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Champion Agostini

The Champions series would be incomplete without the story of the Italian super-racer and fifteen times World Champion Giacomo Agostini.

Blessed with film star looks, charm and an innate talent for riding bikes, Agostini was never going to be an ordinary rider. In 1965 he signed up to ride Count Agusta’s magnificent MV machines, and his epic battles with Mike Hailwood’s Honda became the stuff of motorcycle legend. In 1974 Ago switched to Yamaha and the success continued. He was 500cc World Champion for seven years in succession (‘66-’72) and 350 Champion for another seven (‘68-’74). Both are records and are likely to remain so.

He took his sublime skills to the TT, riding 16 races, winning ten - all on MV Agustas. He completed a Senior/Junior double in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1972 and was involved in the thrilling Diamond Jubilee battle with Hailwood.

This enthralling film captures the essence of a man who combined skill and courage with a magical touch for motorcycle riding; a man who never once fell seriously in his seventeen-year career; a man who simply could not stop winning. This is the story of Ago, a true champion.

Too Fast to Race

The ‘Group B’ International Motorsports Category was conceived in the late seventies as a return to the ‘good old days’ when amateur and factory teams alike could run the same production-based cars in either sports car racing or championship rally events. By the early eighties the class had become the ‘Godzilla’ of the rally scene and what resulted were the most awesome cars ever seen on the rally stages of the world - 600 horsepower, 4WD, turbocharged monsters that could cover forest, tarmac or gravel stages faster than anything ever seen before or since. In 1986 the door was slammed shut on the F1 cars of mountain and forest roads. Faster and faster cars combined with wilder and crazier crowds meant that within the confines of rally car competition the group B rocket ships were just “too fast to race”.

The legacy of Group B, however, is a whole range of spectacular cars that continue to thrill enthusiasts. Features the Ford RS200, Lancia 037 Rally, Lancia S4, MG Metro 6R4, Peugeot 205/T16, Audi Quattro, Renault 5 Turbo, Opel, Citroen also the amazing Ferrari 288GTO Evoluzione, Jaguar XJ220 supercar and Porsche 959 - the car that came closest of all to fulfilling the Group B ethos. It won both the Paris-Dakar and its class in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race!

Includes awesome action footage and stunning close ups.

Nissan Skyline GT-R

The original ‘beast from the east’, the Nissan Skyline GT-R is an icon for power, speed and advanced Japanese automotive technology. With straight-6 engines capable of being tuned to over 1000bhp, 4WD, intelligent torque-splitting differentials, rear-wheel steering and enough electronics to keep a space station going, the R-32, R-33 and most recent R-34 models are mechanical ‘tour de forces’ .

But what do they go like and what speeds are they really capable of? Our new Duke DVD traces the GT-R’s technical development and tuning options, and then puts you in the hot seat for several memorable rides. How about a lap of the old Nurburging with ‘ringmeister’ Dirk Schoysman at up to 190 mph with drifting at 160mph? Or a ride on a GP track in the ultimate racing Skyline – the Falken Tyres R34? If that’s not scared you, an Autobahn blast at well over 200 mph in a 600 bhp Prospec-NISMO R34 should do the trick!

If you thought only ground-hugging 2-seater sportscars with names like Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche could be called 'supercars', think again!

Champion Sheene

Barry Sheene MBE was probably the most famous two-wheeled star to have ever come out of Britain.

The cheeky cockney was an inspiration to millions. There were other British champions who achieved more on the track, but the articulate, witty and confident ‘Bazza’ brought his successes to the attention of the British public – and they took him to their hearts. He was equally famous for overcoming his numerous crashes – at one time he had metal plates in both knees, 28 screws in his legs and a bolt in his left wrist!

Eminent motorcycle journalist Nick Harris narrates this superb DVD biography. In various interviews, Barry himself recalls most of the events he won between 1968 and 1984 including his 1976 and 1977 500cc World Championships and his 1973 FIM 750cc Championship.

The DVD features 45 minutes of extra footage, including the 1998 Assen Centennial and the Barry Sheene Memorial event at the 2003 Scarborough Gold Cup. There’s also footage of Bazza talking about his career on two, four and six wheels and putting the motorcycle world to rights! Plus: rare footage of the 1979 British GP, the 1981 Mallory Race of the Year and tributes from MCN’s Adam Duckworth and Matthew Birt.

This is the ultimate record of a true superstar.

B.A.R British Grand Prix Preview 2003

Filmed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2003, this preview includes in-depth interviews with B.A.R's British driver Jenson Button and Team Principal David Richards. Both will express their thoughts on the 2003 season so far and the forthcoming British Grand Prix. The footage also features Jenson Button and David Richards competing in the famous hill climb event at Goodwood.

Tags: Goodwood , Jenson Button , Honda , F1 , Formula 1

Great Italian GP Racers

“..every now and again the video market throws up a genuine classic - one to be treasured and watched again and again. Such an offering is the latest DVD issued by bikesport specialists Duke entitled Great Italian GP Racers...for those who lived through it, it is a magnificent reconstruction of what many still see as the true golden age of the sport - the 50s, 60s and early 70s. This was a time when the world’s first superbikes, exotic and complex multi-cylindered handbuilt machines from Italy, emerged to do titanic battle with the last competitive offerings from British factories and the embryonic challengers from the Orient.. Archive film and new interviews are superbly married together to give the modern viewer a marvellous overview of the Italian phenomenon. Revel in the sights and sounds of Guzzis, Gileras, Benellis and MVs battling first with Nortons and Ajays and later with Hondas and Yamahas. Thrill to the skills, not only of Italian-born stars like Agostini and Pasollini, but also of the ‘foreign legion’ of British and Antipodean riders recruited by the Italian factories as their machines eclipsed the best of British. Among others, Duke, Surtees and Read all give their first hand recollections of riding the Italian jobs, all illustrated by moving pictures to treasure - including several minutes of blood-stirring action on the original Nurburgring, andfilm of many stars of yesterday who are no longer with us. Add to this the reminiscences of the men who created the machines, the factory owners and engineers and you have a stunning package of sight and sound.. exceptional value for money... it’s a real must for enthusiasts of this era, old or new.” EVENING GAZETTE