Does anyone know the whereabouts of Pat Hennen who was involved in that horrific accident at Bishopscourt in the 1978 TT? i know he returned to the island as a guest of the ACU but i never heard much afterwards.

It would be nice to see Pat invited over to take part in a Lap of Honour instead of people like Read and Agostini who did the TT no favours in their day.Just a thought...

pykey, get back to me your e-mail ain't working.
ade!

Mark very true about what you said about Ago but at least he stayed away but Phil Read well? thats another story ask the marshalls at Cronk-y-Voddy.

Every time i ride or drive through Bishpscourt, I think of Pat Hennen (just as Brands anda Paddock make me think of the other Pat!) On that fateful day, i was in the hedge at the cross roads on Cronk-Y-Voddy. Did anyone else see Pat and Tom there? Tom was literally "using the whip", making jockey actions as if to get more out of the Suzuki. They were side by side at amazing speed! Then....came the awful accident. Isnt it amazing how many Herron Suzuki riders came to grief. Yes, if Pat is able, lets see him in the Island.
As for Mr Read, it never ceases to suprise me how unpopular the man is! I have heard so many bad opinions.
Another Cronk-Y-Voddy memory involved Read and SMB. Watching Mike go down to the 11th is a memory I treasure! His style down there was like no other. It was also there that I saw Mike get ahead of Read that day.
It doesnt take much to trigger the memories, does it!

Very true what you say Mike about 'Team Heron Suzuki' but what riders they had in SMB and JG and Tom and Pat, wonderful but very sad memories.

Pat is still living in California, in resonable good health but obviously still not 100% since his TT crash.He has gone all religious these days.
He has been over to the Isle of Man, but it would be nice to see him over there again one day.

Thanks for the information on Pat Hennen, Elwyn i tend to agree it would be nice to see him over on the Island again, a real TT hero was Pat and as others have written to see him in action was breathtaking,a true TT hero.

I totally agree with all the comments about Pat Hennen and his impact in the Isle of Man.
A true road racer, and he was a real inspiration to myself to compete, see the paragraphs below from an article about my first Manx.

When I was over for the first time, I garaged with Pete Burgess at Bernie Potters place, before we headed for home he presented me with a couple of cracking shots of Pat in the 1978 races, it would be great to see him back at the TT or even the Manx, as I am sure there are many like myself who were in awe of a Grand Prix rider mastering the TT course in such a short space of time.

Best Regards

John Mc.

Since 1978, I had harboured a dream to compete in the Manx Grand Prix and take on the incredible ribbon of tarmac that is the Mountain Circuit. The first seeds were planted early in that balmy practice week when I gazed in awe at the likes of Pat Hennen sweeping through the leafy suburbia of Quarter Bridge on that delectable red, yellow and black Heron RG500 Suzuki.

This was and still is an endearing memory, as Hennen had bucked the trend of the World Championship runners of the time, who had been busy trying to put road circuit racing firmly out of service and move to more and more sterile short circuits that were springing up on the World Championship calendar. It is amazing to me that over 20 years later I myself would make that plunge down Bray Hill and head round that very corner albeit at a snails pace in comparison.

give it a few years john and some youngster will be at the manx because of you.

Pat Hennen was a real world class rider who would have been 500cc World champion in 1978 if it wasn't for his TT crash, was he the last 500 GP world championship leader to compete at the TT? He was very enthusiastic about the TT and has no regrets or holds any grudges considering the crash ended a very promising career which would have taken him to world championship success. It would really be nice to have him invited back to the Island and show him that he was appreciated and has not been forgoton

I'm sure that if Pat was interested,Suzuki would dust off a bike. It would be nice if the ACU got behind it,instead of bringing over the usual suspects...

