
A Whiff of Castrol R
Memoirs of a Racer
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David Pierce
-
By:
-
Michael J Leary
About this listen
My dad, in the early '50s, was, without doubt, a brilliant racing driver following a successful motorcycle racing career. It was apparent, at least to me, I was never going to be quite as good as him. However, that never prevented him from giving me full encouragement and support to race, or me from having the desire to race; until finding my "calling" in the racing world. A calling I'm sure my dad, had he still been alive, would have been proud of.
My time in racing, both motorcycles and cars, by chance ultimately resulted in me becoming a racing coach and manager. Which it seems was my real forte. Very much along the lines of George Bernard Shaw's maxim. "Those who can - DO, those who CAN'T - teach." I wouldn't exactly say as a racing driver I was a duffer, it's just that winning a championship eluded me. However, as a manager/coach; drivers under my nurturing and guidance won more than a fair share of titles, which more than made up for any shortcomings I may have had as a racer myself. As I point out in the book - nurturing young drivers, turning them from ordinary to extraordinary, has to be the most rewarding and satisfying job it was possible to have.
Apart from the book predominantly being racing centric, I do find a moment or two to mention the "right time to be living" factor. It would seem I lucked into being born at the right time, and seemingly, I will die at the right time...which is anytime soon! A succession of buffoons in positions of power have and continue to screw up on a gigantic scale. As a teenager, I was always a poor judge when it was the "right time to leave the party". Now I'm all grown up, it seems my timing will be impeccable.
©2020 Michael J Leary (P)2021 Michael J LearyListeners also enjoyed...
-
Variable Valve Timings
- Memoirs of a Car Tragic
- By: Chris Harris
- Narrated by: Chris Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chris Harris has driven more cars than most people could ever dream of. His vast knowledge is legendary. He calls it 'unhinged geekery'. But we call it infectious enthusiasm, adrenaline-fueled escapism and peerless journalistic rigour and integrity. And then there are his famous skills at the wheel, from city cars to rally cars, F1 to vintage, not forgetting the Guinness World Record 3.4km sideways in an electric car. And now for the first time, Harris is going all out with that unhinged geekery, and takes us down the road of his life-long adventure with the automobile
-
-
Long time fan
- By Matthew on 03-03-25
By: Chris Harris
-
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Out of the Shadow of Greatness
- By: Michael Hembree
- Narrated by: Robert Sams
- Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of NASCAR's legendary racer - newly revised Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s name virtually assured that his life would not be ordinary. Over the past decade, he has fulfilled that destiny. His father, one of the most successful drivers in the history of international motorsports, gave his son more than his name. Dale Earnhardt Sr. placed Dale Jr. in position to follow the footsteps and tire tracks he had left from Darlington to Daytona, from coast to coast, from one championship to the next.
-
-
do better research
- By David Thom on 08-05-22
By: Michael Hembree
-
Endurance
- The Toby Price Story
- By: Toby Price
- Narrated by: James Sweeny
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Toby Price has lived a truly remarkable life, filled with ups, downs and every bump in the road imaginable: a childhood racing prodigy from the tender age of two - there was hardly a paddock that could contain him. After tearing through the junior ranks, taking out titles in both dirt track and motocross, Toby was living the dream, turning pro at 16 and joining the formidable KTM Racing team. Soon he was turning heads internationally and tapped to take on the most forbidding enduro courses the sport could throw at him.
-
-
Great insight into Dakar, and dirt bikes
- By Holdfastgreg on 01-11-24
By: Toby Price
-
Guy Martin: Worms to Catch
- By: Guy Martin
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 2015 Guy Martin crashed out of the lead of an Ulster Grand Prix superbike race held on the world’s fastest racetrack. He had invasive surgery to bolt his broken spine and hand back together, and within days he decided he needed some time away from road racing. But he wasn’t about to take it easy.
-
-
Gotta love Guy Martin
- By Theodore John on 11-20-18
By: Guy Martin
-
Racing to the Finish
- By: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Narrated by: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Gabe Wicks
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt, Jr., retired from professional stock car racing in 2017, he walked away from his career as a healthy man. But for years, he had worried that the worsening effects of multiple racing-related concussions would end not only his time on the track but his ability to live a full and happy life. Torn between a race-at-all-costs culture and the fear that something was terribly wrong, Earnhardt tried to pretend everything was fine, but the private notes about his escalating symptoms that he kept on his phone reveal a vicious cycle.
-
-
Dale only talks for 25 mins.
- By Teensy Red on 05-30-19
-
No Retreat, No Surrender
- By: Oscar Chalupsky, Graham Spence
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gooding
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few athletes hold a record comparable to that of Oscar Chalupsky. He made history at the age of fifteen as the first person to win both the Junior and Senior Ironman titles on the same day at the South African National Lifesaving Championships, he was the country’s spokesman at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and he is a multiple-times global surfski champion. No Retreat, No Surrender is an uplifting account of grit, perseverance, talent and attitude, vividly capturing the determined mindset of an inspirational sporting legend.
