MOTORING BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
The Royal Automobile Club presented its 2023 Motoring Book of The Year Award to Evro’s Driven to Crime: True stories of wrongdoing in motor racing by Crispian Besley at a prestigious London ceremony on Wednesday 1 November.
Entered in the category ‘Books On A Motor Sporting Subject Costing No More than £50’, Driven to Crime was a huge hit with the six-strong judging panel, chaired by Simon Taylor, and they were unanimous in crowning it their ultimate Motoring Book of the Year. One of the judges, Christian Whitehead, said: “The motor racing world is filled with stories involving drivers, team owners, manufacturers and sponsors behaving badly, and this fantastic book highlights the many cases that have made headlines in various ways. We Brits love a good true crime story, and this book was very hard to put down. Kidnapping, murder, drug-smuggling, robbery, cheating, corruption, punch-ups and downright dangerous driving are all represented well in this thoroughly researched book.”
Ben Cussons, Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club, commented: “The awards, now in their tenth year, are globally recognised and celebrate the very best in automotive publishing. Authors and publishers from around the world submitted a record-breaking 56 titles this year, from compelling biographies and crime stories to marque-specific histories.
“No comparable event in the English language does so much to reward such high achievements within motoring and motoring racing books. The calibre for 2023 has been more impressive than ever.”
One other Evro title, Tyrrell: The Story of the Tyrrell Racing Organisation by Richard Jenkins, was shortlisted, in the category ‘Books On A Motor Sporting Subject With No Price Limit’. Judge Ben Horton said: “It is so nice to have such a well written, beautifully produced, reasonably priced book on an important subject that up to now has been mostly untouched.”
Our congratulations also go to Karl Ludvigsen, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as a world-renowned automotive historian and author. He revealed that his next title, Power Unleashed, charting the development of supercharging and turbocharging, is to be published by Evro in three consecutive volumes starting in 2024, the year of his 90th birthday. Exemplifying his extraordinary thoroughness, he started researching the topic in the early 1970s and his masterwork will have taken 15 years to complete. Evro also published his Reid Railton: Man of Speed, which the Royal Automobile Club honoured as its Specialist Motoring Book of the Year in 2018.
