Geoff Hughes was a quietly-spoken, unassuming character – somewhat disguising his past as a leading sidecar passenger in the high-octane years of the Sidecar World Championship.
He partnered West German ace Heinz Luthringshauser on the Continental Circus period of the late 1960s when solo riders and sidecar crews lived an almost nomadic lifestyle in the GP paddocks across Europe.
Born and raised in Bury, he made his TT debut in 1965 with Roger Ford and managed a 12th place finish in the following year’s 500cc GP race delayed until late August because of the National Seamen’s strike.
In 1967 he was approached by Luthringshauser to ride with him at the TT that year.
Thelatter rode with a left-hand chair, different to most of the other German and Swiss aces of that era, because he had an artificial leg that made it unpractical to ride with a right-hand chair. This obviously made the step up to world level more achievable for Geoff.
He and Luthringshauser rode three seasons together, taking in all the GPs at iconic venues like Imatra (Finland), Spa Francorchamps (Belgium) and Montjuich Park in Barcelona. Geoff particularly enjoyed Spa.
They had a podium finish behind Helmut Fath and Wolfgang Kalauch at the Finnish GP in 1968.
A few weeks later they had another podium finish on the ex-Fritz Scheidegger 500cc BMW at the TT with a third place behind the leading outfits piloted by Siegfried Schauzu and Johan Attenberger.
He rode with other drivers at international level, notably Arsenius Butcher, but split with Luthringshauser at the end of the 1969 season and returned to ‘normal’ life back in Lancashire.
He relocated to the Isle of Man in 1974 and worked as an electrician with Easthope and Cubbon, before later joining the gardening team at the old Ballamona psychiatric hospital (now the site of the modern Noble’s Hospital).
He lived for many years in Kissack’s Lane, Crosby but recently moved into sheltered accommodation at Peel. He was 85.
His death, following a tragic traffic accident in the town a week ago last Friday, is sad in the extreme for everyone involved.
Sports editor John Watterson interviewed Geoff at length for the TT News magazine in 2017.
As a tribute to a most friendly and extremely modest gentleman, we have made the three-page feature available to view on our sister site Gef the Mongoose at www.gef.im
Funeral arrangements later.