Gerard William Riggall "Bill" Patterson (30 August 1923; 10 January 2010) was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n motor racing driver, race team owner and businessman.

Patterson, son of Wimbledon champ Gerald Patterson

Gerald Patterson

Gerald Leighton Patterson MC was an Australian male tennis player. He was born in Melbourne, educated at Scotch College Melbourne and died in Melbourne in 13 June 1967. He was the co-World No...

, attended his father's school, Scotch College, Melbourne, from 1931–34, and Geelong Grammar School from 1935-41. He was one a brace of new drivers that emerged after World War II, first appearing in the Australian Grand Prix

Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix is a motor race held annually and is held to be the pinnacle of motor racing in Australia. The Grand Prix is the oldest surviving motor racing competition held in Australia having been held 76 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928. Since 1985 the race has...

 in 1948

1948 Australian Grand Prix

The 1948 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held on the runways and service roads of the Royal Australian Air Force base at Point Cook just outside of Melbourne in Victoria on Australia Day...

 driving a stripped down MG TC. After improving the MG as far as he was able, a racing car follow, and JAP powered Cooper

Cooper Car Company

The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...

 Mk.V in 1953. Patterson used this to win his first national title, the 1954 Australian Hillclimb Championship

Australian Hillclimb Championship

The Australian Hillclimb Championship is a CAMS sanctioned motor sport competition which determines Australia's annual hillclimbing champion. The championship has traditionally been awarded to the driver setting fastest time at a single meeting however the 1958 title was awarded based on the...

.

In the scorching heat of a Western Australian summer in 1957 saw Patterson step into Lex Davison's Ferrari 625 F1 as a relief driver, working together in the same car to defeat Stan Jones

Stan Jones (racing driver)

Stanley Jones was an Australian racing driver.Today better known as father of 1980 World Drivers' Champion Alan Jones, Stan was a prominent racing driver himself, racing mainly in the 1950s. He is one of eleven drivers to have won the Australian and New Zealand Grands Prix...

 to win the Australian Grand Prix.

A succession of grand prix Coopers followed. The biggest year of Patterson's career was 1961. Victories at Mount Panorama

Mount Panorama Circuit

Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the Bathurst 12 Hour motor race, held each February, and the Bathurst 1000 motor race, held each October...

, Lowood

Lowood circuit

The Lowood Airfield Circuit was a motor racing venue in Queensland, Australia which was used from 1946 to 1966. It was located at a former wartime airfield site at Mount Tarampa, near Lowood, 72 km west of the state capital Brisbane...

, Caversham

Caversham Airfield

Caversham Airfield, also known as Middle Swan Airfield was an airfield constructed at Caversham, Western Australia during World War II as a parent aerodrome for the United States Fleet Air Arm of the 7th Fleet....

 and a second at Longford

Longford Circuit

The Longford Circuit was a temporary motor racing course laid out on public roads at Longford, south-west of Launceston in Tasmania, Australia...

 saw Patterson dominate the 1961 Australian Drivers' Championship

Australian Drivers' Championship

The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...

, 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 original Tasman Series

Tasman Series

The Tasman Series was a motor racing series held from 1964 to 1975, in Australia and New Zealand, and named after the Tasman Sea between the two countries...

 in 1964

1964 Tasman Series

The 1964 Tasman Series was the first Tasman Series season. It began on 4 January 1964 and ended on 2 March after eight races.The series was won by Bruce McLaren, the only one of the four race winning drivers who attended all eight races, a trifecta of wins in New Zealand setting up the...

, 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

Team Brock

There are several Australian motor racing teams which have been called Team Brock.* Paul Weel Racing - Team Brock identity from 2003.* Rod Nash Racing - Team Brock identity from 2002.* Team Brock - Short lived Group C team from 1976/77....

 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.

During the early to mid 1960s Bill Patterson Motors were the distributors of the British made 4WD Austin Champ. This vehicle was capable of being driven totally submerged in up to 5 feet of water as it used a snorkel for engine air intake purposes.

Career results

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
1957 1957 Australian Drivers' Championship The 1957 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS-sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre cars. It was the first time a motor racing title was contested over a series of motor racing events at Australian motor racing circuits...	Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...	4th	Ferrari 625 F1 Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T39 Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...	Ecurie Australie W.Patterson
1959 1959 Australian Drivers' Championship The 1959 Australian Drivers Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre cars. The championship winner was awarded the 1959 CAMS Gold Star....	Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...	4th	Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T43 Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...	Bill Patterson Motors P/L
1960 1960 Australian Drivers' Championship The 1960 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre cars. The title was contested over a seven race series with the winner awarded the 1960 CAMS Gold Star....	Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...	3rd	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...	Bill Patterson Motors P/L
1961 1961 Australian Drivers' Championship The 1961 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre cars. The title was contested over a five race series with the winner awarded the 1961 CAMS Gold Star....	Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...	1st	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...	Bill Patterson Motors P/L
1962 1962 Australian Drivers' Championship The 1962 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre racing cars. The winner of the title, which was the sixth Australian Drivers' Championship, was awarded the 1962 CAMS Gold Star.-Schedule:...	Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...	3rd	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...	Bill Patterson Motors P/L
1963 1963 Australian Drivers' Championship The 1963 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre cars with the championship winner awarded the 1963 CAMS Gold Star...	Australian Drivers' Championship Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...	6th	Cooper T51 Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car to become the first driver to win the championship with a rear-engined...  Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H... Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...  T53 Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...	Bill Patterson Motors P/L