Take Risk! By Richard Noble

“He is a man from another age” is not an unusual comment in the world of motorsport. It has been said of Kimi Räikkönen and before that about everyone from James Hunt to Mike Hawthorn. But in Richard Noble’s case, it’s different. Born to a ‘comfortable’ family, this Winchester College alumnus grew up in the 1950s when an almost unfeasibly optimistic national pride swept a post-war Great Britain on a tide of jingoism and positivity. Anything was possible and this was only cemented when a six-year-old Noble was taken to watch John Cobb’s ‘Crusader’ preparing for a Water Speed World Record on Loch Ness.

It says a lot that, with most books of this genre produced in a large coffee-table format, Take Risk! Is in an old-style 8” by 4” format with a very traditional font and with the photographs all together in the middle of the book. Which, I have to admit, I find an absolutely charming, and very appropriate, touch.

It goes without saying that much of Richard Noble’s record-breaking derring-do was, partially at least, for Queen and country, but the man is much more complex than that. There are many people in this world who are driven by success (or the need to succeed, which is slightly different) but in reading this fascinating book, we get a much better insight into Richard Noble’s inner workings.

Most people will see an opportunity and then decide just how they can capitalise upon it. Here is a man who appears to do the opposite. His mantra seems to be to find a project which is going to be almost insuperably difficult to pull off and…. do it. The book is much more than simply a story of the land speed record-breaking for which Noble is famous. I, for one, knew nothing of his foray into light aircraft production, or the project to create a low cost, on-demand air taxi service.

The chapter about the light aircraft manufacturing venture is every bit as much edge-of-the-seat stuff as the record attempts. Not because of the personal danger (although, almost inevitably, he crashed one!) but more because of the commercial risks involved.

The ARV aircraft company was formed to create a new type of small aeroplane for private individuals and flying clubs. It seems like one of those conversations you have just before closing time in the pub; “all the old Cessnas will be coming up for renewal soon and if we produce a low-cast, easy to maintain aircraft we could clean up”. The original plan soon became a costly millstone and required very considerable funding from both banks and individuals, with a prediction that they would need to build and sell 100 aircraft simply for the project to break even. The news that the venture did not succeed comes as no surprise but again illustrates Richard Noble’s penchant for trying to achieve the impossible.

But, of course, Noble is best known for his LSR attempts, both as a founder, project leader and, initially, driver/pilot. The book does not seek to glorify these endeavours, indeed Richard is fulsome in his praise of others and is happy to step back from the limelight when the plaudits are handed out.

He talks candidly about the disaster of the launch of Thrust 1 which was sold for scrap on the way home from its maiden outing and subsequent accident, and also is honest enough to admit his own mistake at Greenham Common whilst piloting Thrust 2 during set up testing.

This book is unlike many motorsport books we review. For a start, it isn’t really about Richard Noble but instead, about his exploits and the people he has worked with. Because of the diversity of its subjects, it doesn’t tell the same story over and over again in the typical ‘and then we went to Monza….’ style.

The book is a gentle, charming and interesting read and comes highly recommended. It is very conversationally written, to the point that you wish you could sit down with Noble and ask him to fill in some of the gaps in the stories. Thankfully Graham Goodwin had that opportunity when he interviewed him as this book was being launched and you can discover that here on DSC.

Take Risk! By Richard Noble is published by Evro Publishing.

Available at evropublishing.com at £19.99