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Kings of Speed

Kings of Speed

Written by: OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
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Kings of Speed opens with a loose rear panel tearing free at full throttle, the moment Bruce McLaren lost control of everything he'd built. This show reconstructs one complete story per episode, no host, no commentary, just the wreckage pieced back together in detail: the phone calls, the paperwork, the last conversations before the crash. Each installment is a self-contained account of a driver, a machine, and the second where fate intervened during a racing weekend that never made it to the finish.

The stories move across the full history of grand prix racing, from the golden era of privateer teams to the modern age of f1 and formula 1 engineering. You'll hear how a reversed brake pad sent a racing contender into the barrier, how a Jaguar left the bend and ended a career mid-sentence, and how a single briefcase, refused to be left behind, cost a man his life. This is motorsport history told through its darkest turns, where ambition and mechanical failure collide on the racing circuit.

But speed is only half the story. Kings of Speed also traces the strange overlap between racing circuits and royal courts, where kings and queens once treated grand prix weekends as extensions of the throne itself. Royal family patronage built early racing culture, and royal scandals often ran parallel to racing crashes on the same weekend, two worlds obsessed with legacy, risk, and image, both willing to bury their failures quietly.

Every episode stands alone, a complete racing history you can drop into without context. New stories arrive regularly, each one built from crash reports, biographies, and firsthand testimony. Subscribe now and follow Kings of Speed wherever you listen, because the next episode is already waiting in the archive.Copyright OBOMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT
Episodes
  • The Handed Wheel That Cost Him a Championship

    The Handed Wheel That Cost Him a Championship
    Sep 25 2026
    A young British driver hands his car to Fangio at Monza and nine days later crashes at the Nürburgring - what did it cost him?

    The Handed Wheel That Cost Him a Championship

    In this episode, we follow Peter Collins from a garage in Worcestershire to the peak of 1950s Grand Prix racing, tracing the decisions and moments that shaped his rise and perilous fall. What did his acts of generosity and risk ultimately demand of him?

    Person: Peter John Collins
    Date: Born 6 November 1931; Monza gesture September 1956; crash nine days after Silverstone
    Location: Mustow Green, Worcestershire; Monza; Nürburgring (Pflanzgarten)
    Topic: Formula One career, Monza wheel handover, fatal Nürburgring crash
    Team: Ferrari

    - Raised in a garage business, Collins was expelled from school at sixteen and given a Cooper 500 by his parents, launching his racing career.
    - At nineteen he signed with two teams after a single test and joined HWM alongside Lance Macklin and Stirling Moss.
    - Progressing through sports cars, Collins won the Targa Florio with Stirling Moss and finished second at Le Mans before Ferrari signed him for 1956.
    - In September 1956 at Monza Collins stopped his own car and handed it to Juan Manuel Fangio, surrendering clear mathematical chances at the title.
    - Nine days after Silverstone Collins entered the Pflanzgarten corner too fast at the Nürburgring and the ditch there remains unchanged today.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    15 mins
  • The Name That Demanded Twenty-One Years of Proof

    The Name That Demanded Twenty-One Years of Proof
    Sep 24 2026
    A son carries his dead father's helmet to Suzuka, fighting a twenty-one year inheritance of expectation in Formula One - what did it cost him?

    The Name That Demanded Twenty-One Years of Proof

    In this episode, we follow the arc from a fifteen-year-old Damon Hill living under Graham Hill's shadow to the moment his father’s helmet crosses the Suzuka finish line. The episode traces the choices, setbacks and the specific burdens of a famous name that shaped his route to Formula One and asks what price he paid to get there.

    Person: Damon Hill
    Person: Graham Hill
    Event: Suzuka finish, 26 October 1996
    Date: Graham Hill plane crash, 16 November 1975
    Location: Brands Hatch

    - A fifteen-year-old Damon watches his father’s last footage on television six months before the crash that kills Graham Hill.
    - The family loses a twenty-five-room mansion and moves into drastically reduced circumstances under Bette Hill.
    - Damon funds early racing through manual jobs and loans, using the Hill name to open doors and attract sponsors.
    - He spends years in junior formulas, including Formula Three Thousand with zero wins but notable poles and leads.
    - At thirty-one he gets his first Formula One race seat with Brabham, then becomes Williams’ test driver before re-entering the race seat battle.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Show More Show Less
    18 mins
  • The Imola weekend that took Senna and left Barrichello racing with a hole

    The Imola weekend that took Senna and left Barrichello racing with a hole
    Sep 23 2026
    Young Rubens Barrichello walks back to the car after the Imola weekend that killed Ayrton Senna-what did it cost him?

    The Imola weekend that took Senna and left Barrichello racing with a hole

    In this episode, we follow Rubens Barrichello’s rise from São Paulo karting prodigy to a Formula One regular, and the Imola 1994 weekend that changed everything around him. How did surviving that weekend shape the choices and costs of a career spent chasing a title?

    Person: Rubens Barrichello
    Location: Imola, San Marino Grand Prix weekend, 1994
    Event: Friday crash, Ratzenberger killed in qualifying, Senna killed in race
    Age: twenty-one at the time of the Imola weekend
    Achievement: youngest pole sitter at Spa-Francorchamps later that season

    - Born in São Paulo in 1972 into a three-generation family name tradition, Rubens found karting at age eight and adopted number 11.
    - Won Formula Vauxhall Lotus in 1990, British Formula Three in 1991, then moved to Europe and climbed three rungs in three years.
    - Made his F1 debut with Jordan in 1993 at age twenty, finishing the season ahead of teammate Eddie Irvine.
    - Crashed at Variante Bassa in Friday practice at Imola 1994, was rendered unconscious and saved when Professor Sid Watkins cleared his airway.
    - Returned to race after the weekend that also claimed Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna, then took pole at Spa months later.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
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