If You Like Racing Movies Like' Gran Turismo’ You Should Add These To Your TBR
If you’ve been an avid gamer and have been attached to your Sony Playstation for years, Gran Turismo has been your favourite racing game to play. Even before Forza came out, there was no competition for GT. Many people didn’t know that the film was based on a true story about race car driver Jann Mardenbororugh’s rise from gamer to professional racer.
Sony made a bold choice in changing the mould of the video game adaptation to incorporate a true story for the racing game to come to life.
Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs - a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec - who risk it all take on the most elite sport in the world.
If you have watched or even played Gran Turismo and want to know more about the racing world, here are some recommendations for you!
The books on the list below all explore the life of race car drivers and how demanding their profession can get. Some are true stories that provide insight on the mental state of drivers and how they feel on the track.
Mark Webber was at the centre of one of the most captivating chapters in the history of Formula One. In 2010, while racing for Red Bull, he and his team mate Sebastian Vettel went head to head for the World Championship. There could only be one winner.
Since retiring from Formula One, Mark has concentrated on endurance racing, including the legendary Le Mans 24 hour race. He hit the front pages of newspapers around the world in December 2014 when he slammed into the barricades in the final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in South America, and was lucky to escape with his life.
By the early 1960s, the Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Young Henry Ford ll, who had taken the reins of his grandfather’s company with little business experience to speak of, knew he had to do something to shake things up. Baby boomers were taking to the road in droves, looking for speed, not safety, style not comfort, Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari, whose cars epitomized style, lorded it over the European racing scene. He crafted beautiful sports cars, “science fiction on wheels,” but was also called “the Assassin” because so many drivers perished while racing them.
The world’s foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain’s greatest engineers and this is his fascinating powerful memoir. This explores the story of Adrian’s unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races he has been involved.
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.
Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. On the even of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through.
In 1974, Mark Donohue took a year off from driving at the height of his racing career to write “The Unfair Advantage,” a candid and revealing book about his journey through the world of auto racing — from amateur SSCA races in his own ‘57 Corvette to winning the indy 500 in Roger Penske’s McLaren M16. This new edition contains over 60 additional photographs and comments from people who worked and raced with Donohue during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Have you read any of the books listed above? If you have, let us know which one is your favourite! If you have any recommendations drop them in the comments below.
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