The Tasmanian Motorsport Hall of Fame was established in 1989.

The idea was originally conceived by former Carrick Speedway promoter Winston Badcock. Winston was also somewhat of an entrepreneur, and some of his promotions at the speedway were legendary. In 1989, he had the idea of staging a motoring and motorsport expo at the Launceston Silverdome, which was called the Tasmanian Autosports Expo. While the event was primarily a commercial venture for Winston, he also wanted to acknowledge the achievements of Tasmanians in various forms of motorsport. At the time, the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame had been going for some time and regularly inducted 10-15 Tasmanian sportsmen and women on an annual basis. Despite Tasmania’s proud history of achievement in motorsport, not one single motorsport identity had been inducted.

Winston struck on the idea of forming a hall of fame specifically for motorsport. He also wanted it to appear totally independent and not favour people with whom he had been associated through his various motorsport interests. So, he invited officials from various forms of motorsports, journalists, and commentators to form a completely independent board of directors, tasked with the duty of selecting inductees. The first inductee was speedway sprintcar legend Les Redpath, an 11-time state champion (in various divisions) and a well-known and respected competitor on the national scene. Les has since been joined by many other legends of Tasmanian motorsport.

Winston had negotiated to have the display of inductees housed at the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania in Launceston, which seemed a logical venue. Later, a representative of the museum board was invited to join the Motorsport Hall of Fame board as a director, a practice which continues today, as the Hall of Fame is still housed at the museum decades after its establishment. Winston continued as chairman for several more years, and the inductions were made at the Expo, until he unexpectedly departed the state. The remaining directors met and decided the Hall of Fame concept was too good to let die with Winston’s departure, and they elected Mr G B (Paddy) Baker as its new chairman.

Paddy, who was the state manager for the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) at the time, was one of the original directors invited to join in 1989. He remained chairman of the board until his passing. After Paddy’s passing, another original board member, commentator and multiple Targa Tasmania winner Barry Oliver, was elected chairman and has remained in the position ever since.

With the demise of the Autosports Expo, the inductions ceased to be public affairs for several years and were simply announced through a media release and subsequent publicity. Then, with the advent of the annual Tasmanian Motorsports Awards dinner, the Hall of Fame was invited to announce its inductees at the dinner, which continued for a number of years until the inductions became a stand-alone event in 2021.

Over the years, nominations were sought from various motorsports bodies, as well as input and knowledge from Hall of Fame directors. As the prestige of induction is reserved for only one or two recipients each year, the board now has a comprehensive list of nominations held over from previous years. However, public nominations are still called for from time to time, and forms are available at the museum for those wishing to obtain criteria and guidelines for making a nomination.

While the list of inductees only scratches the surface of the magnificent achievements of some of Tasmania’s great motorsport exponents, it also provides a snapshot of the wealth of talent that has graced the world of motorsport from our tiny island. In researching some of the profiles of inductees, directors have often been amazed to learn just what some of them had achieved, often at a time when Tasmania was much more isolated from the rest of Australia and the world than it is today. We trust you will be equally enthralled and impressed by the achievements of the people on these pages.