French Racing Blue: Drivers, Cars and Triumphs of French Motor Racing (Racing Colours) [Hardcover]

FRENCH RACING BLUE: DRIVERS, CARS AND TRIUMPHS OF FRENCH MOTOR RACING covers the role of France in nurturing the sport of motor racing, discussing the early legends of the series, the effects of two world wars upon the racing industry, and using rare vintage photos from the Ludvigsen Library and portraits commissioned for this book to survey top cars and drivers. The result is a history highly recommended for any lending library strong in auto racing history.

David Venables. French Racing Blue: Drivers, Cars, and Triumphs of French Motor Racing. Ian Allen Publishing, 2009. 176 pages.
Long the pioneers of motor sports, the French were the early adopters and innovators in looking for the ultimate battle between man and machine: the battle to go faster than man was ever intended to. From the earliest motor carriages to the heyday of Formula 1 racing, French manufacturers and drivers have been at the bleeding edge of technology, speed and dedication to the art and science of going fast. Recognizing this, David Venables uses a combination of easily readable, journalistic writing and rare and amazing photographs illustrating the glories and the tragedies of French automobile racing through the years.

In the relative scarcity of book selections for racing with a focus specifically on French motorsports, Venables doesn't disappoint. In it Venables adds a journalistic and human-centric focus to the book, while supporting his story with beautiful photographs of the cars and races which gives a somewhat unique approach to the subject. In this, the cars themselves almost become a background to the real drama of what goes on behind the scenes in the garages and later the boardrooms as well as on the road. Books have similarly focused more on the human story such as the famous "Cars at Speed" By Robert Daley, which almost novel like it its approach to the subject of Grand Prix racing's "golden age" of the early to mid twentieth century, but lacks the purely French focus of Venables' book as well as the coffee-table-book like beauty. Venables' book doesn't focus particularly one time period, and rarely gets into technical detail of the cars, unlike Anthony Blights rather narrowly focused "French Sports Car Revolution". Venables approach to the subject is an easily read, digestible approach to nearly 100 years of French racing from the dawn of the motorcar to present day.

Venables starts the book at the dawn of the motorcar and the human desire to compete using the new technology which took place in France. Venables goes on to explain "although the petrol internal combustion engine first emerged in Germany, France was the nation where the motorcar was encouraged and developed" (p. 8). The time for the early car was coming: "Pierre Giffard of Le Petit Journal decided there was a need to bring the emerging motor car to the notice of a wider public." (p. 9). Giffard organized a race from Paris to Rouen in the summer of 1894, leading to a surprisingly large turnout of 21 cars. Motorsports would become a premier sport in the years to follow.

These early races were extremely dangerous, as early roads were unimproved and outside of the city were mainly used for cattle and local horse traffic. Early tire technology was barely in its infancy, to say nothing of brakes. Accidents happened that modern motorists or even competitive drivers cannot imagine. One early competitor was taken out of the race when his car was charged by a bull, another "hit a dog ... and overturned" (p. 11). Most cars didn't finish these early races due to mechanical or tire failure, rollovers were common, and little attention was paid to any sort of spectator or driver safety. Even the speeds were hard to believe to our modern thoughts on racing, as average course speeds above 20 miles per hour were considered fast and often race winning paces.

Progressing on through history to the early 1920's through the early war years, Venables focuses on the key dominant French manufactures that are competitive as they give rise to legendary cars that would go on to compete in the early foundations of modern Le Mans and Grand Prix racing. Venables details some French drivers always interesting and sometimes heroic lives before, during and after (unfortunately not always the case for some) the war. Many drivers were already decorated war veterans by the time World War II descended on France, and many more proved their bravery again. Venables writes some brief excerpts of the drivers' lives to bring them to life. For one driver he writes "Louis Chiron ... who as a dance partner in the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo had persuaded one of his rich female customers to buy him a Bugatti and launch his racing career." (p. 48).

Venables continues his theme on French racing, highlighting successful French teams and their activity, while not avoiding failures or tragedies of some of these events. Progressing into the book, Venables credits the drivers and engineers behind the successful events and cars, though does not delve into technical detail or get very specific on the exact finishes or details of the races won and lost themselves. Venables allows the readers imagination to fill in the further details, as the author moves on to the next period, driver or race.
David Venables has written a fine book for those of us with perhaps a more than casual interest in the subject, but readers looking for specific technical details or tables of data should look elsewhere. Having said that, the book is well put together with tasteful artwork and exceptional photos that all add up to a unique work that could be proudly displayed in any enthusiasts' collection.

French Racing Blue is a fine book for those wanting to delve into the rich history of French motor racing. After all, it was the French at the dawn of the automobile who started car racing and competition.
The early days are the strongest points in this well illustrated book. David Venables goes the proverbial extra mile to detail the beginnings of car racing in France, with particular attention paid to the periods before both World Wars.
It is in the most recent triumphs of French motor racing, particularly in Rally cars, where the book falls down. There is but a cursory glance at the successes experienced by the Renault Alpinas of the 70's, Peugeot and most recently Citroen in rally racing. This was disappointing.
To be fair though, this is a very good volume to expand one's breadth of knowledge of the earliest days of motor sport in it's bithplace, France.