Hilary Jardine, OD, is being hailed for his outstanding contribution to motor sport in Jamaica and the Caribbean. The 91-year-old, who was conferred with the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican Government in 2009 for his contribution to motor sport, died on Sunday.

The chairman of the Jamaica Millennium Motor Club (JMMC), Stephen Gunter, described Jardine as the “consummate professional”.

“He was always enthusiastic in the promotion of motor sport… He was a monumental figure in motor sport in Jamaica, as well as the wider Caribbean. He was not born in Jamaica, but he has lived in Jamaica since 1969 and considered himself Jamaican. He was patriotic and considered himself Jamaican. He flew the Jamaican flag proudly as a spectator and when travelling as part of the Jamaican team for various meets throughout the Caribbean as part of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship. It will take us some time to measure the full extent of his contribution to motor sport in Jamaica and for us to grasp the magnitude of the loss,” Gunter told the Jamaica Observer’s Auto magazine.

“Even though Hilary retired as president of the Jamaica Race Drivers Club 10 years ago, everybody since then could approach him — he was a virtual walking encyclopedia of motor sport and specifically circuit racing — and speak to him. There wasn’t any scenario that you could come up with that he had not already dealt with; he literally has decades of experience doing it. It is a tremendous loss to motor sport,” the head of Jamaica’s governing body of motor sport continued.

Junior Barnes, chairman of the Jamaica Race Drivers Club (JRDC), hailed the late motor sport administrator as a giant.

“Mr Jardine was a past president of the JRDC; he was also a gentleman. He was a stalwart… As the chairman, I would like to give our condolence to his family for sharing him with us,” said Barnes.

“He always reassured us that better days were coming. He was a stalwart for the motorcycle fraternity to get them to form as a group… He guided the motor racers all the way to the Caribbean championship. Although he wasn’t Jamaican, he adopted us as his own. He was the secret behind Doug Gore and David Summerbell Jr, who together won over 11 Caribbean championships, and he was there for everyone. He’s gonna be missed,” he added.

Affectionately known as Sir Hilary, he was a stalwart of Jamaican motor sport for several decades. Born in Guyana, he was one of the founding members of the British Guiana Motorcycle Club in 1955 and, in the 1960s, he revived the motorcycle club in Trinidad and Tobago. Hilary, who lived in Jamaica since 1969, founded and served as president of the Jamaica Motor Racing Association during the 1970s. He served as president of the Jamaica Race Drivers Club from 2006 to 2011.

He was also an active motorcyclist who competed in the 600cc class.