Rocket Men

by Ron Haslam, Leon Haslam

The Haslam family is motorbike royalty. "Rocket" Ron Haslam, one of 10 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. He was runner-up again in the 2008 BSB season as part of the Honda team for whom his father Ron raced GPs back in the 1980s, and is now racing for Stiggy Honda in the World Superbike Championship. 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.

Genres: Biography

384 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2008

Reviews

[David breakwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know anything about Rocket Ron, only his son Leon. But after reading the reviews, I picked it up. I was staggered at how gripping the story was and how interesting the life Ron had led. Couldn't put it down.

Amazing autobiography worthy of any motorbike fan!!!

[Stewart Jarvis-Grove · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who is in to bikes in England should know the Haslam name. I am a bit too young to remember Ron's heyday but do recall his last years of racing. I have followed Leon's career though and I'm a fan.

I enjoyed this book. Ron tells his life story well, especially his early years and family life, but the way he tells his racing life doesn't flow well and he jumps about too much. It's almost like it's written how it came to mind and it could have been put together better by the ghost writer.

The racing element of this book isn't really detailed enough. It breezes through the years without much detail and focuses more on the Haslam's as people but I was left wanting more stories about the races and fellow racers. A prime example is the year Ron spent as Kevin Schwantz's team mate at Pepsi Suzuki, that year in the book needed fleshing out in my opinion.

An overall good read though giving it a solid 3/10

[Jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. Being a member of a road racing support club I have met many of the characters mentioned in the book and its interesting to hear of their younger days. It's well written and easy to read