-
-
The lessons learned is incredible
- By Anonymous User on 01-03-25
By: Oscar Chalupsky, and others
-
Variable Valve Timings
- Memoirs of a Car Tragic
- By: Chris Harris
- Narrated by: Chris Harris
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chris Harris has driven more cars than most people could ever dream of. His vast knowledge is legendary. He calls it 'unhinged geekery'. But we call it infectious enthusiasm, adrenaline-fueled escapism and peerless journalistic rigour and integrity. And then there are his famous skills at the wheel, from city cars to rally cars, F1 to vintage, not forgetting the Guinness World Record 3.4km sideways in an electric car. And now for the first time, Harris is going all out with that unhinged geekery, and takes us down the road of his life-long adventure with the automobile
-
-
Long time fan
- By Matthew on 03-03-25
By: Chris Harris
-
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Out of the Shadow of Greatness
- By: Michael Hembree
- Narrated by: Robert Sams
- Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of NASCAR's legendary racer - newly revised Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s name virtually assured that his life would not be ordinary. Over the past decade, he has fulfilled that destiny. His father, one of the most successful drivers in the history of international motorsports, gave his son more than his name. Dale Earnhardt Sr. placed Dale Jr. in position to follow the footsteps and tire tracks he had left from Darlington to Daytona, from coast to coast, from one championship to the next.
-
-
do better research
- By David Thom on 08-05-22
By: Michael Hembree
-
Endurance
- The Toby Price Story
- By: Toby Price
- Narrated by: James Sweeny
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Toby Price has lived a truly remarkable life, filled with ups, downs and every bump in the road imaginable: a childhood racing prodigy from the tender age of two - there was hardly a paddock that could contain him. After tearing through the junior ranks, taking out titles in both dirt track and motocross, Toby was living the dream, turning pro at 16 and joining the formidable KTM Racing team. Soon he was turning heads internationally and tapped to take on the most forbidding enduro courses the sport could throw at him.
-
-
Great insight into Dakar, and dirt bikes
- By Holdfastgreg on 01-11-24
By: Toby Price
-
Guy Martin: Worms to Catch
- By: Guy Martin
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 2015 Guy Martin crashed out of the lead of an Ulster Grand Prix superbike race held on the world’s fastest racetrack. He had invasive surgery to bolt his broken spine and hand back together, and within days he decided he needed some time away from road racing. But he wasn’t about to take it easy.
-
-
Gotta love Guy Martin
- By Theodore John on 11-20-18
By: Guy Martin
-
Racing to the Finish
- By: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Narrated by: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Gabe Wicks
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt, Jr., retired from professional stock car racing in 2017, he walked away from his career as a healthy man. But for years, he had worried that the worsening effects of multiple racing-related concussions would end not only his time on the track but his ability to live a full and happy life. Torn between a race-at-all-costs culture and the fear that something was terribly wrong, Earnhardt tried to pretend everything was fine, but the private notes about his escalating symptoms that he kept on his phone reveal a vicious cycle.
-
-
Dale only talks for 25 mins.
- By Teensy Red on 05-30-19
-
No Retreat, No Surrender
- By: Oscar Chalupsky, Graham Spence
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gooding
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few athletes hold a record comparable to that of Oscar Chalupsky. He made history at the age of fifteen as the first person to win both the Junior and Senior Ironman titles on the same day at the South African National Lifesaving Championships, he was the country’s spokesman at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and he is a multiple-times global surfski champion. No Retreat, No Surrender is an uplifting account of grit, perseverance, talent and attitude, vividly capturing the determined mindset of an inspirational sporting legend.
-
-
The lessons learned is incredible
- By Anonymous User on 01-03-25
By: Oscar Chalupsky, and others
-
How to Build a Car
- By: Adrian Newey
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world's foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain's greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir. How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrian's unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which he's been involved.
-
-
Snooze fest
- By moo on 02-09-20
By: Adrian Newey
-
Go Like Hell
- Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans
- By: A. J. Baime
- Narrated by: Jones Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the early 1960s, Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Baby boomers were taking to the roads in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort, and Ford didn’t offer what these young drivers wanted. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari lorded over the European racing scene, crafting beautiful, fast sports cars that epitomized style.
-
-
Goldern age of racing
- By Dan R. on 01-26-15
By: A. J. Baime
-
Life in the Fast Lane
- The Definitive Text
- By: Steve Matchett
- Narrated by: Steve Matchett
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the past two decades, Life in the Fast Lane has grown to become a true staple of Formula 1 literature. In essence a monthly diary of a Benetton grand prix mechanic, this essential book gives a behind-the-scenes account of daily life in the trenches of F1 during the tragic and turbulent 1994 season.
-
-
an f1 fan must read
- By scotch on 06-13-18
By: Steve Matchett
-
From Para to Dakar
- Overcoming Paralysis and Conquering the Dakar Rally
- By: Joey Evans
- Narrated by: Joey Evans, Meredith Evans
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Para to Dakar is so much more than the story of one man reaching the Dakar finish line. It is a story of friendship and respect, compassion and kindness. It is about defying the odds to reach a dream, it is about grit, endurance and raw courage, and it is inspiring in its true heroism.
-
-
Joey is a legend!!
- By Heibre on 01-11-25
By: Joey Evans
-
Why We Drive
- Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road
- By: Matthew B. Crawford
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once we were drivers, the open road alive with autonomy, adventure, danger, trust, and speed. Today we are as likely to be in the back seat of an Uber as behind the wheel ourselves. Tech giants are hurling us toward a shiny, happy "self-driving" future, selling utopia but equally keen to advertise to a captive audience strapped into another expensive device. Are we destined, then, to become passengers, not drivers? Why We Drive reveals that much more may be at stake than we might think.
-
-
Another masterpiece by Crawford.
- By johnson on 08-19-20
-
Road Racer
- By: Michael Dunlop
- Narrated by: Drew Dillon
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Dunlop is quite simply the greatest road racer on the planet. Brother of William, also an accomplished rider, son of the late Robert and nephew of the late great Joey Dunlop, Michael can fairly claim that racing is in his blood. Now for the first time he talks in depth about his family story, how he got involved in the family business and how he manages to keep getting back on his bike despite all he knows of the deadly risks he encounters every time he crosses the start line.
-
-
Great look at a living legend!
- By Anonymous User on 08-09-24
By: Michael Dunlop
-
Max Verstappen
- The Inside Track on a Formula One Star
- By: James Gray
- Narrated by: Finlay Robertson
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first English-language biography of Formula 1’s hottest new talent, Dutchman Max Verstappen. Few drivers have ever shaken up Formula 1 in quite the same way as Verstappen. Already the youngest competitor in F1 history, having made his breakthrough in 2015 aged just 17, his debut race for Red Bull at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix saw him become the youngest driver ever to win a race, achieve a podium finish or even lead a lap.
By: James Gray
-
To Dakar and Back
- 21 Days Across North Africa by Motorcycle
- By: Lawrence Hacking, Wil De Clercq
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Recounting the three weeks of blood, sweat, and tearsthat make up a 7,000 mile journey from the glitzy streets of Paris to the hinterland of northwestern Africa, this incredible tale highlights the most arduous and notorious off-road motorsports event on the planet, the Paris-Dakar Rally. Since its inception in 1979, the rally has attracted more than 3,000 participants from all walks of life.
-
-
Great tale, not great narration
- By Catherine Perkins on 07-12-16
By: Lawrence Hacking, and others
-
Shut Up, Legs!
- My Wild Ride on and off the Bike
- By: Jens Voigt, James Startt
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beloved German cyclist Jens Voigt isn't a superstar in the traditional sense of the word. Although he won three stages of the Tour de France - and wore the yellow jersey twice - Voigt never claimed an overall victory. He became a star because he embodies qualities that go beyond winning and losing: sacrifice, selflessness, reliability, and devotion. European and American crowds were drawn to his aggressive riding style, outgoing nature, and refreshing realness.
-
-
Unlike Jensie, the performance lacks
- By Brian Muncy on 03-12-19
By: Jens Voigt, and others
-
Joey Dunlop
- The Definitive Biography
- By: Stuart Barker
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joey Dunlop's story is one of towering triumphs and desperate tragedies in almost equal measure. Born poor—dirt poor—with no running water, no electricity, he was the definition of the everyman hero, earning the title 'King of the Roads' in what must be considered one of the world's most extreme sports—motorcycle road racing. And as well as being voted Northern Ireland's greatest ever sportsman, he remains the most loved and most successful road racer of all time.
-
-
Well detailed story, and easy to follow.
- By Mark M. on 02-25-25
By: Stuart Barker
-
How to Be an F1 Driver
- By: Jenson Button
- Narrated by: Jack Hawkins, Jenson Button
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his 17 years as a Formula 1 driver, Jenson Button has picked up a thing or two about how to do the job properly. Sure, you need to be able to drive a car fast - and Jenson is on hand to pass on a few tricks of the trade here - but you also need to know the real rules for making it to the top. Like, how to tell a multiple F1 champion they need to check their blind spot. What the difference is between a helmet and a hat, and indeed a 'helmet-hat'. How to practise your champagne spray ahead of the big day.
-
-
Great Book - Great Narration
- By Ashley on 10-20-19
By: Jenson Button
-
The Winning Formula
- By: David Coulthard
- Narrated by: David Coulthard, Peter Forbes
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Winning Formula, driver, commentator and entrepreneur David Coulthard opens the doors to the secretive world of F1 and reveals in simple, entertaining and utterly compelling terms how he has been able to master this mind-boggling variety of disciplines by applying the skills honed from his years at the top of the world's most demanding motorsport.
-
-
Not an F-1 Story
- By Tom D. on 09-19-19
By: David Coulthard