Rocket Men - Hardcover

Ron Haslam; Leon Haslam

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593059638 ISBN 13: 9780593059630

Publisher: Bantam Press, 2008

Synopsis

The Haslam family is motorbike royalty. 'Rocket' Ron Haslam, one of ten brothers and sisters from a Derbyshire mining town, started racing on the professional circuit in 1972 at the age of 15 and developed into one of the finest, and fastest, racers the UK has ever seen. Winner of three World titles and four British championships, as well as a record six Macau GPs, he rode in more than 100 Grands Prix. Despite tragically losing two of his brothers, Phil and Terry, in motorbike accidents, Haslam kept on riding in his chosen sport, setting speed records wherever he went, with his most recent outing being on a Ducati 998 at the Race of the Year at Mallory Park in October 2004.His son, Leon, the 'Pocket Rocket', is following in his father's extremely speedy footsteps. A national Motorcross champion and national Scooter champion at the age of just 14, he became the youngest ever rider to compete in the 500cc World Championship and is now one of Britain's top racers. He was placed second in the British Superbike Championship in 2006, missing out on the title only on the very last race weekend, and was voted MCN's Man of the Year and Riders' Rider of the Year.Now 24, he starts the 2008 BSB season as favorite as part of the Honda team for whom his father Ron raced GPs back in the 1980s. This is the extraordinary story of a father and a son who are addicted to motorbikes and to a lifetime of fearless racing, with all the thrills and spills, miraculous escapes and multiple broken bones that involves. Both colorful characters, their story takes us all the way from the 1970s to today and is full of hilarious high-octane derring-do, a cast of characters including legends like Fast Freddie Spencer and Barry Sheene, and nothing less than terrifying but exhilarating adventure.

About this title

About the Author

Ron and Leon Haslam live near Smalley in Derbyshire with Ron's wife Ann and their other children Emma and Zoe. Ron now devotes much of his time to running the Ron Haslam Motorbike School in Donington. Leon is racing for Honda in the 2008 British Superbike Championship.

From the Inside Flap

The history of British motorbike racing contains many illustrious names, but one family continues to shine down the generations the Haslams. Ron Haslam was the thrilling superstar of the seventies bike scene, the long-haired rebel with a wild family background whose brilliant starts earned him the nickname "Rocket Ron" and whose reckless abandon on the racetrack astounded his rivals and gained him a host of admirers in the paddock. Rocket Ron became a legend on the circuit, winning three world titles and four British championships and riding in more than a hundred Grands Prix over the course of his career, despite suffering some horrendous crashes and countless broken bones.

Ron s son Leon, the Pocket Rocket , is now following in his father s extremely speedy footsteps. A national motocross and scooter champion by the time he was fourteen, Leon became the youngest-ever rider to compete in the 500cc World Championship. After just missing out on the British Superbike Championship in 2006, he is again one of the leading contenders for the 2008 title, riding for the Honda team for whom his father raced GPs back in the 1980s.

Rocket Men is the story of a father and son, two extraordinary racers on a fearless quest to be the fastest and the best, and of a strong, close-knit family for whom motorcycling is in the blood.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593059638
• ISBN 13: 9780593059630
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288