The Spanish "Motociclismo Clasico" has done an excellent report on the centenary TT, with obvious bias towards the exploits of Spanish riders on the Mountain Course. Their federation refused to allow their riders to compete there after 1970, and the death of the great little Santiago Herrero on his 250 works Ossa. The report says that he crashed at Westwood, just after the 13th Milestone, on oil left by Stan Woods, but my memory (and it was my first race at the TT) was that the extremely hot weather had melted the tarmac in that section and some others, following recent resurfacing. Is the "oil" reason correct, or could there have been a degree of cover-up to avoid blame being laid at the feet of the Highways Board? I certainly remember sliding around there, with the top surface looking ok, but just below it, the tar having melted, and I would have been riding a lot slower than Herrero! He was something of a hero of mine, particularly as we were both resisting the flocking to Yamaha twins with our single-cylinder two-strokes! I have a picture of me leading him at the Gooseneck - in practice, as the only way I would have led him is if he was coming up to lap me!

That was my first visit to the TT as well, from what i remember, was Stan Woods not touring, and was hit by Herrero?, Again, i think Woods was injured, whilst poor Herrereo lost his life, i may be wrong, its quite a few yrs ago, and i was only...............................11 yrs of age!

A very stylish rider

It was my 4th TT and I was 25.
He was a very stylish rider and one of my heros.

I too was fond of good single cylinder 2 strokes.
They seemed to encourage/need a good riding style.

A sad day indeed

It was an extremely hot day , there was melting tar and Herrero was flying on the little Ossa. Stan Woods was on a Suzuki and was touring , both collided, with Stan sufferring nothing more than a broken ankle.

Apart from being a Herrero fan , my grandfather was in Nobles when both riders were brought onto the ward Stan was opposite him and Herrero was next to him. Unfortunately Herrero passed away on the Tuesday or Wednesday. I can still recall the big open wards of the old Nobles. and especially that Monday evening .

I found this account which is at odds with some other reports.

"In 1970 he competed in the Isle of Man TT Lightweight 250cc race. He crashed at Bradden Bridge but remounted and caught and passed Stan Woods. As they approached the fast left hander at the 13th Milestone, Herrero's Ossa wobbled on the melting tar and he crashed into an earth bank at 160kph. Woods also crashed avoiding the bike and rider. Herrero sustained such severe injuries he died two days later at Nobles Hospital, Douglas."
Extract from http://www.findagrave.com/index.html

Another report has Stan with two broken collar bones and a broken ankle.

Now this really will irritate me until we get the definitive answer! There must be records somewhere of the inquest, or marshall's reports or something?
MV - we really are from the same era - I was 24 that June, 25 come the November........where did all the years go............... :roll: :roll:

I treckon we are probably about 3 months apart.
Born 24/8/1942.

That was an amazing year, 1967, my first visit.
Not sure it has been bettered.
The Hailwood return of course, and one or two in the 79s were specuial.
When you think who we have seen Peter.... mind blowing!
While on holiday, I read "Barry" which is a great book.
Now I am reading "Just Joey"
Both books have filled in some gaps with insights.
I plan to read more of the books on my shelves!
have you read "The last of the Great Road Races?
Mr Much?

Hi MV, I've recently read "Barry" and I did enjoy it, especially SP's insight into both his and Barry Sheene's attitude towards racing and how they both dealt with the tougher aspects of racing. But the book is not without it's controversies. See this former thread and follow the links;

http://www.ttwebsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5957,
Very interesting debate I think you'll find. I'd be interseted in your thoughts. alf

Bit of dodgy arithmetic somewhere MV - I was born 4/11/1945, making me, as I said, 24 in TT 1970! Re Tom Herron, he told me how he handled the very fast sweeps after Union Mills through to Ballacraine, when the bike really does not want to crank over due to the gyroscopic effect at speed - saying he slid back a little on the seat so that the front wheel (already light) was "just clear" of the road, then yanked on the bars to pull it towards the inside of the curve, then shift forward agian. When the wheel came down, there would be a wiggle, but you were pointing in the desired direction.......................I never had the courage to try it - and he was doing this at 130mph plus on a TZ!!, preferring the Chas Mortimer technique of a smidgin of opposite lock to "drop" the bike into the corner.
A great rider, and a nice bloke. I wish I had known then that Saint Patrick was a Scot, as it would have wound him up nicely!! :shock:

Will ask stan when i see him.Remember it to well.those were the days ,when all tt social life happened at LIDO,oh happy days.exept that one.

