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Just to let everyone know that my father Patrick O'Brien died of a heart attack in France this morning. He was an enthusiastic member of this forum.

Will write more later.

Catherine O'Brien in Cambridge, UK.

I'm sorry for you, RIP your father

Condolences. Patrick was a valuable member of this forum and his insights into the history of GP racing will be missed.

POBRatings wrote:Just to let everyone know that my father Patrick O'Brien died of a heart attack in France this morning. He was an enthusiastic member of this forum.

Will write more later.

Catherine O'Brien in Cambridge, UK.

That's very sad, he was a respected member of the forum, my deepest condolences.

That's a big shock. My sincere condolences. He was an extremely knowledgeable member of the forum and his anecdotes always brought the past to life. What's more, he always conducted himself as a true gentleman and never had a bad word to say about anyone. He will be missed here.

Condolences. Little to be said that will benefit you except that there will be something missing.

Really sorry to hear that. I always enjoyed reading his posts; he certainly brought some interesting insights to the forum and sparked some good conversation in the process.

Zoue wrote:That's a big shock. My sincere condolences. He was an extremely knowledgeable member of the forum and his anecdotes always brought the past to life. What's more, he always conducted himself as a true gentleman and never had a bad word to say about anyone. He will be missed here.

Couldn't say it better than this.

My sincere condolences

so sad to read this.

I always looked forward to reading his posts, particularly his anecdotes about drivers in the 50/60's.

My condolences Catherine, we're all devastated to lose such a brilliant contributor to the forum.

That's so sad Catherine. My heart goes out to you and your family. Patrick always came across as such a passionate fair man. He probably pushed F1 metrics forward further than anybody else has ever done and his contribution will not be forgotten.

Very, very sad news

He certainly knew his stuff, and was always thoroughly decent to boot.

We will certainly miss him here; my condolences.

That indeed is sad news. Patrick was a true gentleman and of a good heart. To me, it is remarkable that I find myself genuinely feel in a loss about someone who would be but "a member of a public forum" that I have never had a personal exchange with even, not to speak of meeting him in "real". And that is Patrick's credit. That is him. That is his great personal value that commanded respect and appreciation, and in the sudden disappearance... the feeling of a loss.

Condolences, and thank you for the information.
And if there is Heaven (have not made my mind about that one yet), then Patrick is there.

R.I.P

His posts were my favorite to read. His knowledge and stats were so fascinating.

POBRatings wrote:Just to let everyone know that my father Patrick O'Brien died of a heart attack in France this morning. He was an enthusiastic member of this forum.

Will write more later.

Catherine O'Brien in Cambridge, UK.

Very sad to hear this.

R.I.P. Mr. Patrick O'Brien. Thank You for Your insightful posts here.

We PF1 forumers share & feel Your grief.

POBRatings wrote:Just to let everyone know that my father Patrick O'Brien died of a heart attack in France this morning. He was an enthusiastic member of this forum.

Will write more later.

Catherine O'Brien in Cambridge, UK.

Catherine,
I am so very sorry for your loss. May you and all of your father's loved ones find solace in knowing what a wonderful man he was and how he so positively impacted people world-wide through this forum.

I too am feeling a very personal loss as your father and I have had several discussions off the forum as well. Even to the point of us getting together at his home during a trip I had planned in 2013. Sadly, a health issue with a family member force a cancellation of the trip so I did not get to meet him in person.

Again, Catherine, I am so sorry for your father's passing. I feel as though I have lost a good friend, not just a well respected fellow forum member.

RIP Patrick. It's nice to have a real name for such a conscientious contributor. Best wishes to you Catherine in what I'm sure is a very difficult time.

Just know that Patrick was an impressive man who, as far as this forum is concerned, actually put a lot of effort into writing a thesis intended to provide insight into this sport that we like talking about so much. He will be missed.

I always felt his participation in a thread raised the quality and I often found his anecdotes and well-reasoned analyses and opinions of drivers improved my appreciation of Formula 1. What more could one ask from a member of a forum?

My condolences.

My condolences. It is a shock to me.

He was specially dear to me, as he was one of the most knowledgeable member of the forum, peculiarly concerning the past of the sport. His real life stories with the drivers and passion were specially valuable along with his excellent analysis. I much enjoyed personal discussions with him. His absence will be strongly felt and will be never truly compensated. It's a sad day.

Stay strong, Catherine O'Brien and the rest of family.

I am very very sad to hear this news.
We were often in disagreement but whenever I read his posts, I always learned something about drivers of the past and the history of F1.

I thank you for the fact that you were aware of his passion and the very special place he has for us members of this forum. He has really left a BIG mark and will be remembered dearly.

My sincere condolences to you Catherine, and your family.

My sincere condolences. Like many others, I enjoyed reading his posts a lot. Always a true gentleman and you could tell he had a good heart. So sorry for your loss, he will be missed around here, that is for sure.

POBRatings wrote:Just to let everyone know that my father Patrick O'Brien died of a heart attack in France this morning. He was an enthusiastic member of this forum.

Will write more later.

Catherine O'Brien in Cambridge, UK.

I am new here, and don't know you or your father, but I am very sorry and sad to hear of your loss. May your father forever rest in peace.

Very sad news and condolences to you and your family. As others have said Patrick was a valued member here and he'll be sorely missed. His personal stories were a highlight and his posts and knowledge spanning so many different era's of the Sport we all love were a big part of why I and I'm sure many others enjoy this forum.

