Motoring
Motoring Book of the Year
Franco Nugnes took the Club’s top literary honour for his compelling account of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, as Russell Hayes makes Awards history with a double victory and Paul Skilleter receives the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Senna: The Truth by acclaimed Italian motorsport journalist Franco Nugnes (Pitch Publishing, £25) has been crowned the Royal Automobile Club’s 2026 Motoring Book of the Year, the Club’s highest accolade for motoring and motorsport literature.
The award was announced at a prestigious ceremony at the Club’s historic Pall Mall clubhouse in London on Wednesday 28 October, attended by leading authors, publishers and figures from the motoring industry.
The gripping book revisits the events surrounding the tragic death of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna at Imola in 1994. Drawing on original investigations and first-hand testimony, Nugnes reconstructs that fateful weekend, challenges long-held assumptions and offers fresh insights into one of motorsport’s most defining moments, while celebrating the extraordinary legacy of one of Formula 1’s greatest drivers.
The coveted overall award is judged separately from the six individual motoring and motorsport categories.
Lifetime Achievement Award for Paul Skilleter
The evening opened with the presentation of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award to Paul Skilleter, celebrating nearly six decades of outstanding contribution to motoring literature, journalism and publishing.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost Jaguar historians, Skilleter began his career at Motor magazine in 1966 and went on to author landmark books, including Jaguar Sports Cars and Jaguar Saloon Cars. He also played a pivotal role in establishing influential titles such as Practical Classics and Jaguar Quarterly, before founding PJ Publishing with his wife June in 1989.
His exceptional knowledge, meticulous research and lifelong dedication to preserving motoring history have earned him widespread respect throughout the automotive world.
Historic Double Victory for Russell Hayes
Russell Hayes made Awards history as the first author to win two categories in the same year.
The Complete Book of Volkswagen GTI: Every Model Since 1976 (Motorbooks, £38) won Motor Cars & Motoring under £100, celebrating the evolution of the iconic hot hatch, while Aston Martin: The Entire Story (Evro Publishing, £195) claimed the no-price-limit award, chronicling more than a century of British automotive heritage.
Celebrating Motoring and Motorsport Literature
The Motor Cars & Motoring under £30 award went to Dream Road to Pan America by Shawn William Miller (University of California Press, £25), exploring the history of the legendary Pan-American Highway.
Paul Kenny won Motorsport Subject under £30 for Whitney Straight: Racing Driver, War Hero, Industrialist (The History Press, £25), while The Ferrari 250 GTO Spotting Guide by Yan-Alexandre Damasiewicz (Blenheim Publishing, £40) claimed the under £100 award.
The no-price-limit motorsport award went to The Maserati 250F: A Legendary Formula 1 Car by Walter Bäumer and Jean-François Blachette (Dalton Watson Fine Books, £295).
Best Debut Author and Best Design
The Graham Robson Trophy for Best Debut Author was awarded to Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure: Top Gear, Grand Tour and Twenty Years of Magic and Mayhem, offering a fascinating insight into the man behind the scenes who helped transform motoring television into a global entertainment phenomenon. (Penguin Michael Joseph, £22).
The inaugural Best Design Award went to The Art of Racing: Helmets curated by Joe Twyman with Ronald Stern (Hothouse Media, £495), designed by Peter Allen which recognises its exceptional visual creativity, striking photography and outstanding production quality.
