Mourners congregated for the service at the Sofitel Sydney after the 58-year-old businessman and racer was killed while cycling on July 6.
The funeral ceremony was hosted by renowned motorsport broadcaster and friend of Miles, Greg Rust, with one of Miles’ race helmets displayed prominently atop his coffin.
Originally from Ashburton, New Zealand, Miles was well-known in the motorsport industry as an enthusiastic competitor and for his business acumen.
A co-owner of Supercars team Tasman Motorsport in the 2000s and Triple Eight in the 2010s, Miles orchestrated the sale of the Supercars business in both 2011 and 2021.
Those in attendance today included Supercars CEO Shane Howard, former category kingpin Tony Cochrane and ex-team owners Ross Stone and Larry Perkins.
Among other attendees were Mark Skaife, Craig Baird, Tony Quinn, Greg Murphy, Jaxon Evans, Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Adrian Burgess and Trevor Carlin.
Murphy, who drove for the Tasman team that was co-owned by Miles, paid tribute to his late friend with an emotional speech that provided perspective.
“Tim’s greatest success was being an amazing son, an incredible brother, an uncle, a dad and a husband,” he said.
“The amount of people that are here today says it all about the man we knew. And like a lot of you here, I’m proud to have had Tim miles as a mate.”
Miles’ wife Tracy and daughters Caley and Erin had earlier shared tributes, with Tracy acknowledging the huge part that a love for motorsport had played in his life.
“I was amazed in a sport that was so technical with massive budgets, that all the races that Tim entered were so affordable for him,” she said wryly.
“When I asked him, ‘can we afford this latest adventure in car racing?’ The answer was always, ‘yes, don’t worry Trace, it’s just the cost of a set of tyres’.”
Miles raced Formula Fords during his early years in his native NZ and returned to the track later in life mainly through Porsche and GT racing.
A dream outing at the famed Le Mans circuit in France last month in the Mustang Challenge proved his final race event.
While Miles developed into a competent driver, his true calling was in the boardroom, having followed a career in banking by setting up corporate advisory firm, Miles Advisory Partners.
“Tim was a real closer. Lots of people talk the talk, few walk the walk,” said friend Roland Dane in one of several tributes read by host Greg Rust.
“Tim got deals actually done and there is a huge gulf between talking about a deal and actually closing one, especially when the figures are often in the hundreds of millions.”
Aside from the Supercars sales, deals brokered by Miles’ business since its inception in 2002 include the sale of the Dumbrell family’s Automotive Brands Group to conglomerate Metcash in 2012.
Motorsport fraternity remembers ‘incredible champion’ Tim Miles
“Tim saw the imbalance in the world of deal-making,” said Paul Dumbrell, whose links to Miles included their period of co-ownership of Dane’s Triple Eight empire.
“Institutions had the resources and the leverage, but the business owners, the ones that had built something from scratch, rarely had someone fighting for them in their corner.
“Tim made it his mission to be that person.”
The ceremony concluded with a eulogy delivered by long-time friend Andy McElrea, who shared various stories of hijinks from their younger days, including a time spent living in the UK.
“I’m sure you all have your own funny stories to share about Tim this afternoon, which we encourage you all to do,” he concluded.
“Godspeed, Tim, we will look after the girls.”
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