Being There: An Autobiography By Hugh Anderson

Motorcycle racers aren’t like other sports people. When they enter the arena they are taking their lives in their hands. When they are on the race track, if they are not there in every sense of the word, they are more likely to be at risk of serious injury or death. Very few champions can explain exactly what it takes to compete at the highest level. What makes them tick, how they cope with the challenge and what the science is that makes them so dominant in their chosen sport. Hugh Anderson is one who can. From humble origins as a lonely boy on the family farm in New Zealand to the heights of world domination, he explains in his own words he motivation, race strategies, psychology of winning, heartache and triumph that helped him deliver Suzuki its first major Grand Prix successes in the 1960s. This was a golden age, when Japanese and European factories battled for supremacy on the world’s most dangerous circuits. When rapid development in technology allowed, for the first time in the history of Grand Prix racing, two stroke engine machines to compete with and beat the dominant four stroke design. Hugh Andersons career continued for decades after winning four World Championships, with motocross and then classic racing affording him a showcase for the talent that has made him arguably NZ’s most successful racer. The book demystifies the Grand Prix scene that seemed so sanitised on television. It takes us inside the mind of one of the most resourceful, brave and analytical riders in the history of Grand Prix racing.