Tom Herron

Tom Herron (14 December 1948 – 26 May 1979) was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Lisburn, County Antrim in Northern Ireland. He specialised in street circuits such as the Isle of Man TT and the North West 200.

Early life Herron was born on 14 December 1948 in Lisburn, County Antrim to parents Francis Scott and Elizabeth Herron. Herron grew up in Leitrim, County Down, a small village nearby to Castlewellan.

From a young age, Herron expressed an interest in motorcycling, originally partaking in basic grasstracking around Leitrim, however, with the influence of his uncles James and Wilfie, he soon developed an interest in road racing and short-circuit racing.

After purchasing one of his first motorcycles from his uncles in 1968 and modifying it for racing, Herron entered his first road race at the age of 19 when he took part in the 1968 Tandragee 100 on a 250cc Greeves.

Career

The beginning

Herron's career started in 1965 when he competed in numerous events throughout Ireland, building up his experience along the way. In 1970, he won his first major race, the 350 class at the North West 200.

The 1970s

After winning the 1973 Irish 350cc championship, he moved up to the Grand Prix world championships. During these years, Herron competed as a privateer, against the factory backed riders, and it was a David vs Goliath struggle to compete. During this time, he met and eventually married Andrea, a sister of sometime Norton rider Peter Williams. They eventually had two girls, twins named Kim and Zoë.

At the close of 1976, he finished fourth in both the 250cc and 350cc world championships. Herron won the last Senior TT at the Isle of Man TT before the FIM stripped the event of its world championship status in 1976. The following year, he finished runner-up in the 350cc world championship to Yamaha factory rider Takazumi Katayama.

In 1978, Herron strengthened his position as one of the world's best riders on privateer machinery with fifth and sixth places in the 250cc and 350cc world championships respectively.

For the 1979 season, he finally got his big break, as a full works, manufacturer backed rider for the Texaco Heron Suzuki team in the 500cc world championship, alongside two-time world 500cc world champion Barry Sheene, and future Truck racer Steve Parrish.

The season started well, with a third in Venezuela and Italy, and a fourth in Austria. This left him in third place in the championship after three rounds. At the fourth round in Spain he crashed in practice and broke his right thumb, suffered third degree burns and was unable to race. He finished the season in tenth place.

Death

After the fourth round of the 500cc world championship, Herron returned home to compete in the North West 200, where, in the previous year, he won two races, and he set a lap record of 127.63 mph. The course record still stands due to alterations made.

The 1979 North West 200 will always be remembered as "Black Saturday"; as it claimed the lives of Scotsman Brian Hamilton, Armoy man Frank Kennedy, who died of injuries months later, and Herron himself. In the last lap of the last race, Herron had been fighting for third place along with Jeff Sayle, Steve Parrish and Greg Johnstone, when he crashed at Juniper. He died later in Coleraine hospital, leaving behind his wife and two daughters.

Herron was buried at Leitrim presbyterian church, not far outside the village.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results Points system from 1969 onwards: 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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Points Rank Wins1970 250cc Yamaha GER- FRA- YUG- IOM13 NED- BEL- DDR- CZE- FIN- ULS- NAT- ESP- 0 – 0 350cc Yamaha GER- YUG- IOMNC NED- DDR- CZE- FIN- ULS- NAT- ESP- 0 – 01971 350cc Yamaha AUT- GER- IOM- NED- DDR- CZE- SWE- FIN- ULS9 NAT- ESP- 2 49th 0 500cc Seeley AUT- GER- IOM- NED- BEL- DDR- SWE- FIN- ULS7 NAT- ESP- 4 34th 01972 250cc Yamaha GER- FRA- AUT- NAT- IOMNC YUG- NED- BEL- DDR- CZE- SWE- FIN- ESP- 0 – 0 350cc Yamaha GER- FRA- AUT- NAT- IOMNC YUG- NED- DDR- CZE- SWE- FIN- ESP- 0 – 01973 250cc Yamaha FRA- AUT- GER- IOM9 YUG- NED- BEL- CZE- SWE- FIN- ESP- 2 39th 0 350cc Yamaha FRA- AUT- GER- NAT- IOMNC YUG- NED- CZE- SWE- FIN- ESP- 0 – 01974 250cc Yamaha GER- NAT- IOM4 NED6 BEL8 SWE- FIN- CZE- YUG8 ESP- 14 14th 0 350cc Yamaha FRA- GER- AUT- NAT- IOM4 NED- SWE- FIN- YUG9 ESP- 10 22nd 0 500cc Yamaha FRA- GER- AUT- NAT- IOM15 NED- BEL- SWE9 FIN- CZE- 2 31st 01975 250cc Yamaha FRA9 ESP7 GER- NAT7 IOMNC NED- BEL- SWE- FIN10 CZE- YUG6 16 13th 0 350cc Yamaha FRA- ESP- AUT- GER- NAT- IOM3 NED- FIN- CZE4 YUG4 26 9th 0 500cc Yamaha FRA- AUT8 GER- NAT- IOM21 NED- BEL- SWE- FIN- CZE- 3 34th 01976 250cc Yamaha FRA21 NAT7 YUG2 IOM1 NED7 BEL10 SWE6 FIN5 CZE6 GER14 ESP13 47 4th 1 350cc Yamaha FRA9 AUT6 NAT5 YUG5 IOM26 NED7 FIN3 CZE3 GER- ESP9 41 4th 0 500cc Yamaha FRA- AUT12 NAT- IOM1 NED- BEL12 SWE9 FIN- CZE- GER- 17 13th 11977 250cc Yamaha VEN6 GER7 NAT4 ESP7 FRA7 YUG3 NED10 BEL9 SWE7 FIN5 CZE5 GBR- 54 5th 0 350cc Yamaha VEN5 GER6 NAT- ESP- FRA7 YUG4 NED4 SWE6 FIN4 CZE2 GBR- 56 2nd 01978 250cc Yamaha VEN- ESP8 FRA5 NAT4 NED- BEL- SWE5 FIN8 GBR2 GER3 CZE- YUG- 48 6th 0 350cc Yamaha VEN- AUT- FRA4 NAT- NED6 SWE5 FIN3 GBR2 GER5 CZE8 YUG- 50 5th 0 500cc Suzuki VEN- ESP- AUT- FRA- NAT- NED- BEL9 SWE- FIN- GBR- GER- 2 26th 0 1979 500cc Suzuki VEN3 AUT4 GER- NAT3 ESP- YUG- NED- BEL- SWE- FIN- GBR- FRA- 28 10th 0