Barry Sheene - Motorcycle Racing's Jet-Set Superstar

By: Michael Scott .

Barry Sheene was a legend in a life-time cut cruelly short by cancer. His racing career set new heights, with two consecutive 500cc World Championships in 1976 and 1977. It also exacted huge penalties, with two life-threatening crashes in 1975 and 1982, at Daytona and Silverstone.

After the Daytona crash the ever-cheerful Cockney champion's courage, as he fought back to racing fitness in an incredibly short time, proved his true depth – and set him on the road to fame far beyond his sport.

His charisma, his wicked humour, and a streak of ruthless ambition did the rest, and Sheene became bike racing's first true international superstar. Long after he had retired as a rider in 1984, he was more popular than ever, especially in his adopted new country of Australia.

This book is an intimate and candid portrait, through the eyes of his family, friends, rivals and racing experts. It brings the legend up to date, putting a modern perspective on a broad sweep of racing history – and reviewing a life of dedication to winning, and dedication to the fans who adored him.
Superbly illustrated, with many previously unpublished photographs, this is the definitive story of an unforgettable racing legend.

Michael Scott has been writing about motorcycle racing since the early 1970s and as a full-time GP correspondent since 1984. His articles are published world-wide in numerous languages, and he is the author of several books, including the best-selling Wayne Rainey – His Own Story (Haynes). His first biography, about Barry Sheene, was A Will to Win (W.H. Allen), published in 1984.

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