The name Geoff Steel is synonymous with the BMW marque, both as a driver – he had two seasons in the BTCC in a privateer E36 in the early 1990s – and for the last 20 or so years, as a respected team owner. Geoff Steel Racing, a sideline to his successful Lincolnshire BMW sales and servicing business, has a long association with the various Britcar championships from the very early days, and has seen many well-known names achieve success; Michael Symons and Andre D’Cruze were a permanent fixture on the result sheets in the mid-noughties, and Anna Walewska, Tony Gilham and national treasure Nigel Greensall have all passed through Geoff’s talented team management process, with the pinnacle being the 2007 title for Simon Leith/Steve Bell, and the 2012 Silverstone 24 Hours victory for Poole/Abra/Bardwell/Symons. From the very start, right up to the current season, there has rarely been a year without a Geoff Steel car on the Britcar grid, such has been his teams’ enduring support to the Championship, and Geoff was considered a respected friend and source of inspiration to all Britcar colleagues, and to the wider paddock. Geoff kept himself fit, being a keen cyclist who competed in endurance cycling events into his 60s, and was still active with the team, even earlier this season seen lugging a trolley-load of wheels through the paddock to the Goodyear fitting bay, and the great team that he built continues, under the aegis of long term stalwarts Will Fields and Rob Steel, who is Geoff’s nephew. Geoff will be much missed in the paddock, and the whole Britcar organisation extends their condolences to his family and friends at this sad time.
Geoff Steel Obituary
