Writer's Bio

J ohn Smailes has worked as a motor racing journalist and communications consultant for four decades.

He is Chair of the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame, an initiative of the Australian Motorsport Council comprising the five federations which administer all facets of the sport – motor racing, motorcycling, speedway, drag racing and karting.

John’s body of work now comprises nine books on motorsport, celebrating in emotive terms the achievements of the world’s greatest competitors, looking to the past and the future of the sport.

His most recent book is Phillip Island, the inside story of Australia’s fastest racetrack, our home of motorsport, celebrating almost a century of racing cars and motorcycles on the Island.