with some of his columns, I really appreciate the kind of writing that he does. As a writer, he's been very influential to me.

[Ross Stonefeld]

1. Robin Miller: the only motorsport journalist ive seen (granted im young) who told anything anywhere close to the actual truth about racing.

2. I.N. Sider from Valvoline.com who clearly knows what he's seen and knows what he's talking about.

3. No one else really.

[Imperial]

Nigel Roebuck.

[mark f1]

Nigel Roebuck
Adam Cooper
Doug Nye

in no particular order.

Mark

[911]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
1. Robin Miller: the only motorsport journalist ive seen (granted im young) who told anything anywhere close to the actual truth about racing.

2. I.N. Sider from Valvoline.com who clearly knows what he's seen and knows what he's talking about.

3. No one else really.

Good one, Ross. I forgot about good 'ole Robin. He's very good and doesn't pull too many punches when it comes to reporting.

[tidytracks]

It's a tough question as Motoring writers come from so many different angles. You've got road car writers, motorsport writers, and in there there are numerous sub sections of feature writers, news reporters, technical writers... I take my hat off to them all

But the writers whose work I adore and which has had the biggest influence on me are:

David Tremayne
Nigel Roebuck

...and the guys at sniff petrol (Ok, they're not what I'd call influential on me, I just enjoy reading their site for a sideways view on life and cars and a good old fashioned laugh)

[kayemod]

Can't believe that nobody has mentioned my all-time favourite Pete Lyons. He had a DSJ like passion for motorsport and life in general in everything he wrote, and his race reports made you feel you were there, in much the same way that Dennis Jenkinson's always did. Can't decide on the order, but Nigel Roebuck, Doug Nye and Mike Lawrence all deserve honourable mentions.

[kayemod]

Originally posted by kayemod
.....all deserve honourable mentions.

And I'll also like to add Richard Williams to that list.

[F1Fanatic.co.uk]

Originally posted by kayemod
And I'll also like to add Richard Williams to that list.

I'd second that. I also like Gerald Donaldson's writing very much, and Alan Henry's in the Guardian (not so much in Autocar). Kevin Eason in The Times can be very good too.

I do like Nigel Roebuck's Fifth Column, but it's a bit of a victim of its own success in that he can repeat some things too much (especially Villeneuve and Andretti quotes) and his occasional pot-shots at 'political correctness' can be wearisome. But on the whole, the good vastly outweighs the bad, and whenever I dig up an old copy of Autosport it's invariably the first thing I turn to.

[VoLGio]

Nigel Roebuck
Doug Nye
Allan Henry
Christopher Hilton

[lordy]

Unquestionably Nigel Roebuck for me.

I find Mark Hughes more a poet than a writer ;)

[nordschleife]

Henry N. Manney
Pete Lyons
Gerry Donaldson
Alan Henry
Mike Lawrence

[PhilKerr]

Alan Henry used to be good but he is past it now

He has just become a sad bitter old Schumi hater almost to the extent of Peter Windsor's obsessive hatred of JV, Henry has lost his objectivity and has instead in F1Racing turned into tabloid sensationalism plus he wrote a book not long ago that was of a very poor standard

[Ultra150]

My favorite motoring writer.

John Phillips.

[Lifew12]

Roebuck is an excellent writer; whether you agree with him or not he is still eminently readable.

DSJ must be lauded, naturally, and (more motoring than racing) LJK Setright. From the past, SCH 'Sammy' Davis wrote some wonderful books, and Rodney Walkerlely gets close too.

And if you havn;t read it, try Richard Desmond (not a racing writer) 'The Man with two Shadows' on Alberto and Antonio Ascari. This book has been a great influence on me, and is one of the few where the writing actually sends shivers up the spine.

The best racing writer right now? me, of course. My website is in my profile - see the 'Magazine' section.;)

[kayemod]

Originally posted by Lifew12
DSJ must be lauded, naturally, and (more motoring than racing) LJK Setright. From the past, SCH 'Sammy' Davis wrote some wonderful books, and Rodney Walkerlely gets close too.

I thought we were being asked to name current or fairly recent writers, but if we're going right back as far as Sammy Davis, what about Lawrence Pomeroy?

