"If you like bikes, you need this book. If you don't, you'll be amazed anyway" Top Gear
Road racing has produced some of the most evocative motorsport images ever seen, and one of the most celebrated of road racing photographers is Stephen Davison.
The County Antrim native has been a fan of road racing since he first attended an event in 1974. The award-winning photographer has established a worldwide reputation for his work and is author of bestselling books including Ragged Edge, Beautiful Danger and Joey Dunlop: King of the Roads.
His new book, Hard Roads is a 144-page hardback in which Stephen tries to explain what it is that pushes the heroes of road racing to test their limits, and uncover the reason for the devotion and dedication this sport attracts from competitors, their families and fans.
In his incredible photographs and accompanying text, Stephen captures the essence of the sport - the all-consuming passion, the incredible skill and speed and the ever-present spectre of death on the horizon.
This book is an unforgettable testament to the sport Stephen loves, a book that captures the sense of the ordinary and the extraordinary that is the essence of road racing.
"the world's number one pure roadracing lensman" Motor Cycle News
"It's well-known that the hardest blokes in the world race motorcycles. Tough, fearless men who dice with life at 120mph while thier knees drag along the tarmac and thier mothers cry at home. To them, breaking a bone is as bothersome as snapping a twig. Bike racers are legends. But take them off the track, drop them into a road with lots of deathly things to be impaled upon, and they elevate themselves to proper hero status. Time for a bit of hero worship, then. Hard Roads is a collection of images from the most hardcore road races, all captured by Stephen Davison - the sport's best snapper. Davison has wedged his lens into some dramatic spots: on the apex of a corner, ready to be swiped by a passing rider's helmet; in the firing line of a wheelying bike; in a pit garage as a rider takes a pain-killing needle to the ribs....Wherever he goes, Davison lets the atmosphere soak through his lens so you can almost feel the danger as riders fly over bridges and go knee-down on a saturated road. So, if you like bikes, you need this book. If you don't, you'll be amazed anyway." Top Gear magazine