Gerald William Riggall Patterson (30 August 1923 – 10 January 2010) was an Australian

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

driver, race team owner and businessman. Patterson, son of Wimbledon champion

Gerald Patterson Gerald Leighton Patterson MC (17 December 1895 – 13 June 1967) was an Australian tennis player. Patterson was active in the decade following World War I. During his career he won three Grand Slam tournaments in the singles event as well as ...

, attended his father's school, Scotch College, Melbourne, from 1931 to 1934, and Geelong Grammar School from 1935 to 1941. He was one of a brace of new drivers that emerged after World War II, first appearing in the

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual Formula One motor racing event, taking place in Melbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Gran ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

driving a stripped down

MG TC The MG T-Type is a series of body-on-frame open two-seater sports cars that were produced by MG Cars, MG from 1936 to 1955. Known as the Midget, the series included the TA, TB, TC, TD, and TF models. Although the design was contemporary in the ...

. After improving the MG as far as he was able, he moved to a

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word " Japanese". In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term offensive because of the internment they suffered during World War II. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Jap ...

powered Cooper Mk.V in 1953. Patterson used this to win his first national title, the 1954 Australian Hillclimb Championship. In the scorching heat of a

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

n summer in 1957, Patterson stepped into Lex Davison's Ferrari 625 F1 as a relief driver, working together to defeat Stan Jones to win the 1957 Australian Grand Prix. A succession of grand prix Coopers followed. The biggest year of Patterson's career was 1961. Victories at Mount Panorama, Lowood, Caversham and a second at

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

saw Patterson dominate the

1961 Australian Drivers' Championship The 1961 Australian Drivers' Championship was a Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing titleRecords, Titles & Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4 for drivers of Formula Libre cars. The t ...

, scoring 51 points to Lex Davison's 15 to win the Gold Star. Patterson raced on for a few more years and took part in the inaugural

Tasman Series The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, but after that Patterson stepped away from the sport as a driver, but stayed as an entrant, sponsor and team boss. Patterson Holden dealership Bill Patterson Motors supported several drivers over the following decades, open wheelers for the rest of the 1960s and on into the 1970s. In 1977 Patterson purchased touring car racing team, Team Brock which he ran for a year. Patterson's name continued to be seen in the sport into the 2000s in Speedway racing. Patterson died at Sandringham on 10 January 2010 at the age of 86.

Career results

References

1923 births 2010 deaths Racing drivers from Melbourne Tasman Series drivers People educated at Geelong Grammar School People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne {{Australia-autoracing-bio-stub Racing drivers from Victoria (state)