MV Wrote:I treckon we are probably about 3 months apart.
Born 24/8/1942.

Ha, I'm just over a month older than you, MV, 19/07/1942.
1967 was my first TT also but it does not amount to much when you realise that Ian is 20 years ahead of us. (In respect of TTs that is, not age :oops: )

(Thinks, I really must try to get over to Andover to see MV, next time I am home).

If anyone has access to these newspaper articles it may be elucidating.

Isle of Man Courier pp2 dated 19th June 1970
Mona's Herald pp2 dated 16th June 1970

Chris,

you cant discount Ian, of course.
But we should put hiom to on side.

I believe him to be some kind of alien!
(He does have a strange tongue - only joking Ian!)

Yes, 1967 was a very special year and I am so glad I made it.
(That sounds like a line from a Spencer Davis song!)

Yes Chris, do pop over if you can. We can bore each other rigid!
Seriously, you would be most welcome.
I fact, if you fancy a pint or two, we have a spare bed.

Hey Alf,

your toffeees wre robbed by the ref yesterday!
Jamie was grabbing and shoving left right and centre!

As for the Tom Herron situation, I cant believe that he hated any race, nevr mind an Irish one!
The man was very special.
I met him an chatted for some time at one of the TT supporters club does
I laid on (the one at Airfix for anyone who went) He was there with Peter Williams amongst others. What a night that was! I have just found the
t-shirt signed by all the riders present PLUS a batch of (Tom Herron)autograped cardboard photo frames. Must do something with those.
We all know that Tom could be a little crazy and was on the edge a lot, but WHAT a rider.
I will never forget him "whipping" his Texaco Heron Suzuki as he sped along the Cronk y voddy straight with Pat Hennen.
Such memories

MV, Thanks for your concern about the Toffees, another day perhaps? Did you know that Steven Gerrard was a boyhood Evertonian? Not to mention Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen! Where did we go wrong? lol

Regarding Tom Herron and the alleged comments he made; I'd agree with you I find it hard to believe that he did indeed hate racing at the NW or any Irish event. Tom was formiddable in his own back yard, most other places too, and he remains immensely popular with road race fans all over the world. Can you imagine for example, Martin Finnegan saying he hates racing at Skerries, of course not, it's inconceivable that he'd utter such a thing, same could be said for Tom Herron I reckon. It's a little disappointing that this issue has tarnished his book but I'm not going to condemn Steve Parrish for what may well be an honest error but I'd like to think he was big enough to acknowledge that fact. Of course he may have done so already, but to date I'm not personally aware of any correction. Here's hoping. alf

Babel Fish made a better job than usual on that, Don! It makes it even more strange/suspicious/disappointing (choose your viewpoint!) that the inquest totally ignored the possibility of the melted tar having a hand in the tragedy. Even my source Sigurd commented to me that the Highways Board should not be blamed, "as they were normal roads made for buses, cars and lorries", ignoring the fact that they could be expected in my book to have ensured there was the expertise to make a safe surface for the other high-speed traffic that they knew was going to use these roads at least twice a year!
With very soft tarmac because of the heat, Herrero had already fallen at Braddan Bridge, which delayed him. But during the fifth lap he had made up ground until he was in third position, closing on Rod Gould. In Glen Vine he overtook Stanley Woods, who followed him until the fast curved double lefts at the 13th Milestone, "Westwood", where the back wheel of the OSSA lost grip when approaching it at more than 160 Km/h. Woods tells it thus: "Herrero entered very fast, the tarmac was very bad. His machine slid and I could not avoid him. In the crash I lost consciousness and afterwards could not remember much....". With the fall and the crash, Herrero was very seriously wounded (fractured skull with brain injury, fractured spine, collapsed thorax with lung injury, fractures of femur, tibia and fibia, loss of a kidney...). The injuries proved too extensive for him to overcome and he died two days later in Nobles Hospital in Douglas, to where he had been transferred by helicopter