Book Review: Faster by Neal Bascomb

Seems like there is a bit of French renaissance going on in F1 at the moment with Pierre Gasly’s win in Monza becoming the first French driver to win since Olivier Panis in 1996 and also Renault F1’s plan to rebadge to the historic Alpine branding next season. I’ve been reading Neal Bascomb’s new book “Faster” which celebrates another French tale – the story of the less well known French manufactured Delahaye 145 racecar paired with French driver Rene Dreyfus competing against the mighty 1930’s Silver Arrows team against the background of the Nazi Germany and Hitler’s WWII supremacy.

The author has definitely invested a lot time researching for the book – just the footnote bibliography is 50 pages long. Sprinkled throughout are half page B&W photos from the 1920s and 1930s Grand Prix from the classic archives of Mercedes Benz. Bascomb interviewed Rene Dreyfus’ niece, motorsport historians and Delahaye 145 collectors as part of his background research.

The opening chapters set the scene with German occupation of Paris in 1940 and rewinding to the early 1930s and detailing the background to the big names of GP racing – Rudi Caracciola (the rainmeister), Nuvolari, Mercedes, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Auto Union and the Monaco Grand Prix.

Although the book is more a dramatised storytelling of Dreyfus of Jewish background taking on the dominant Silver Arrows behind the wheel of the custom developed v12 Delahaye 135 financed by rich American heiress and racer Lucy Schell as a new team principal, it also tries to flesh out the personal story of the other drivers, mainly Caracciola along the way.

Bascomb is a known historic novelist and a number of his previous books have explored German Nazi history. So this book also provides insight into the backdrop of Hitler’s rise and the German NSKK program alongside the nationalistic push for Silver Arrows supremacy on the track.

The photos are very well chosen including Dreyfus’ accident in the Bugatti at the Comminges GP in 1932, the Delahaye 138, Nuvolari’s burning Alfa at the 1938 Pau GP and German drivers Rosemeyer, Caracciola, Stuck and von Brauchitsch in group photo with Adolf Hitler in 1935.

The book’s post-Pau GP win epilogue feels a little like end of movie captions – the rest of the 1938 season would be dominated by Mercedes and lack lustre 1939, 1940 seasons leading in the German occupation of Paris and the dismantling of the Delahaye 145 to hid it from the Nazis.

No doubt this book was written with the potential for a later movie screenplay deal and sits alongside other F1 history novelisation like Michael Cannell’s “The Limit”. For a more technical and historical look back at the Silver Arrows era of the 1930s – F1 history buffs will find Chris Nixon’s “Racing the Silver Arrows” to be more detailed, however to my knowledge there aren’t many books on the French Delahaye and Rene Dreyfus.

Wow Factor/Money Shot: Interesting side profile photo of the 1937 Delahaye 145 with mudguards (pg 166)

Suitable for: F1 and French motorsport history fans.