The last Formula 1 round of the 2021 season is history, the fans are celebrating the 34th world champion.
Adriano Cimarosti knows them all, and most of the champions of the last 70 years even know them personally.
The Italian, who was born in Friuli in 1937, started writing about motorsport for the Swiss “Automobil Revue” in 1961 and continued to do so until 2001. “Cima” is regarded as the changing lexicon of the full throttle industry and godfather of German-speaking motor journalism, whose profound detailed knowledge has produced several specialist books has.
The most recent is called “99 Years of Motorsport” and is recommended to all those who develop certain withdrawal symptoms during the winter break. The work consists of three volumes. In fact, the now 84-year-old contemporary witness not only recounts the history of the international automobile racing scene in an entertaining way, but has enriched it with very personal anecdotes, which allows completely new insights. You will hardly get any closer to actors like Juan Manuel Fangio, Jo Siffert or Ayrton Senna, their triumphs and tragedies, in short: once you start you don't want to stop browsing.
Cimarosti starts from scratch, with the very first automobile race Paris – Rouen in 1894 and those dusty 126 kilometers that fearless pilots and their racing boxes wanted to cover in a maximum of eight and a half hours. Long distance and hill climbs were among the first events of their kind; they are just as compact, knowledgeable and atmospheric as the Targa Florio, held from 1906, the Monte Carlo and Indy 500 rallies (each since 1911), the Klausen race (1922 to 1934) or the 24 hours of Le Mans (from 1923).
Cimarosti also recapitulates the forerunner of Formula 1, the European Grand Prix Championship, naturally and in sometimes amusing scenes like this one: “At the GP of Belgium and Europe in 1925 in Spa-Francorchamps, only seven cars started: three Alfa Romeo P2 and four Delage 2 LCV. Bugatti and Sunbeam declared forfait. The Alfa Romeo proved to be vastly superior, but the audience made unfriendly noises during the passage of the eight-cylinder from Milan, while the Delage applauded. The Delage then retired one after the other, so that from the 29th lap only the two Alfa from Ascari and Campari remained in the race. Now chief designer Vittorio Jano ordered his two drivers to the pits, where a set snack table had been prepared for them.While the P2 was refueled and cleaned, Ascari and Campari dined calmly. Then they drove to the end of the race. "
Now, in these 99 years, things are usually more rapid, other legends such as Louis Chiron or Tazio Nuvolari emerge again very vividly from the original automotive soup in the form of heroic portraits. Many photos come from Cimarosti's fabulous archive and are unknown even to enthusiasts. The whole thing is presented in a remarkably good layout, which supports the content very well. Long forgotten brands or pioneering technical developments are not neglected either. The largest part of the 862-page trilogy is now occupied by Formula 1, which has been held internationally since 1950, and because everything happens very closely here, the reader is drawn into the action and can follow it almost live.
Cimarosti's stories end with the longer chapter "From 1994", including some pilots who are still current today, ie over a hundred years after Paris-Rouen. Then why the book title “99 Years of Motorsport”? “Because there was a couple of years of war in between,” says the author. “The schnapps number 99 is beautifully unusual for a chronicle.” It pays homage to an era in which automobiles still embodied progress; it is reminiscent of the age of the internal combustion engine and for that reason alone the best possible retrospective. It remains to be seen where Formula 1 is going. Cimarosti describes what it essentially defines like no other: Anyone who not only wants to experience historical motorsport and its heroes, but also wants to understand all of its fascination, will find it here - and no longer need any other books on this topic.
Adriano Cimarosti: 99 years of motorsport. Three hardcover volumes with a foreword by Peter Sauber. 140/324/398 pages and approx. 900 photos. 190 euros plus shipping costs, can be ordered from Edizione Cimarosti.