[HoldenRT]

James Allen & Peter Windsor.

[maczippy]

My wife.

Emily Wheeler

But then I'm biased.

Then I agree with Ross - Miller is pretty cool.

Also, I always enjoy John Ulrich's editorials (of RoadRacingWorld)

Andrew

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by HoldenRT
James Allen & Peter Windsor.

In no particular order:

Denis Jenkinson
Doug Nye
Laurence Pomeroy
Nick Georgano
William Court
David Venables
LJK Setright
Griff Borgeson
Adriano Cimarosti
Hugh Conway
F Wilson McComb
Cyril Posthumus ....

(Get the impression I've got lots of books?;) )

[DaleCooper]

Alan Henry. He does a good job at being an objective reporter, yet he doesn't hold back on his opinions. I don't always agree with him, but he is usually fair.


Cooper

[Haddock]

My favourites stand out in different ways

For capturing the essence of the sport, and his way with words,

Mark Hughes

For explaing the politics of the sport better than anyone else, and again, a real way with words

Mike Lawrence (his book "Chapman: Wayward Genius" might be my favourite motorsports book)

For the weird sense of humour which punctuates his reports (his Autosport GP qualy reports in the early 90s are uniformly brilliant)

Joe Saward

For his encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of the sport (but wish he'd lay off the UK domestic politics):

Nigel Roebuck

For his excellent writing for a more general audience in "The Guardian", and his great books

Richard Williams

[beanoid]

Mark Gardiner

(There's way more than that, but I can't figure out how to find the archive of his columns online.)

[kayemod]

Originally posted by lordy
Unquestionably Nigel Roebuck for me.

I find Mark Hughes more a poet than a writer ;)

Mark Hughes is much too analytical and prolix (look it up), to be a good writer. By the way lordy, congratulations on your recent Eurovision win.

[MortenF1]

Originally posted by Vitesse2

Say what you want about Allen the commentator, but Allen the writer is actually very good.

[xflow7]

Not motorsports particularly, but I'm a big Peter Egan fan.

[FLB]

Renaud de Laborderie
Gérard 'Jabby' Crombac
DSJ
Nigel Roebuck
William Court
Joe Scalzo
Doug Nye
David Tremayne
Cesare de Agostini

[lordy]

Originally posted by kayemod


Mark Hughes is much too analytical and prolix (look it up), to be a good writer. By the way lordy, congratulations on your recent Eurovision win.

I had to Google to understand this. I wasn't there, it wasn't me!

[ensign14]

Is any motoring writer truly influential ? Perhaps the most influential book about cars ever was by Ralph Nader.

To me the best, and perhaps the only one who can be considered a writer in the literary tradition cricket* alone of sports has, is William Court. Maybe Setright as well.

Although I will read anything by Roebuck, Dr Lawrence, and Nye - the Holy Trinity if you will. And Richard Williams wrote the only book worth reading about Senna.

* I understand there are lots of good baseball authors but I'm not really interested in rounders

[Corners]

Mark Hughes is quite insightful, James Allen is a complete Arse(just thought I'd get that in)

[ensign14]

Originally posted by xflow7
Not motorsports particularly, but I'm a big Peter Egan fan.

"Ever Decreasing Circles" was massively underrated.

[Jodum5]

The one and only David Cameron, and Biranit Goren (when she chooses to write)

[scheivlak]

Nye, DSJ, Pete Lyons back then and yes, Bira.

[xflow7]

Originally posted by ensign14
"Ever Decreasing Circles" was massively underrated.

I think maybe we're talking about different Peter Egans.

The one I'm referring to lives in Wisconsin and has a column in Road & Track magazine called Side Glances:

http://www.roadandtr...p?section_id=26

He at least used to also write for Cycle World, though I don't know if he still does.

[osborn]

None for Matt Bishop?

I find in no particular order Richard Williams, Adam Cooper, Tony Dodgins, Dieter Rencken and Richard Porter (Evo/Sniff Petrol) to all be very capable in their own way.

[Joe Bosworth]

Ensign 14 a few comments ago asked, "Is any motoring writer truly influential ?"

The reason I placed Chris Economaki and Eoin Young in my top 5 was that particularly that in my opinion both were highly influential.

