Motor racing can be an expensive and ego-driven sport that has led many to lie, cheat, steal, and even kill. This intriguing book, the result of years of research, explores over 60 true stories of deceit and crime in the world of motorsport. It covers a wide range of offenses, from drug trafficking and corruption to embezzlement, robbery, fraud, murder, and money laundering, involving drivers, designers, mechanics, team owners, entrants, and sponsors.
Notable Stories of Motorsport Chicanery
Fraud:
- Southern Organs: Lay preachers who faked suicide and hid on a remote Scottish island.
- Jerry Dominelli: Ran a Ponzi scheme that funded racing Porsches.
- Jean-Pierre Van Rossem: A stock-market guru who bankrolled an F1 team.
- Dominic Chappell: Serial bankrupt racer who collapsed after purchasing a British department store.
- David Thieme: Lotus sponsor who vanished.
Murder:
- David Blakely: Driver killed by his lover Ruth Ellis.
- Franco Ambrosio: F1 sponsor of Shadow and Arrows.
- Elmer George: American racer married into Indy ‘royalty’.
- Ricardo Londoño-Bridge: Colombia’s first F1 driver.
- Mickey Thompson: 1960s American drag-racing icon.
- Nick Whiting: Victim of the biggest gold bullion heist in British history.
Swindles:
- James Munroe: Embezzled to afford a McLaren F1 GTR.
- Lord Brocket: Staged the theft of classic cars, including Ferraris.
- Andrea Harkness: Stripper who ripped off NASCAR.
Drugs:
- Ian Burgess: British F1 racer involved in drug trade.
- Randy Lanier: Drug-smuggling IMSA champion.
- John Paul Sr. and Jr.: Father-son duo involved in drug running.
- Vic Lee: Team owner with a dodgy transporter.
- Whittington brothers: IMSA misdeeds.
Other Misdemeanours:
- Roy James: Great Train Robbery getaway driver.
- Bertrand Gachot: Jailed after road rage in London.
- Juan Manuel Fangio: Kidnapped by Cuban rebels in 1958.
- Colin Chapman: Involved in the unresolved ‘DeLorean Affair’.
- ‘Spygate’: Ferrari design secrets passed to McLaren.
This book appeals not only to motor racing enthusiasts and experts but also to anyone interested in true crime stories. Dive into the darker side of motorsport and discover the intriguing tales of those driven to crime.
