Talk:Tom Delaney (racing driver)

From DTDelaney / date of death
The following (between the horizontal lines) was contributed by DTDelaney. Much of it has now been wikified and incorporated into the article as it now stands. Note that Tom Delaney's date of death is here given as 31 August. I see no choice but to continue with the 1 September date in the article until and unless a written and independently verifiable source for "31 August" emerges, but for what it's worth I think it should be 31 August. Meeting WP:V is the problem here. Loganberry (Talk) 14:54, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

C.T. (TOM) DELANEY 8 January 1911 – 31 August 2006

Motor racing and flying (he was one of the first to gain a pilot’s licence at Brooklands) were in Tom’s blood. His father, a pioneer of the motor industry had competed in the 1903 Paris-Madrid road race. And now Tom’s son Geoffrey and granddaughter Lucy follow in their footsteps.

In 1910 Tom’s father had become the UK agent for Delaunay Belleville, the French motor manufacturer, and built a factory in Maida Vale, London, in which to assemble these cars which were very popular until WW1. After the war he was invited to join Lea Francis as managing director; they had hitherto produced bicycles and motorcycles and it was in 1928 that Tom accompanied the team race cars to Brooklands for testing and tuning in preparation for the first ever Ards Tourist Trophy race in Ireland. He later joined the team in Ireland as a young pit manager and  was thrilled to witness Kaye Don winning the TT in the Lea Francis, which Tom acquired. In 1930 he won two trophies in his first year of competition and quite a number thereafter at venues such as Brooklands (where he became Vice-President of the Brooklands Society) Donington (competing in the inaugural meeting in 1933 and again last year) Brighton, Shelsley Walsh, Chalfont, Prescott, Phoenix Park (where he led the Irish GP for most of the way); he raced at Castle Combe, Rockingham, Goodwood and Silverstone (which turned out to be his last race).

Apart from motor cars and aeroplanes Tom took over and greatly expanded his father’s business Delaney Gallay Ltd. They had five factories and employed 2,000 people. They were heat exchange engineers who supplied advanced heating and cooling systems for aircraft and vehicles. They were the first to introduce car heaters, air-conditioning and seat belts for cars in the UK. Delaney Gallay components flew on Spitfires, Lancasters, Typhoons and many modern civil and military aircraft including Concorde.

Tom Delaney recently received a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award from the RAC Motor Sports Association for 75 years in motor racing. Tom Delaney is survived by his five sons.

DTDelaney

Date of death again
Thanks to Carcharoth who provided the link to the Daily Telegraph obituary, and thus a reliable source for the 31 August date of death. Autosport said (it seems erroneously) 1 September, so that's worth bearing in mind for anyone doing further research. Loganberry (Talk) 22:56, 18 October 2006 (UTC)