Motor-racing icon Pat Holder passes away
Flashback! Pat Holder stands with some of his silverware won over the years.
Flashback! Pat Holder stands with some of his silverware won over the years.

PATRICK `Pat’ Holder, the motor-racing Icon and lifetime member of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) passed away yesterday after battling with multiple health complications for a few years. He was 84 years of age and died at a city hospital.

Pat, as he was familiarly known, is a founding member of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club and, apart from participating as a motor-racer for many years, he was the official starter of motor races up to four years or so ago before handing over the flag to his nephew Suresh Singh.

Because of his dedication to the sport of motor-racing, the GMR&SC’s administration fulfilled the wishes of former president, John Carpenter, to have the club house at the South Dakota Circuit at Timehri named in Holder’s honour.

After the decree some seven years ago, the GMR&SC re-painted the facility which is done yearly and renamed it boldly after Holder, who contributed immensely to not only motor-racing, but sports in general in Guyana.

Holder was not only a racecar driver but also a decorated veteran cyclist, motorcyclist and powerboat racer, who grew up in Queenstown – the same area as Guyana’s current President David Granger. He was also the recipient of a National Award.
In 2015, Holder paid a courtesy call on President Granger and presented him with a trophy he had won in 1949 in his second race as a cyclist.

In cycling, Holder was the first Guyanese to compete in Suriname, when he rode in an 85-mile race there in 1949 at the young age of 15 years. By then, he was the Under-16 cycling champion of British Guiana,

In motorbike racing, he competed in the 250cc and 350cc classes and although he was never an overall champion, he had his fair share of victories.

Other contributions by Pat Holder, the former owner of Auto Electric (automobile company), to motor racing, besides competitively and administratively, is the fact that his company was the first to introduce the Ducati and Yamaha brands of motorcycles.

After successes in motorbike racing, he tried boat racing in 1960 on a whim after acquiring a 40HP engine at a good price.

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