Laurie O’Shea
LAURENCE LENARD O’SHEA, known to his friends simply as “Lectric”, passed away on the 7th May aged 82. As a young builder he used to load up his tools in a knapsack and ride his 125 BSA Bantam to work. When he decided he would like to try racing, he fitted a Walsh kit to the bike, and he had his first race in 1952 at Longford. Later that year at Quorn Hall he stepped onto the podium for the first time with a 3rd in the 125 race. Next came much success with a new 350 BSA Gold Star purchased in 1959. Among the successes were in 1959, a 2nd in the 500 race at Longford followed soon after with a win in the B grade race at Fishermen’s Bend. That was followed the next year at Longford with an epic 2nd place battle with Jack Ahearn at Longford followed by passing and pulling away from him soon after at Phillip Island until he dropped it at Lukey Heights. He set the motorcycle lap record for Baskerville (Hobart) in 1960 on a 500 Manx Norton. After many years racing he was to ride a 350 Manx Norton for Keith Wing Racing and added versatility to that by riding Keith’s new Greeves Silverstone to many race wins. Yates Brothers Racing convinced him to ride their new Yamaha TD1C 250 in 1966 where among his success was a 4th place in a 350 championship race at Phillip Island. That was followed by putting a Suzuki 500 Titan motor into an Aermacchi frame with instant success. He was awarded Life Membership of the Tasmanian Motor Cycle Club in 1972 and in 2015 was inducted into the Tasmanian Motor Sports Hall Of Fame. His last tribute was to have an action photo of him on his 350 Norton as the cover shot of the book “100 Clicks”, the history of the TMCC.