Ferrari man returns home (From The Northern Echo)

Ferrari man returns home

3:10pm Tuesday 30th December 2008 in

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THE man who had the traumatic job of telling Felipe Massa that he had lost the Formula One world championship has returned home to the North-East.

Middlesbrough-born Rob Smedley was Massa's crew chief during an eventful season which saw the fight for the Championship go down to the final Grand Prix in Brazil.

Although Massa took the race win his deadly rival Lewis Hamilton finished fifth - enough to give the British driver the championship by a single point.

Dave Ransome, President and other members of Middlesbrough Motor Club, sent a letter of congratulations to Rob Smedley following the nail biting climax, with an open invitation to visit the club when ever he was back on Teesside.

And on Monday he gave up part of his Christmas vacation to accept the invite, along with his father, Bob.

He spent a couple of hours giving a talk on the role of the race engineer within a Formula 1 team to more than 100 club members.

Middlesbrough Motor Club was founded in 1905 and over the years has had some very memorable members including Fred Rist, Freddie Dixon, Harry Whitfield and Rob Edwards who all excelled at different motorsport activities.

Following his talk the audience had the opportunity to ask questions, some relating to the technical elements of the sport with others regarding the highs and lows of the season, there was also a question of how important it is for children who wish to go into engineering to have a good maths background. Dave Ransome then presented him with a set of Middlesbrough Motor Club engraved wine goblets.

Mr Ransome said: "The audience enjoyed a memorable evening, which will be talked about for a long time."