26 Sep RIP JACQUES LERM
The world has become a quieter, duller place without Jacques Lerm – a gentle giant with a kind heart, a comedian, an artist, a motorcycle racer and a great cook, who went out of his way for his friends and family and shared his kindness with others. Jacques passed away suddenly from a suspected heart attack at his home in Thailand on Wednesday 17 September.
Close friend and team-mate Chris Williams writes:
“Out of the lens of Jacques eyes, life was fun and full of jokes. He had a witty and sometimes wicked sense of humour and loved to share it with his mates. He had a couple of WhatsApp and Signal groups going where he shared his jokes and photos with those that made the cut.
“I am pretty sure that he knew photoshop before everyone else did. One could say that Wayne Arendse and Valentino Rossi are the same person and Vale probably has to pay Wayne royalties for all the photos he shares with him. He also loved placing me next to my nemesis Marc Marquez and had a great old chuckle at my language when I saw it.
“The best thing was that he made the photoshop so bad that one could see that it wasn’t real, but that was part of the fun.
“Many years ago, before everyone got fancy with pits, only a selected few motorcycle racers were honoured with pits right in front of the main straight. One of these fortunates, was Frankie from Racebase Motorcycles.
“During our last race of the season, he had braai master Jacques Lerm cook the racers his famous Peri Peri chicken. It was better than any chicken you could buy at a Portuguese restaurant – not even the Diaz Tavern in central Cape Town could make it the way Jacques did.
“All the wives and even some of the guys asked Jacques for the recipe, but that one he kept close to the chest. Bet you he is making some great chicken in his afterlife.
“Rest in peace old friend, until we meet again.”
It’s not often that one of the Killarney family is remembered more for his cooking skills than his exploits on the track – but for Jacques Lerm that was all part of the fun, and his memory will always bring out a smile.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his partner Pat and daughter Jess at this sad time.
