Background
He was born in Belfast and educated at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare from 1945–1949 before attending Trinity College, Dublin until 1953.
He was born in Belfast and educated at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare from 1945–1949 before attending Trinity College, Dublin until 1953.
He finished third at the 1962 Monte Carlo Rally in a Sunbeam Rapier.
He was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Honour in the 2016 New Year"s Honours list. 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 Doctor of Science 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 where 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. Paddy Hopkirk is a brand of automotive accessories (for example, roof bars) named after Hopkirk.
Hopkirk was elected as a life member of the British Racing Drivers" Club in 1967, and is also president of the Historic Rally Carolina Register, and a patron of disability charity WheelPower.