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THE 2026 WINNERS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Paul Skilleter
Motoring Book of the Year 2026
Senna: The Truth
By Franco Nugnes
Pitch Publishing, £25
Motor Cars & Motoring – under £30
Dream Road to Pan America: A Century in Pursuit of the World’s Longest Highway
By Shawn William Miller
University of California Press, £25
Motor Cars & Motoring – under £100
The Complete Book of Volkswagen GTI: Every Model Since 1976
By Russell Hayes
Motorbooks, £38
Motor Cars & Motoring – no price limit
Aston Martin: The Entire Story
By Russell Hayes
Evro Publishing, £195
Motorsport Subject – under £30
Whitney Straight: Racing Driver, War Hero, Industrialist – The Authorised Biography
By Paul Kenny
The History Press, £25
Motorsport Subject – under £100
The Ferrari 250 GTO Spotting Guide
By Yan-Alexandre Damasiewicz
Blenheim Publishing, £40
Motorsport Subject – no price limit
The Maserati 250F: A Legendary Formula 1 Car
By Walter Bäumer and Jean-François Blachette
Dalton Watson Fine Books, £295
Graham Robson Trophy for Best Debut Author
Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure: Top Gear, Grand Tour and Twenty Years of Magic and Mayhem
By Andy Wilman
Penguin Michael Joseph, £22
Best Design Award
The Art of Racing: Helmets
Curated by Joe Twyman with Ronald Stern
Designed by Peter Allen
Hothouse Media, £495
Previous Winners
Previous Winners of the Motoring Book of the Year Awards
2025 WINNERS
The Motoring Book of the Year
Power Unleashed: Trailblazers who Energised Engines with Supercharging and Turbocharging, by Karl Ludvigsen, Evro Publishing, £395.00
Books about motor cars and motoring, costing no more than £50:
Meyers Manx 1964-2024, by Basem Wasef, Hothouse Media, £49.50
Books about motor cars and motoring, with no price limit:
Joseph Figoni: Le Grand Couturier de la Carrosserie Automobile Vol. II–IV: Bugatti, by Peter M. Larsen & Ben Erickson, Moteurs!, £650.00
Books on a motorsport subject, costing no more than £50.00:
A.J. Foyt – Vol. 1: Survivor, Champion, Legend, by Art Garner, Octane Press, £37.00
Books on a motorsport subject with no price limit:
My Travels On Racer Road: Can-Am and Formula 1 in their Golden Age, by Pete Lyons, Evro Publishing, £70.00
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author:
De Tomaso: Racing Blue Blood, by Alejo Pérez Monsalvo and Marcel Schaub, McKlein Media, £295.00
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Gordon Cruickshank
2024 WINNERS
The Motoring Book of the Year
The Austin Pedal Car Story, by David Whyley, Porter Press International, £85.00
Books about motor cars and motoring, costing no more than £50.00
Morgan: An English Enigma, by Martyn Webb, The Crowood Press, £45.00
Books about motor cars and motoring, with no price limit
BMW: Behind the Scenes, by Steve Saxty, Seven Spoke Publishing, £239.95
Books on a motor sporting subject, costing no more than £50.00
Goldie, by John Mayhead, National Motor Museum Publishing, £20.00
Books on a motor sporting subject with no price limit
The Last Eyewitness, by Doug Nye, Porter Press International, price £195.00
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author
Bob Evans, Happy Lucky Days: My Life in Racing, BHP Publishing, £32.00
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr Clare Hay
2023 Winners
The Motoring Book of the Year
Driven To Crime, by Crispian Besley, Evro Publishing, priced £40.00
Motoring Book of Year (Below £50.00)
Max Hoffman Million Dollar Middleman, by Myles Kornblatt, Veloce Publishing Ltd, priced £30.00
Motoring Book of the Year (No Price Limit)
Kim A Biography of MG Founder Cecil Kimber, by Jon Pressnell, Dalton Watson Fine Books, priced £115.00
Motorsport Book of the Year (Below £50.00)
Speed Queens: A secret history of women in motorsport, by Rachel Harris-Gardiner, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, priced £22.00
Motorsport Book of the Year (No Price Limit)
Bentley Speed 8: The Comprehensive Story of Bentley’s Last Le Mans Winner, by Andrew Cotton, Sportfahrer Verlag, priced £225.00
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author
Andy Saunders, The Automotive Alchemist, Dalton Watson Fine Books, priced £90.00
Lifetime Achievement Award
Karl Ludvigsen
