RACING LINE – BRITISH MOTORCYCLE RACING IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE BIG SINGLE

Watch our new interview with Bob Guntrip, the author of new book on British motorcycle racing in the 1960s.



Racing Line is the story of big-bike racing in Britain during the 1960s – when the British racing single reached its peak; when exciting racing unfolded at circuits across the land every summer; and when Britain took its last great generation of riding talent and engineering skill to the world.

The decade between 1960 and 1970 saw British racing singles reach the peak of their development, a time in which exciting racing unfolded at circuits across the land every weekend, and the decade of Bob McIntyre, Derek Minter, Mike Hailwood, Phil Read, Bill Ivy and Peter Williams.
Racing Line documents the period from the introduction of the G50 Matchless, up to the advent of the Yamaha TR2, and the birth of the two-stroke era – a period of immense change. Britain during the 1960s wasn’t only a nation of pop music and fashion; it was a decade crammed with the most competitive racing in the history of motorcycle sport. Racing Line tells this story – the riders, the machines, the drama and the excitement.

The sight and sound of an MV-mounted John Surtees in action, at Silverstone in the late ’50s, set Bob Guntrip on course for a lifetime spent on and around motorcycles. A career in journalism led to stints on bike magazines in the UK and Australia, firing the passion still further, and, despite later wanderings into cricket, rugby and science writing, it seemed inevitable that Bob would one day return to his first love. The result is Racing Line, his first book, documenting the excitement of the 1960s, one of the most dramatic decades in the history of British motorcycle sport.

Racing Line – British motorcycle racing in the golden age of the big single by Bob Guntrip is available now. Click HERE for more information about the book.