13 replies to this topic

[ellrosso]

I'm sure all of you will join me in congratulating fellow TNF'r Geoff Smedley on being inducted into the Tasmanian Motorsport Hall of Fame recently for his contributions to both national and international motorsport.
A former racer in the 50's, Geoff was one of Australias top race engineers in the 60's and highly regarded both here in Australia and overseas. Well done Geoff!

[JacnGille]

[SJ Lambert]

Congratulations Geoff. Well done indeed!

[DanTra2858]

Well deserved reward for a lifetime of work, congratulations.

[seldo]

Congratulations to a quiet achiever. Well deserved.

[john medley]

Add me to the list of congratulators. Nice one Geoff( and all who nominated him)

[275 GTB-4]

Smeds!

[E1pix]

Very nice, and thanks Ell.

[Catalina Park]

Congratulations Geoff.

[Ellis French]

In typical unassuming manner on his facebook page he dedicated the award to all his fellow spanner men ...
Well done Smed



From Smeds Facebook page......

Coming out of the twilight was a lovely reminder of the past, I must thank all those sneaky people for the honour and I feel I must dedicate this recognition to all the old spanner men that in many cases made today's hero's hero's Thank you to CAMS and the Tasmanian Motor Sport Hall of Fame for the recognition........Smed, OBEighty

Edited by Ellis French, 02 February 2013 - 09:59.

[Wirra]

A little bit about Geoff's motoring life.

http://www.morganown...off Smedley.htm

[austmcreg]

I'm sure all of you will join me in congratulating fellow TNF'r Geoff Smedley on being inducted into the Tasmanian Motorsport Hall of Fame recently for his contributions to both national and international motorsport.
A former racer in the 50's, Geoff was one of Australias top race engineers in the 60's and highly regarded both here in Australia and overseas. Well done Geoff!

Congratulations, Geoff. Well deserved and overdue.

From what I have learned of Geoff's development and preparation of John Youl's Cooper Climax T55, his work raised the bar for racing car preparation in Australia and established Geoff's reputation. A great pity John did not live to see this accolade (being an earlier inductee).

Well done, Geoff.

Rob Saward

[Ray Bell]

Geoff is one of the most articulate and open of all the small band of top mechanics of his era too...

His posts here about preparing all those Minis as well as the Brabham 2.5 Climax for P H Wong in SE Asia show his abilities and capacity to get the job done. They could also remind us that it was with his skills that Frank Matich started to come to the fore in his Brabham back in the mid-sixties.

He has written a number of articles over the years about his work, another one of which was his story of preparing the Aussie Miller Cooper for the LSR attempt at Bakers Beach, this also having been transferred to TNF at one time. How grateful we all should be that as an octogenarian he has chosen to help us all understand and learn about his times in the sport.

Let's just hope that he continues to do so for a very long time to come. I personally owe Geoff a lot for the help he's given me, for his friendly approach (and I've been giving him a hard time since his period with Matich!) and for that open way he has that helps us know what can be done.

I look forward to seeing his recently-restored Morgan some time too, and perhaps his model steam-powered boat(s) and other things he might deem it appropriate to show me should I venture again to the Apple Isle. Geoff's truly one of the great blokes that have graced our sport and any tribute he receives is very well deserved.

[Ellis French]

A pic or 2 of his self restored Moggy done over 7 or 8 years





and something he built from scratch in his "spare time"



and in a past environment...3rd from Right



Edit..added pic

Edited by Ellis French, 03 February 2013 - 01:49.