2022 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
Fit for a King: The Royal Garage of the Shahs of Iran by Borzou Sepasi (Dalton Watson Fine Books), priced £110.00
Motoring Book of the Year (Below £50.00):
Trans-Africa Land-Rover: The Story of Philip Kohler and his Epic Overland Adventure by Martin Port (Porter Press International), priced £30.00
Motoring Book of the Year (No Price Limit):
Marcel Pourtout: Carrossier by Jon Pressnell (Dalton Watson Fine Books), priced £110.00
Motorsport Book of the Year (Below £50.00):
Racing Green: How Motorsport Science Can Save the World by Kit Chapman (Bloomsbury), priced £20.00
Motorsport Book of the Year (No Price Limit):
Strictly No Admittance: The Inside Story Of The ‘Lightweight’ E-type And The XK Engine Which Powered It – The Last Works-Built Jaguar To Race At Le Mans by Peter D Wilson (PJ Publishing), priced £95.00
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author:
Twin-Cam Extravagance – The History of Lagonda Rapier & Rapier Cars by Chris Wiblin (The Rapier Register), priced £50.00
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Doug Nye
2021 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
The Lamborghini Miura by Simon Kidston and Jon Pressnell (Kidston SA)
Motoring Book of the Year (Below £50.00):
Tipping Point – Designing a Great British Underdog by Andy Plumb (Lead-In Design)
Motoring Book of the Year (No Price Limit):
Joseph Figoni: Le Grand Couturier de la Carrosserie Automobile Volume 1, Alfa-Romeo by Peter M Larsen and Ben Erickson (Moteurs!)
Motorsport Book of the Year (Below £50.00):
Mr Le Mans, Tom Kristensen by Tom Kristensen with Dan Philipsen (Evro Publishing)
Motorsport Book of the Year (No Price Limit):
Delage Records & Grand Prix by Daniel Cabart and Sébastien Faurès Fustel de Coulanges (Orep Editions)
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author:
The Rise of The Sidevalves by Tom Fryars (Gorton Publishing)
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Mark Hughes
2020 Winners
The stories behind two American motorsport legends – Richie Ginther and Shadow – were awarded top honours at 2020’s Royal Automobile Club Motoring Book of the Year Awards.
Richie Ginther: Motor Racing’s Free Thinker by Richard Jenkins scooped Motoring Book of the Year, which is presented to an exceptional book that is judged to have a wide appeal and which costs no more than £75.00. Specialist Book of The Year – awarded to a book that represents a feat of impeccable research and flawless writing regardless of its retail cost – went to Shadow: The Magnificent Machines of a Man of Mystery, written by Pete Lyons and published by Evro.
The awards took place as a virtual event on 28 October 2020.
2019 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
The Self-Preservation Society 50 Years of the Italian Job by Matthew Field (Porter Press International)
Specialist Motoring Book of the Year:
John, George and the HWMs: The First Racing Team to Fly the Flag for Britain by Simon Taylor (Evro Publishing)
Lifetime Achievement Award:
John Haynes OBE creator of the iconic Haynes Manual and founder of the Haynes Publishing Group was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his significant contribution to the UK’s motoring book industry.
2018 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
How to Build a Car by Adrian Newey (Harper Collins)
Specialist Motoring Book of the Year:
Reid Railton: Man of Speed by Karl Ludvigsen (Evro Publishing)
2017 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
Watching the Wheels: My Autobiography by Damon Hill (Pan Macmillan)
Specialist Motoring Book of the Year:
Delage – Champion Du Monde by Daniel Cabart and Christophe Pund (Orep Editions)
2016 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
Brian Redman: Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks by Redman himself and Jim Mullen (Evro Publishing)
Specialist Motoring Book of the Year:
Squire: The Man, The Cars, The Heritage by Jonathan Wood (Classic Motor Cars Ltd)
2015 Winner
Motoring Book of the Year:
The Magnificent Monopostos: Alfa Romeo Grand Prix Cars 1923-1951 by Simon Moore (Parkside Publications)
2014 Winner
Motoring Book of the Year:
John Surtees: My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels by John Surtees (Evro Publishing)