At the other end of the scale, for instance & IMHO, Henry Manney was a stylized writer who was entertaining but wrote fluff for the most part and whose influence circle was seldom read beyond the pages of R & T.

EY was not only very close to a wide range of drivers on a personal basis but he also worked directly for McLaren Cars and was also at times employed by companies that were putting sponsorship into racing. I believe that those truly on the inside can confirm that EY was the central point of several very top sponsorship deals and driver placements. All that and his writing detail and style is hard to beat.

Economaki was in the odd position of being both a motoring news owner, writer of weekly columns that spoke without fear or favour on 1000's of pointed issues and was able to go out for dinner and drinks with the very top level of drivers on both sides of the Atlantic. He also was a race announcer and was responsible for putting thousands of bums on seats for all kinds of racing.

May be that I will have to expand my circle of reading based on the comments of other's favourites.

Regards

[Clare]

Michael Schmidt (AMuS/print edition)
Adam Cooper

[Louis Mr. F1]

Maurice Hamilton - his books on the 93 & 98 Jordan season is still one of my favourite, I'd love to see more titles on small F1 teams.

Nigel Roebuck - his personal 85 - 89 yearbook series were better than the Autocourse + his many columns.

[917]

In the German speaking part of the world:

With a vast amount of knowledge of motorsport history:
Adriano Cimarosti (motorsport editor of "Automobil Revue", Switzerland, for four decades)

Very entertaining and influential (because many others tried to write like him):
Herbert Völker ("Autorevue", Austria)

At a time good journalists and later team managers (and hence more influential than the normal writer):
Dieter Stappert, Rico Steinemann, Manfred Jantke and Norbert Haug

Still able to give you a first-hand account from the cockpit:
Paul Frère

The strange aspect of this list is that only Jantke and Haug are German, Frère is from Belgium, Steinemann was Swiss, Völker and Stappert are from Austria and Cimarosti was born in Italy and lives in Switzerland. But on the other hand the man I rate as the best German automotive journalist nearly never wrote about motorsport: Paul Simsa.

[kayemod]

Peter Egan?

Now I know what our own much loved Jeremy Clarkson gets up to on his days off. Egan reads just like JC with an American accent.

[pkenny]

Not very original ones from me but here goes (in no particular order)

Nigel Roebuck, Robin Miller and Richard Williams.

Williams is the best sports writer in the English language bar none in my opinion - I read his columns even when I have no interest in the sports in question. His books are things of beauty and I always come back and read them again. The first page I read in Autosport is Roebucks. If you are interested in open wheel racing from North America (and I am) Miller is excellent.

PK

[Haddock]

pkenny - Have to agree about Richard Williams. Despite having no interest in football, I'm still very tempted to read his latest book.

I've swapped my daily paper around to follow Williams' writing - when he was with the Indie, I got the Indie, now he's back at the Guardian I read it instead.

[kayemod]

Originally posted by Haddock
pkenny - Have to agree about Richard Williams. Despite having no interest in football, I'm still very tempted to read his latest book.

I've swapped my daily paper around to follow Williams' writing - when he was with the Indie, I got the Indie, now he's back at the Guardian I read it instead.

Pleased that several agree with me about Richard Williams, his Enzo Ferrari is one of the best motorsport books I've ever read. We'll have to be careful here, we're turning Racing Comments into something like TNF.

[Joe Bosworth]

I started this here rather than on TNF specifically because I wanted a more contemporary view.

Also thanks for pointing out that there is a new Economaki book. I'll keep my open for it.

And just in case any of the (other) Orstralian TNFers can get this far north on the Forum page I would be interested to see them chime in on the merits of others such as Muckeye or Grime Aird.

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by kayemod


Pleased that several agree with me about Richard Williams, his Enzo Ferrari is one of the best motorsport books I've ever read. We'll have to be careful here, we're turning Racing Comments into something like TNF.

Yep - despite not being a Ferrari fan, I enjoyed that one immensely. His "Last Great Road Race" is a minor masterpiece too.

As to turning RC into TNF - if mention of DSJ, DCN, HNM etc inspires people to read their work is that a bad thing?;)