American Pat Hennan
chatting with Stu before
the start of the Senior TT
he memories are, I am rather rattled
to say, slightly dimmed after 41
years. Just jotting down the numerals
of 41 is enough to rattle a chap.
But... there are moments which are sharp
as tacks. Such as seeing Dutch hero Wil
Hartog grab 500cc World Champion Barry
Sheene and hoist him up onto his huge
shoulders... to carry him about, and amidst
the great throng of people who swarmed
to congratulate him after he took out his
own GP, the Dutch TT at Assen in 1977.
I’ve got a photo of it somewhere.
I’ve also got a photo of George Harrison,
who I bumped into at the French GP at
Paul Ricard that same year.
“Hello George... enjoying the racing?” He
was there to catch up with and watch his
chum Sheeny, who duly won the 500 race.
It was at the Belgian GP at Spa
Francorchamps that I had a natter with
Barry, because he poured me a beer. I
sipped it and nattered to him as he poured
several others. It was tradition back then
36 KIWI RIDER
that the winner of the Belgium GP had
to man the bar (in his leathers of course)
and pour drinks for the guests and media
spongers.
He later sent me a postcard which is still
on the wall of my “Den of Infamy” where
my GP mementos and various bike parts
and memories adorn the walls.
Am I showing off? Of course I’m showing
off, but I’m too old to care about how I’m
judged these days. They are a few of the
memories I still have left of that year of ‘77
when I travelled the GP paths of Europe
along with a couple of days at Dijon to
catch the fledgling 750 championship race
in France.
And the Isle of Man...
Oh, one has to attend the Isle of Man...
where a Canadian chum called Matt and I
were barred from the YHA after breaking
back into our digs at three in the morning.
We paid for the broken window but had
our cards torn up. We didn’t care really. It
was a great night out.