Hi
Anyone know how to get hold of Pat? We'd like to do a story on him.
Thanks!
Mitch
Motorcyclist USA
<A HREF="mailto:Mitch.Boehm@Primedia.com">Mitch.Boehm@Primedia.com</A>

Mitch, if you're still interested in doing a story on Pat, would be glad to put u in touch with him. I'm his older brother. Also re the Isle of Man, the previous posting re what actually happened to cause his accident at the IOM is pretty much correct. Of course, the story we were told by the IOM officials immediately after accident was very different and completely bogus. Some years ago Pat met a woman who actually witnessed the accident. She told Pat that he and Tom Heron entered the corner where he crashed side by side. She sd Heron was "leaning" on Pat as they went thru the corner, forcing Pat against the curb. The normal line thru the corner was about 2 feet away from the curb, not up against it. Pat's bike's rear wheel barely touched the curb, but at 170-plus MPH even slightly touching a curb will cause serious problems. Tom Heron was on a "black" list of riders my brother and I kept of riders who could potentially be dangerous on the track. That was a result of a couple of incidents on the track as well as a story one of his mechanics had told us about him. Heron's career was doing only so-so at that time and he was starting to get a little desparate on the track at times. We had put him on our black list maybe 2 or 3 months prior to Pat's accident principally because of a story one of Heron's mechanics told us. In truth, it never entered our minds that Heron and Pat could end up side by side on the track during the IOM races. In previous races Pat rarely saw him on the track. Had Pat not had his accident, he almost certainly would have gone on to win the 1978 GP World Championship. He and Kenny Roberts were only 2 points apart in the 500cc GP standings at the mid-point of the season, and the 2nd half of the season was going to be much tougher, principally because of having to race on circuits like the old Spa Nurburing circuits. Also, since Pat was nearly 3 years younger than Kenny, he certainly would have gone on to win many more GPs and titles. He had also started an open-wheel car racing career and was tipped as the hottest young driver of his era by the car racing experts. Like Hailwood, Pat was as fast in car as he was on a bike. Of course, that's all history now, and the future belongs to the kids on the GP circuit today. Reall amazing to see how far GP racing has progressed thru the years. - chip hennen <A HREF="mailtochennen@msn.com">(chennen@msn.com</A>)

Very interesting posting as no-one seemed to actually witness the very unforunate racing incident, rumour at the time was Pat seemed to take his hand to wipe his visor but unfortunatly we will never know?

Hi Chip,

its good to hear from you.
Thanks for filling us all in.
I can still see him on Cronk-Y-Voddy!

However, I am saddened by what you say about Tom Herron.
If its true (and who I am I to doubt you and Pat) then Toms memory is not quite the same....

RIP Tom

Mike we assume the posting was made by Chip? i have my reservations which i wont discuss on any public site, if you want to email me Mike its <A HREF="mailto:davidpyke1@aol.com">davidpyke1@aol.com</A>

Hmm,

I take your point Pykey.

Mike

This is really Chip Hennen and everything I said in my earlier posting was true (my personal email address is <A HREF="mailto:chennen@msn.com">chennen@msn.com</A>). We were told following Pat's accident that eyewitnesses saw him trying to wipe something from his visor just prior to the accident. Speculation was that a large bug had struck his visor and obscurred his vision. When we got his helmet back, there was no evidence of anything severely obscurring his vision. The woman who actually saw what really happened provided Pat and several other people with a pretty detailed account of what actually happened several years ago, and what she recounted did make perfect sense. Of course, the IOM organizers didn't want that story to be told, especially given the stature of my brother at the time. I also want to mention that there was no indication that Heron deliberately leaned on Pat as they went thru the corner. He simply didn't give Pat the room he needed to safely make it thru the corner, forcing him to the inside and against the curb. The race was a non-GP event and meant very little to my brother, but I think it meant an awful lot to Heron. Heron's racing career was in delcine in '78. According to his mechanic at that time (I think he had only one full-time mechanic), Tom had started to treat him very badly, blaming him in part for his poor performance on the track. His mechanic said he thought Tom was starting to ride way over his head and to be careful around him on the track. We took his words of caution very seriously, even though Pat rarely ever actually saw Heron on the track. Unfortunately, their paths crossed on the IOM a couple of months later, which is a very unforgiving track. Very sad to hear about the 4 riders who lost their lives on the IOM this week. Everytime a rider loses his life on the track, it dimmishes the sport and everyone who follows it immeasurably. There's no place in racing for anything that put's a riders life in imminent peril.

Very interesting to hear the true story of what
happened to Pat that day he was seriously injured.
Pat Hennen was my hero and I knew he was going to win the World Championship that year of his TT
crash.
My Mum, Dad and I were very priviledged to meet up
with Pat on his return to the IOM in the Hailwood centre some time after the accident while his was
still recovering.
Chip, can you tell us how Pat is these days ?