Paddy Hopkirk

Patrick Barron Hopkirk (14 April 1933 – 21 July 2022) was a rally driver from Northern Ireland, he was considered to be one of the finest rally drivers that Ireland ever produced. Following his retirement from competing he became well known for his charity work and for running his successful automotive accessories business and driving school.

Hopkirk was appointed MBE in the 2016 New Year Honours list. In early 2016, Hopkirk became the IAM RoadSmart Mature Drivers Ambassador. He was known to be very active within the charity and in addition to his mature driver work, Paddy was particularly supportive of the charity's Young Driver Ambassador. Paddy's partnership with him lead to a number of successful initiatives to promote advanced driver training to younger people, he used his profile and network to get organisations such as the BRDC to take part and help to raise the profile of further driver training as a way to save lives on the road.

Early life Hopkirk was born in Belfast, raised as a Catholic, and educated at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare from 1945 to 1949 before attending Trinity College, Dublin until 1953. However his academic career was held back by his dyslexia. Hopkirk first learned the basics of car control at the age of nine, when a local clergyman left him his invalid carriage in his will. He later graduated to a motorcycle with a sidecar - which was added at the insistence of his father, who felt it would be safer - and upon attending Trinity to study engineering, acquired an Austin 7 "Chummy" Tourer which he used to make his rally debut. Now bitten by the car bug, Hopkirk dropped out of university to start working for Dublin's Volkswagen assembler's retail operation in Ballsbridge, where he purchased a string of used Volkswagen Beetles to enter in competitions.

Alongside Henry Liddon he won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally in a Mini Cooper S car number 37, with the registration number 33 EJB. He also led BMC to the team win, with fellow Mini drivers Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen pacing fourth and seventh. The victory made Hopkirk a household name: he received telegrams from the then UK Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home and the Beatles, was given the Freedom of the City of Belfast, and appeared along with his Mini on Sunday Night at the London Palladium. He went on to steer an Austin-Healey to victory at his next international rally, the Österreichische Alpenfahrt, later that year.

Hopkirk also travelled to Australia during his career to drive for the BMC Works Team in the annual Bathurst 500 race for standard production cars at the Mount Panorama Circuit. He drove at Bathurst in a Morris Cooper S from 1965 to 1967, obtaining a best result of 6th outright and 3rd in class in the 1965 Armstrong 500 when paired with another great rally driver, Timo Mäkinen of Finland. In 1965, he won a Coupe d'Argent at the Alpine Rally. He won the 1965 and 1967 Circuit of Ireland Rally, the 1966 and 1967 Alpine Rally, and the 1967 Rally Acropolis.

Hopkirk was elected as a life member of the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1967, and was also president of the Historic Rally Car Register, and a patron of disability charity WheelPower.

The 1968 London-Sydney Marathon In 1968, at the London-Sydney Marathon, Hopkirk gallantly gave up any chance of victory on the penultimate stage to rescue the Bianchi-Ogier team then in the lead, whose Citroën DS had just collided head-on with another car on a road supposedly closed to traffic. Hopkirk and his teammate Tony Nash managed to pull out occupants from both cars that were starting to burn, probably saving the life of severely wounded Lucien Bianchi in the process. The accident happened just ahead of Hopkirk's Austin 1800. By driving back to warn onlookers and the police, Hopkirk and Nash likely also prevented another crash with any incoming participants. Hopkirk's crew went on to complete the rally in second, behind Andrew Cowan's Hillman Hunter. and with a registration number almost identical to the victorious 1964 Mini (L33 EJB): thirty years after his famous win, Hopkirk and his co-pilot Ron Crellin finished the race in 60th place against much more modern and powerful machines.

In 2010, he was among the first four inductees into the Rally Hall of Fame, along with Mäkinen, Rauno Aaltonen and Erik Carlsson.

Other interests Paddy Hopkirk is a brand of automotive accessories (for example, roof bars) named after Hopkirk. He had been involved in the automotive trade from his early days in rallying: by the early 1970s he was involved importing Toyotas into Northern Ireland. He also established a driving school, which along with his car accessories business was sold in the 1990s, and he subsequently set up a marketing firm, Hopkirks Ltd.

Personal life Hopkirk married his wife Jennifer (née Manser) in 1967: they had three children Katie, Patrick and William

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

Complete Bathurst 500 results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1965 BMC Australia Timo Mäkinen Morris Cooper S C 128 6th 3rd 1966 BMC Australia Brian Foley Morris Cooper S C 28 DNF DNF 1967 BMC Australia Brian Foley Morris Cooper S C 126 8th 4th

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