Patrick Greenway Fairfield (26 November 1907 – 21 July 1937) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er and racing driver. Irfan Hyder Leghari

Early life and cricket

Fairfield was born at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

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, his 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 collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

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

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

to prepare him for the Cambridge entry exams and was successful in entering Cambridge on the second attempt. While studying at Cambridge, he 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 one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

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 orchard ...

, playing against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

and the touring

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics South ...

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

Racing career

He 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. There he joined with Cyril Paul, another young and unexperienced 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 ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

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 airfie ...

. In his first year he drove a Riley Special, finishing 13th in the Ards TT of 1934. In 1935 he purchased an 1100cc white

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

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 i ...

, 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 and the voiturette race at the Circuit Dieppe-St Aubin. 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, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, R ...

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 1960–196 ...

. 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 area of south London, England. The route of the track is still largely extant but the roads are now mainly used for access to the Crystal Palace ...

, before travelling to France to take part in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

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 t ...

– BMW 328 with teammate David Murray. Eight laps into the race the aging Bugatti T44 of Frenchman 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 of the Frenchman Jean Trémoulet. Kippeurth was killed instantly in the accident, with Fairfield seriously injured and taken to hospital in Le Mans, where he succumbed to his injuries two days later while being operated on. The Pat Fairfield Trophy was run in his honour in South Africa in 1966 and 1967.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfield, Pat 1907 births 1937 deaths 24 Hours of Le Mans 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 English farmers English racing drivers Grand Prix drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in France Sportspeople from Liverpool