From the first race in 1922, the Ulster Grand Prix has been one of the most thrilling events in the international motorcycling calendar, attracting enormous crowds of spectators to watch the world's great riders in action. Now, a century on, the UGP holds a special place in the hearts of fans here in Northern Ireland and across the world.

A lifelong fan, Norman Windrum has been attending the UGP for seventy-five years and has an unmatched knowledge of the race and its history. In this new book, he vividly captures the excitement of the event, from Hubert Hassall's win in the first race in 1922 to Tom Herron's magnificent treble in 1978 and the domination of the Dunlop dynasty from the 1980s on.

With over 100 photographs, alongside lively commentary and stories, and bringing together statistics about the race from across its entire history, this is the definitive account of one hundred years of the Ulster Grand Prix.

About the Author

Norman Windrum attended his first Ulster Grand Prix in 1947 when he was just ten years old. He was mesmerised. Since then, he's attended every UGP and, seventy-five years later, he's still got the bug. In 1979, he published The Ulster Grand Prix, celebrating fifty years of the iconic race. This year he marks the centenary of the race with the publication of 100 Years of the Ulster Grand Prix: A Century of Road Racing. He is privileged to have seen in action most of the heroes whose names are recorded in this book.

Reviews

As sports books go, this has to be one of the very best I have ever read and has over 100 pages packed with information, facts, figures, stats and pictures, which really chronicles Norman's account of his favourite motorcycle road race. ... If you bike fans want all of the facts then you'll find them in the book.

-- Liam Beckett * Sunday Life *

The story of the UGP is told via Norman Windrum's detailed and loving narrative enhanced by historical programme covers and many action photographs. The forty-five pages of statistics at the end are fascinating in themselves. The book ... is a beautiful production. Anyone with even just an inkling of interest in motorcycle racing and Northern Irish sport generally would do themselves a favour and buy this book.

-- Joe Cushnan * Dropped the Moon *

Windrum writes engagingly about the shift from the Clady to the Dundrod circuit and about the heroes of the event - champions Mike Hailwood and John Surtees, Tom Herron and his 1978 triple victory, Ron Haslam, and the triumphant Dunlop dynasty, most of whom he's seen in action - but also the organisational and sponsorship problems which have been constant. Even the supporters' club rebelled one year. In some ways it's not so much the safety aspect of racing between kerbs and lamp-posts that makes the event's survival remarkable, precarious as it remains, as the relentlessly uphill organisational battles it has faced.

-- Gordon Cruickshank * MotorSport Magazine *



Book Information
ISBN 9781780733050
Author Norman Windrum
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint Blackstaff Press Ltd
Publisher Colourpoint Creative Ltd