Tommy Byrne

Thomas Byrne (born 6 May 1958) is a former racing driver from Ireland. He participated in two Formula One Grands Prix in with the backmarker Theodore team, failing to qualify for another three. He failed to finish in either of the Grands Prix he started and scored no Formula One championship points.

Career After performing well in the Irish Formula Ford Championship in 1981, Byrne won the 1982 British Formula 3 Championship even though he missed some races while he competed in Formula One. At that time, he also tested a McLaren MP4/1 Formula One car in October 1982 against Marlboro-backed Spirit Racing's European F2 drivers like Stefan Johansson and Thierry Boutsen. During this test, he set a time quicker than the works drivers, Watson and Lauda, despite the car being specifically detuned for him and not the other drivers at the test. After a brief return to Formula Three in 1983, where he raced for Eddie Jordan, Byrne moved to the United States and began racing in the American Racing Series in 1986, where he won ten races in 55 starts, both second place in the series record books. He also was the championship runner-up in 1988 and 1989. He raced in the series until 1992 and then retired. Despite his extended career in the States, Byrne never made a Champ Car start. He lives in Florida, and teaches Honda Teen/Adult Defensive Driving, Advanced Defensive Driving, Acura High Performance and Acura Advanced Performance Driving during the race season at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. He was also a driver coach for Indy Lights team Brian Stewart Racing.

Byrne co-authored a book with Mark Hughes which was released in the UK on 8 August 2008, titled Crashed and Byrned: The Greatest Racing Driver You Never Saw. The book won the William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year for 2009.

Byrne was the subject of Seán Ó Cualáin's documentary Crash and Burn in 2016.

Racing record Career summary

Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points 1982 Theodore Racing Team Theodore TY02 Cosworth V8 RSA BRA USW SMR BEL MON DET CAN NED GBR FRA GER AUT SUI ITA CPL NC 0

Complete FIA European Formula 3 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points 1983 Eddie Jordan Racing Ralt RT3 Volkswagen VLL NÜR ZOL MAG ÖST LAC SIL MNZ MIS ZAN KNU NOG JAR IMO DON CET 4th 35 1984 Anson Racing Anson SA4 Alfa Romeo DON ZOL MAG LAC ÖST SIL NÜR MNZ PER MUG KNU NOG JAR 6th 14

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Points 1986 Eddie Jordan Racing March 86B Cosworth SIL VAL PAU SPA IMO MUG PER ÖST BIR BUG JAR 41st 0

American open wheel racing results (key) Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points 1986 Agapiou Racing PHX MIL MEA TOR POC MOH ROA LGA PHX MIA 7th 62 1987 Opar Racing PHX MIL MEA CLE TOR POC MOH NAZ LGA MIA 3rd 120 1988 Opar Racing PHX MIL POR TOR MEA POC MOH ROA NAZ LGA MIA 2nd 144 R&K Racing CLE 1989 Landford Racing PHX LBH MIL DET POR MEA TOR POC MOH ROA NAZ LGA 2nd 153 1990 Genoa Racing PHX LBH MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR DEN VAN MOH ROA NAZ LAG 13th 52 1991 P.I.G. Racing LBH PHX MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR DEN MOH NAZ LAG 12th 35 1992 P.I.G. Racing PHX LBH DET POR MIL NHA TOR CLE VAN MDO NAZ LGA 10th 44