TRAGIC DEATH OF BOB HOLT

Feature photo: Bob Holt with Ray Martin AM and Katherine Hospital staff …Bob Holt is a rolled gold champion. And a game-changer. He’s certainly changed the game for sick babies and children – and their stressed families – in the outback town of Katherine, on the empty stretch of highway from Darwin to The Alice.  

By Dennis Newlyn:

Australian speedway lost one of the sport’s most popular – and generous – personalities, with the tragic passing of the Northern Territory’s former Australian Speedcar Champion Bob Holt.

Bob, formerly from Sydney in the ‘sixties era, died in Royal Darwin Hospital on Saturday, February 21, at the age of 84 after the car he was travelling collided with a tree near Katherine the day prior.

But it’s his ever-giving nature both to the sport he loved and to the town he’s long called home that the community has remembered him for. His generous donations to community organisations held him in such high esteem and was his trademark of kindness.

Bob Holt holds the record as the oldest winner of the Australian Speedcar Championship when he won the 1999 national title at Darwin’s Northline Speedway aged 58.

Bob will also be remembered for one of the most spectacular Speedcar crashes at the Sydney Showground which occurred in December 1963.

The spectacular accident, captured on the pit corner when Bob was at his highest altitude (and wearing only shorts and open neck shirt!) was captured by photographer Larry Taylor.

It remains one of the most graphic photos of all time featuring action at the Sydney Showground.