John Smailes | Part 1 - reporting on bank robberies and the London to Sydney

He wrote to Ferry Porsche in his teens and got a reply! Then his hero, the 1960 Australian Touring Car Champion David McKay, would help start his long career in the media.

Many listener’s will remember John Smailes from his time on the ABC commentating with Will Hagon and a young Neil Crompton. It became one of the first soundtracks of Aussie Motorsport.

JS also worked for the Packer’s and the forerunner to Wide World of Sports where an ‘F bomb’, dropped by a legendary racer, once made it to air.

Covering crime and politics in his early years and why he’s never lost that news sense.

Traveling through some treacherous destinations covering the London to Sydney and the book on it which became a collectors item.

Plus memorable interviews he did with Frank Gardner and why Enzo Ferrari thought Kiwi Chris Amon could have been a great!

You’ll be gripped by this conversation. Ripper motor racing stories told by a good story teller.

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