Oh my gosh!!!!

Such a shock and I am genuinely saddened to hear your father has passed Catherine.

Your father was an extraordinary person and I will forever cherish our conversations for as long as I live. He was tremendously insightful, wonderfully well spoken and had one of the greatest wealths of Motorsport history of anyone on earth. He was a true treasure and a gem of a person.

I'd like to offer my sincerest condolences and deepest sympathies for his entire family in losing such a great person in your lives. Personally speaking, I will miss him deeply.

May he rest in everlasting peace.

Others have expressed their condolences far more eloquently then I ever will. So I will only add that I am so sorry to hear for your loss. You have my heartfelt and most since condolences.

May he rest in peace.

Oh dear, this sad news has struck me hard indeed. Only last November we exchanged a number of messages, among other things about Prost's 1993 Belgian Grand Prix. I cherish his final message, in which he told me of the fact he spoke Afrikaans. How nice it would have been to have talked to one another in person.

How sad too, that he was to go on Saint Patrick's Day... As I wasn't free to celebrate it today, I will drink a pint of the good stuff in his honour and to remember him for his gentlemanly behaviour on this forum, and for his unequalled knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport we all love so much.

Sincere condolences Catherine, and I hope the many tributes to him on this page may be a source of some comfort to you and yours. RIP Patrick.

I'm really sad to hear that Catherine. My sincere condolences.

Very sad news. I have greatly enjoyed Patrick's contributions to the forum over the years; he had such knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport yet always remained impartial and objective in his insights.

Motorsport has lost one of its greatest fans.

Very sad news. My condolences.

So sorry to hear that Catherine. Condolences to the family.
We all will definitely miss POB and his iinsightful thoughts.

That is very sad news indeed. His contributions will be greatly missed here.
Please accept my sincere condolences and thank you very much for letting us know.

RIP Patrick - hope its fast and furious whereever you are!

That really is a shock, and very sad.

Not only was Patrick a very insightful member of this forum, his frequent anecdotes about racing in the early days were a window to the past for many of us who never had the chance to experience that world ourselves. He always had something interesting to say about the drivers of old that I'd never heard before, especially the pre-war years, and never a bad word for anyone else.

RIP Patrick - you will be deeply missed by many here.

POBRatings wrote:Just to let everyone know that my father Patrick O'Brien died of a heart attack in France this morning. He was an enthusiastic member of this forum.
Will write more later.
Catherine O'Brien in Cambridge, UK.

Thank you for all your kind words. Your comments about my dad are a huge comfort. Best father ever. I have one set of tears for myself and one set for all the research and books on Grand Prix racing he was busy working on and keen to share with you all. He still had so much to say and contribute, and he often said how much he learnt from all the knowledge on this forum.

This is heart breaking news.

Whether you agreed with him or not, I think there are few members of the forum so universally respected.

Personally, I enjoyed recently derailing a thread with Patrick discussing our shared love of short oval racing, and going over the history of UK drivers going over to South Africa.

RIP Patrick.

Very sad and unexpected news, RIP POB, one of the best members here.

I hope he is on the other side laughing that the workings of his excellent ratings system were never revealed.

He is going to be missed around here, judging by his excellent anecdotes from the 60s onwards and vast knowledge, I am sure you can take comfort from him having a good innings.

lamo wrote:Very sad and unexpected news, RIP POB, one of the best members here.

I hope he is on the other side laughing that the workings of his excellent ratings system were never revealed.

He is going to be missed around here, judging by his excellent anecdotes from the 60s onwards and vast knowledge, I am sure you can take comfort from him having a good innings.

Thanks so much for your lovely message about my dad, lamo. I do need to correct you though: thankfully he did get to reveal his methodology. Just in time he released on Lulu his Explanatory Chapters:

http://grandprixratings.blogspot.co.uk/ ... lable.html

This specifies exactly which parts of his Rating System are replicable and which require detailed, qualitative knowledge of racing. He wrote it with a view to others being able to interpret and implement his ratings.

Thank you for the correction. For those that have never been on Patrick's site

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About Patrick -

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and now living in the South-West of France, my interest in cars and motor racing was sparked at age five when my father - one-time mechanic to South African Champion Frank Brodie - started taking me to local races in 1949.

My analytical book ‘Grand Prix, a Century of Racing’ was published in 1994.

I have always been fascinated by the perennial problem of how to rate Grand Prix driver performances. In 2002, I derived a methodology which separates driver and car performance. An explanation of my Grand Prix Performance Ratings System is provided elsewhere on this blog.

Elected Honorary Member of the Societa per la Storia dell’Automobili Italiana in 1987.



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Such sad news. Please accept my condolences.
Rest in Peace Patrick!

This is so sad. Many have expressed better than I can how insightful and respected he was. Huge loss to this forum, not to mention to his family.

Rest in piece, Patrick.

What I admired the most about Patrick was his ability to be largely objective. His posts were often interesting, knowledgeable, fair and balanced.

This is sad news. Please accept my sincere condolences

Spent 10 minutes trying to write something.. gave up.

This is crushing news and I didn't even know Patrick personally. His contributions have been simply outstanding -- wonderful wonderful work... and a wonderful man.

My most heartfelt condolences...

Rest in peace, Patrick.......