OBITUARY
refused to do the race for safety reasons and now I was refusing on the same grounds . When I signed my contract for ’ 78 it did not include the TT . Then just before Christmas ( 1977 ), Knight ‘ phoned to tell me there had been a change in plans and that the transporter I had expected to use was not going to be available so I was going to have to buy my own . However , he said that if I changed my mind about the TT , he would do whatever was necessary to make the transporter available to me . He knew I couldn ’ t afford to buy my own transporter and it was too late in the year to arrange one from a sponsor , so I relented and agreed to do the TT .” Hennen had raced at the TT in 1977 and despite a good showing ( fifth in the ‘ Senior ’ 500cc race ) had vowed not to return . But due to Maurice Knight ’ s coercion , he relented and was arguably the last major GP star to tackle the TT . He was thus the first to break the 20-minute lap time there in the Senior TT . Next lap , racing wheel-to-wheel with Tom Heron entering the 170mph ( 273 km / h ) Bishopscourt kink , Hennen clipped the kerbing with the rear tyre and was catapulted off the Suzuki . He slid a long , long way down the track . He was still laying unconscious on the track when Japanese rider
Takazumi Katayama , running 15th , sportingly stopped , leant his works Yamaha against a wall and went to Hennen ’ s aid . He stayed with the American until he could be flown to hospital , with a serious head injury . Recovery was very slow and gradual as Hennen suffered brain damage in the crash . He had impairments to his speech , memory , and mobility but lived a fairly normal life in the San Francisco Bay area . He became a devout Christian and actively engaged in church activities . Hennen was the start of the American wave that went on to dominate grand prix motorcycle race , along with the Australians , for more than two decades . It is a tragedy that his terrible Isle of Man crash meant he was never able to capitalise on the gains he had made in the sport . There are many who believe he would have taken that 1978 World 500 Championship . In his short but meteoric GP career , he scored 12 podiums from just 26 starts . Pat Hennen is survived by his brothers Chip and David , who started out on the great road racing adventure in Northern California with him in 1971 .
Hennen at Bathurst 1974
34 KIWI RIDER