Pat Hennen

Patrick Bennet Hennen (April 27, 1953 – April 6, 2024) was an American professional motorcycle racer. He competed in AMA dirt track and road racing competitions from 1971 to 1975 and in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1976 to 1978.

Hennen is notable for being the first American to win a 500 cc World Championship Grand Prix race when he won the 1976 500cc Finnish Grand Prix. His career ended prematurely after he suffered serious injuries from a crash while competing at the 1978 Isle of Man TT race. Although he never won a world championship, Hennen was on the leading edge of a wave of American and Australian riders bred on dirt track racing who would dominate the 500cc road racing World Championships throughout the 1980s. Hennen was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007. After spending four years developing his riding skills in regional races, he entered his first professional event as a novice at the end of the 1971 season.

In 1974, Yamaha introduced the Yamaha TZ700 and Hennen was fortunate to be one of the few Junior Class competitors to receive one of the potent new motorcycles through his sponsor, Grant. Hennen scored the first major victory of his motorcycle racing career in 1974 at the Daytona International Speedway when he set the fastest qualifying time and won the Junior Class event aboard the TZ700.

Hennen gained his first international exposure in 1974 when Grant took him to compete in the New Zealand Marlboro Series run over the Christmas/New Year period. Riding an underpowered Suzuki TR500, Hennen won the Marlboro Series, earning him a letter of recommendation to the Suzuki factory from Rod Coleman, the Suzuki importer for New Zealand and former Grand Prix racer who won the 1954 Isle of Man Junior TT. He set a new lap record for the Cemetery Circuit in Whanganui that stood for six years before it was broken.

At the 1975 Daytona 200, Hennen qualified eighth despite being relegated to riding a 1974 model Suzuki. At the time, the Daytona 200 was considered one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world, attracting world champions such as Giacomo Agostini and Barry Sheene. By 1976, the 750cc class had become dominated by Yamaha's powerful TZ750, making Hennen's third place finish aboard an obsolete machine all the more impressive. Although, they received valuable spare parts and assistance from Merv Wright, the manager of Suzuki's British-based factory Grand Prix team, this displeased Suzuki's number one rider, Barry Sheene, who recognized the threat that Hennen posed to his position at the top of the team's hierarchy. Länsivuori's team manager also provided Hennen with assistance in securing race invitations.

Sheene's absence then allowed Hennen to score an upset victory over Länsivuori and Agostini at the 1976 500cc Finnish Grand Prix, becoming the first American competitor to win a 500 cc World Championship Grand Prix race. His upset victory was so unexpected that the Finnish race organizer did not have a copy of the American national anthem to play during the awards ceremony.

The final race of the season was the German Grand Prix held at the daunting, long Nürburgring racetrack, considered too dangerous for the Formula One championship. Despite racing on the circuit for the first time, Hennen finished the race in an impressive third place behind Agostini and future World Champion Marco Lucchinelli. Hennen was forced to skip the 1977 Daytona 200 because Suzuki had not finished developing their 750cc race bike but, he was the top points scorer at the 1977 Transatlantic Match races. At the mid-point of the season, Hennen traveled to the Isle of Man to compete in his first Senior TT race however, he experienced mechanical problems and did not finish the race.

Despite Sheene's continuing animosity, Hennen scored four podium positions including beating Sheene at his home Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit. Steve Parrish then led the race ahead of John Williams with Hennen in third place as they began the final lap, when Parrish crashed out of the lead, and then Williams did the same three corners later, handing Hennen his second career Grand Prix victory. Once the most prestigious race of the year, the Isle of Man TT had been increasingly boycotted by the top riders, and finally succumbed to pressure for increased safety in racing events.

Hennen began the 1978 season by dominating the 1978 Transatlantic Match races, winning three races as well as two second places and one third place, becoming the top scorer in the prestigious event. His battle with his Suzuki teammate continued, when Sheene accused him of dangerous riding, when Hennen passed him just before the finish line . Roberts then won the next three rounds with Hennen posting two second places, as the two Americans were separated by only a single point atop the world championship standings when Hennen suffered career-ending injuries while competing in the 1978 Isle of Man TT race. There was a suggestion at the time that he had struck a bird although this is now considered an unfounded rumor. He ever afterwards had impairments to his speech, memory, and mobility but was able to live a relatively normal life in the San Francisco Bay area.

Hennen died on April 6, 2024, at the age of 70.

Grand Prix career statistics

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team Machine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Points Rank Wins 1976 500cc Coleman-Suzuki RG500 FRARet AUTRet NAT5 IOM- NED2 BEL8 SWERet FIN1 CZERet GER3 46 3rd 1 1977 500cc Heron-Suzuki RG500 VEN3 AUT- GER2 NATRet FRA10 NED3 BEL3 SWE10 FINRet CZE4 GBR1 67 3rd 1 1978 500cc Heron-Suzuki RG500 VEN2 ESP1 AUTRet FRA2 NAT2 NED- BEL- SWE- FIN- GBR- GER- 51 6th 1Source: