Christmas quiz time. Name the authors of these three books, any of which, as desperation mounts, you could buy as a stocking filler as your choice of gift dwindles.
"Worms to Catch", "Miracle Man", "When You Dead, You Dead". Oh, and there's another one gracing the shelves of Waterstones but his name makes it too obvious.
Does it astonish you that three out of the twenty top sports books in 2016, including the top two, had the name Guy Martin on the cover?
The odd one out in the above list is "Miracle Man", the autobiography of Ian Hutchinson, of which more later. Not named is "My Autobiography" by the most prolific sports author in history. Yes, the well known motorcycle racer Guy Martin and his books have sold over 150,000!
What's he ever won I hear the die-hards exclaim? Well, quite a lot actually. Yes, but not a Senior TT and therefore not in the Hutchinson or McGuinness class but plenty. Yes, but he's not famous for motor cycle racing. It's all those stunts on telly.
True to a degree. But rather like Fred Dibnah with his passion for tall chimneys and steam engines, this self-proclaimed lorry mechanic from Lincolnshire, is a TV natural. His passion for internal combustion engines, thirst for mugs of tea and querkyness of humour, plus a seeming willingness to take on whatever crazy stunt is put in front of him, has endeared him to Channel Four viewers, the majority of whom have never heard of the TT.
But they have now and it must not be forgotten that the great video "Closer to the Edge" analysing near death experiences by TT riders like Martin played a part in his rise to TV fame. He may not be everyone's cup of tea a and is probably a team manager's nightmare but he is a star.
Ian Hutchinson is the exact opposite. If not the greatest road racer of all time, he is certainly one of them. And it is not just numbers of races won. It is what he had to go through to do it. "Miracle Man", co-written by ex-Daily Mirror journalist and one of the great TT reporters Ted Macauley, it could just have well been called 'To Hell and Back,'
At the top of his game after winning five TTs in 2010, Hutchinson crashed at Silverstone and was hit by another rider. The accident almost severed his left leg and amputation was on the agenda. Drugged to the eyeballs, his determination to resist what would have ended his racing career won over the surgeons. But what followed was five years and some 30 operations before the miracle of three wins in 2015.
It is an amazing story of single-minded determination unparalleled in motorcycle racing. And for that reason alone is a worthy read. It is published by John Blake Publishing. Enquiries on availability to www.johnblakebooks.com.
