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Esteemed Bathurst racer, motorsport administrator and TA2 Muscle Car Series official Geoff Leeds has died after a battle with cancer.
Leeds’ motorsport career saw him make 21 Bathurst starts between 1966 and 1991, making his debut in the 1966 race in a Morris Cooper S with Mick Crampton.
His achievements at Mount Panorama included co-driving a Mk I Ford Escort GT to victory in Class B with Digby Cooke at Bathurst 1972, after the pair switched from the Holden Torana LC GTR XU-1 they’d shared the previous year.
Leeds would score a class podium in 1973, again in an Escort but this time driving with Jim Murcott and drove with Peter Finlay in 1974 (Bob Holden Motors Ford Escort) and drove to fourth in class in the Mazda House Racing RX-3 with Jim McKeown in 1976.
Leeds raced the following year with Yoshimi Katayama when the Japanese driver rolled the #42 RX-3 at Murrays Corner, famously caught on Bathurst’s television broadcast.
Subsequent Bathurst starts saw Leeds spend two years in a West End Mazda backed RX-7, share a Chevrolet Camaro with Peter Fitzgerald in 1982, before another two starts with privateer Terry Finnigan in a Holden Commodore VH.
Leeds drove an Alf Barbagallo backed Rover Vitesse with Tim Slako to 13th overall in the first Group A Bathurst (1985), pairing up with Finnigan for the 1987 Great Race, which was a round of the World Touring Car Championship.
He made seven Bathurst starts with Finnigan, the pair driving their VN SS Group A to eighth outright in 1991, Leeds’ last foray at Mount Panorama.
While he no longer drove at Bathurst, Leeds’ racing career didn’t end there, spending two years alongside Colin Bond as the IPO (Investigating and Prosecuting Officer) for the V8 Dunlop Development Series.
He also had a stint behind the wheel in Aussie Racing Cars, and ran Sydney’s Oran Park circuit where a street is named in his honour.
Leeds also performed roles for the Australian Touring Car Championship, the controversial 2.0-litre Super Touring Championship and in Sports Sedans.
For the past four seasons, Leeds was the Driving Standards and Prosecuting Officer for the TA2 Muscle Car Series.
Speedcafe sends it condolences to Leeds’ family.
