Patrick Greenway Fairfield (26 November 1907 – 21 June 1937) was a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

and

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Early life and cricket

Fairfield was born at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in November 1907. When his parents divorced, and his mother remarried, he moved to South Africa at the age of 15, where his family owned a citrus farm at White River. During his period in South Africa he was often known as Patrick Greenway Webster (using the surname of his stepfather). After completing his education at St. Andrew's College, Fairfield's family believed he needed to gain a suitable degree to manage the farm, and so he applied to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

; average exam results at the time meant his application was unsuccessful. He left for England, where he attended a

cram school A cram school (colloquially: crammer, test prep, tuition center, or exam factory) is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schools or university, univer ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

to prepare him for the Cambridge entry exams and was successful in entering Cambridge on the second attempt. While studying at Cambridge, Fairfield made two appearances in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1929 at

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orc ...

, playing against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

and the touring

South Africans South Africans are the citizens of South Africa (officially the Republic of South Africa ''RSA. These individuals include those residing within the borders of South Africa, as well as the South African diaspora. History The first modern inh ...

. Fairfield scored 21 runs in his two matches and took 6 wickets, with best figures of 4 for 86.

Racing career

Fairfield met his future wife Jean Beckett at Cambridge and the completion of his studies, the couple returned to South Africa where they settled at White River and began farming. He changed his surname to Fairfield at some point after his return to South Africa. Developing an interest in motor racing, with the help of his mother he financed a move back to England in 1933 to pursue a career as a racing driver. In England, Fairfield joined with Cyril Paul, another young and inexperienced racing driver, with the two working under

Freddie Dixon Frederick William Dixon (21 April 1892 – 4 November 1956) was an English motorcycle racer and racing car driver. The designer of the motorcycle and banking sidecar system, he was also one of the few motorsport competitors to have been success ...

in his

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

. During Fairfield's first year he drove a

Riley Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...

Special, finishing 13th in the Ards TT of 1934. In 1935 he purchased an 1100cc white

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

from

Raymond Mays Thomas Raymond Mays (1 August 1899 – 6 January 1980) was an auto racing driver and entrepreneur from Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. He attended Oundle School, where he met Amherst Villiers, leaving at the end of 1917. After army service in ...

, the first such sale to a private buyer. This bought him some success when he won the 1935 Mannin Beg, despite the failure of the car to start at the beginning of the race. He also won the Nuffield Trophy at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

and the voiturette race at the Circuit Dieppe-St Aubin. In 1936, Fairfield traveled to the U.S. to compete in the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA) is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 million members in the United States and Cana ...

-sanctioned

Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County, New York, Nass ...

. He finished fifth driving an ERA. He failed to win a race in 1936, but did finish third at the

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, South Africa, East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Ri ...

during his winter return to South Africa. He went one better in January 1937 and won the South African Grand Prix, then being staged at the

Prince George Circuit Prince George Circuit is a race circuit in East London in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. On this course the South African Grand Prix was hosted in 1934, and 1936 to 1939 when racing was halted due to World War II, and then in 1960–1966 ...

. Having impressed Raymond Mays, he was invited to join the ERA works team for 1937. Fairfield won that years Coronation Trophy at

Crystal Palace circuit Crystal Palace circuit is a former motor racing circuit in Crystal Palace Park in the Crystal Palace, London, Crystal Palace area of south London, England. The route of the track is still largely extant but the roads are now mainly used for acc ...

. After his victory at Crystal Palace, Fairfield traveled to France to take part in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, where he drove a

Frazer Nash Frazer Nash was a brand of British sports car manufactured from 1922 first by Frazer Nash Limited founded by engineer Archibald Frazer-Nash. On its financial collapse in 1927 a new company, AFN Limited, was incorporated. Control of AFN passed ...

–

BMW 328 The BMW 328 was a sports car produced by BMW from 1936 to 1940. Its body design is credited to Peter Szymanowski, who became BMW chief of design after World War II (although technically the car was designed by Fritz Fiedler). Specifications Aw ...

with David Murray. Eight laps into the race the aging Bugatti T44 of René Kippeurth crashed and overturned on the fast corner leading to the pit straight, with Fairfield unable to avoid hitting the stricken Bugatti before being shunted himself from behind by the

Delage Delage is a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953. On 7 November 2019, the association "Les Amis de Dela ...

of the Frenchman

Jean Trémoulet Jean Trémoulet (12 April 1909 – 13 October 1944) was a French racing driver who won the 1938 24 Hours of Le Mans with Eugène Chaboud. He died at 35 years old, as part of the French Resistance during World War II.Guy Penaud Guy or GUY may re ...

. Kippeurth was killed instantly in the accident, with Fairfield seriously injured and taken to hospital in

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, where he succumbed to his injuries two days later while being operated on.

Memory

The Pat Fairfield Trophy was run in Fairfield's honour in South Africa during 1966 and 1967.

Motorsports career results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfield, Pat 1907 births 1937 deaths 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers AAA Championship Car drivers Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown Alumni of the University of Cambridge Cambridge University cricketers Cricketers from Liverpool English cricketers English emigrants to South Africa 20th-century British farmers Grand Prix drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in France Sportspeople from Liverpool English racing drivers 20th-century English sportsmen