Possibly best known for acting as passenger, in the true sense of the word, in the sidecar of former world sidecar champion Eric Oliver, when he took a pretty stock Norton Dominator and Watsonian combination around the Clypse TT course in the 10-lap 1958 race, Pat Wise passed away at The Elms nursing home, in Louth, Lincolnshire, on Friday, June 8, after a long battle with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Born Pat Genney, in 1928, in North Thoresby, Lincs, she was raised around vehicles, as her uncle Roland Lloyd, was proprietor of Grimsby car manufacturer Lloyd Cars.

As a child she would ride pillion with her brother Jack and quickly became hooked on motorcycles. Her niece, Virginia Dodsworth said: “She was very competitive and wanted to match her brothers, which is how she became a professional racer.”

She married fellow motorcycle enthusiast Les Wise and first met Eric Oliver when she ordered a motorcycle from his shop, in Staines, local to where she and Les lived. She carved out a successful solo racing career, and for six years was up against Britain’s best male riders at circuits countrywide. On her retirement from racing she and Les returned to Lincolnshire.

Her funeral was at Grimsby Crematorium, on Tuesday, June 26.