Last Update: 28 October 2021
For the past two years I’ve kept a secret. I’ve been editing a most exciting book project which was just recently published- “Continental Circus: Races, Places, the People and the Faces”. It’s a priceless assembly of images and their stories by Dutch photographer duo Jan and Hetty Burger and my close friend, well known Dutch motorsport journalist Frank Weeink. Frank transformed into words the tales accompanying Jan and Hetty’s astounding photos. Truly an amazing collection! There’s no question it’s a “must have” for any motorcycle race enthusiast or racing fan.
When Jan and Hetty left the Continental Circus their pictures were shelved in the attic and it wasn’t until two years ago after meeting up with motorcycle journalist and TV commentator Frank Weeink, the idea for the book emerged – a book in which they wanted to not only portray the action on track but life around it. More than 6,000 photos, many forgotten but rediscovered, made it to the first selection and over 400 of them finally made it into the 192 page book. All-time greats like Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read, Jarno Saarinen and Barry Sheene are featured, as are more than 20 crowd favourites like Johnny Cecotto, Kenny Roberts, Jack Findlay, Tom Herron, Dave Simmonds and Teuvo Länsivuori. As they intended, the book also hails the often unseen heroes – the mechanics, the wives and the girlfriends while taking the reader on a tour to iconic tracks like Spa-Francorchamps, the Nürburgring, Hockenheim, the Salzburgring and Montjuich. On top of that, the book features chapters on crashes, sidecars, Formula 750 racing and legendary bikes from MV Agusta, Yamaha and Suzuki.