Patrick ‘Pack’ Bregazzi was a pivotal member of the po-faced, Honda C90-mounted Purple Helmets’ troupe that travelled the globe over the last 30 years.

They brought endless fun and laughter to many thousands of people - from Onchan Park to central Chile, the industrial heart of the Czech Republic to the north-east coast of Brazil, Slovakia to New Zealand and numerous more countries.

They even entertained Royalty, notably in 2002 when the then Lieutenant Governor, Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen, put on a private party for Prince William at Government House.

The Helmets became such an intrinsic part of the International Six Days Enduro that they were asked to strut their stuff at the official opening of the 2008 event at Serres, Greece.

Pack was one of the original group of eight or nine local ‘Sheepskull’ enduro riders who donned Army Greatcoats for a bit of a laugh when travelling to Holland in 1993.

Two years later the Purple Helmets really took off when they were asked to assist trials ace Steve Colley at a display during the 1995 TT at Tromode Test Centre. Colley was putting on a stunt show to raise money to purchase land at Carnagrie for Southern MCC, but he needed help to give him a break, so the Helmets stepped in. The rest is history.

They purchased an old Douglas Corporation AEC Regent V double-decker bus which was driven to Poland and back for the Six-Day. The bikes were lined up inside on the lower deck and the Helmets used upstairs for seating/accommodation.

One of four siblings reared at Knockaloe when their late father John was manager of the experimental farm, Patrick played in goals for Peel under-14s football team.

Two of his elder brothers were starting to ride in local schoolboy motocross events and Pack followed, always using hand-me-downs in bikes and gear from Charlie ‘Chuck’ and William ‘Wig’.

All three were talented riders, Chuck and Pack both going on to ride the ISDE. Pack travelled to France in 1988 and Germany in 1989, winning a silver medal at the latter on his 200cc Kawasaki. He finished top three in the IoM Centre Enduro championship at least twice and won a day of the British championship in the expert class.

He took to the Parish Walk with similar aplomb. After getting round the full 85 miles in 2018 at the first attempt in 22hr 39min he lopped two hours off that 12 months later and finished 10th in 2021 in 17h 23m, breaking 17 hours in 2022 when finishing ninth in 16:57.12, encouraged by his friend Maurice Bellando.

The pair finished runners-up in an eight-hour ‘Plop’ enduro at Ty Croes race track in Anglesey on a 110cc Honda built by brother Chuck.

A great family man, he supported his and wife Suzie’s two children, Jonty and Fearne, in the youth cycling league at the NSC, and similarly when they played hockey to a good standard.

Diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2023, he was initially given no more than 12 months, but such was his bravery, positivity and sheer determination he lived for another two years and nine months.

His proudest achievement was ninth in the Parish Walk. ‘I still could have knocked more time off that, but we’ll never know,’ he said in a reflective moment recently.