For many a racing driver, to compete in the famous Australian endurance event at Bathurst is just a dream. To drive for a factory team is reserved for a special few. To drive for three factory teams is pure fantasy, except that is for the only racing driver to have accomplished this amazing and still unbroken record. That driver is Leo Geoghegan, who sadly passed away due to illness in March earlier this year.
For most drivers, this would be a career defining achievement, and rightly so. What makes Leo’s achievement even more astonishing is that he was actually better known for his achievements in the open wheeler classes instead of touring cars.
In a Vintage Racecar interview, he remembered how delighted he was when he first raced at Mount Panorama. “I drove at Bathurst for the first time in 1956 in the Holden. Bathurst was marvellous, all that I expected and more. I loved it! Loved the challenge. To cut a long story short, it was a handicap race and we started at the back but managed to win the event with Bob Holden not far behind in a Peugeot.”
Leo’s open wheeled opponents read like a “Who’s Who” of the racing world. From Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss to Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme and many more, Leo raced with them all.
Leo started his motor racing career in 1954 at the former Gnoo Blas motor racing circuit at Orange when he was 17.
In 1965, Leo and his brother Ian famously wore business suits as part of a sponsorship deal for Grace Bros when they drove their Ford Cortina GT500 in the Armstrong 500 at Bathurst.
His best finish at Bathurst for the endurance race was a contentious second in 1967 driving a Ford XR Falcon GT with his brother Ian. The pair were flagged in first, but a protest by team mate Harry Firth saw the brothers officially place second after a re-count of the lap charts. Disastrously, two hours after the start, their Falcon ran out of fuel after it had passed the pits. Leo drove through the back gate into the pits to be refuelled, however the lap scorers credited their Ford with a lap it didn’t complete. The race was then awarded to Firth and Fred Gibson. Leo believed that the lap scorers were correct the first time and that he and his brother should have been awarded the win. Although he never won the Bathurst 500/1000, he did win thirty one races at the legendary venue.
1969 saw him win his first race outside Australia when he drove a Lotus 39-Repco V8 to victory in the very first JAF Grand Prix at Fuji.
Archrival Kevin Bartlett said Leo was “very intense though not like Allan Moffat, but focussed”.
“Leo would stand around and talk, and tell a joke,” recalls Bartlett. “But as soon as he sat in the car, the race face would come on. He’d lick his lips.”
“I always knew I was in for a hard time when Leo, Spencer [Martin], Harves [John Harvey] and then later Max [Stewart] were on the grid”.
“But Leo would never grab a car by the scruff. He understood it never paid to drive a Lotus at 11/10ths.”
Paul Cross, the well-known motor sports historian and photographer described Leo “as an absolute gentleman, a great driver, fantastic company, always willing to give of his time, and never critical of his rivals – not even Harry Firth. He will be much missed.”
He is survived by his widow Del, two sons Steven and Shaun, and two daughters Roslyn and Naomi.
