Tom Herron

For the Northern Irish paramilitary leader, see Tommy Herron.

Not to be confused with Tom Herrin or Tom Herrion.

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.

Tom Herron
Nationality	Irish
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1970 – 1979 First race 1970 Isle of Man Junior TT Last race 1979 500cc Spanish Grand Prix First win 1976 Isle of Man Lightweight TT Last win 1976 Isle of Man Senior TT Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 73 2 14 3 1 373

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 2 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.

Tom 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	Wins
1970	250cc	Yamaha	GER -	FRA -	YUG -	IOM 13	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	CZE -	FIN -	ULS -	NAT -	ESP -		0	–	0
	350cc	Yamaha	GER -		YUG -	IOM NC	NED -		DDR -	CZE -	FIN -	ULS -	NAT -	ESP -		0	–	0
1971	350cc	Yamaha	AUT -	GER -	IOM -	NED -		DDR -	CZE -	SWE -	FIN -	ULS 9	NAT -	ESP -		2	49th	0
	500cc	Seeley	AUT -	GER -	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	DDR -		SWE -	FIN -	ULS 7	NAT -	ESP -		4	34th	0
1972	250cc	Yamaha	GER -	FRA -	AUT -	NAT -	IOM NC	YUG -	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	CZE -	SWE -	FIN -	ESP -	0	–	0
	350cc	Yamaha	GER -	FRA -	AUT -	NAT -	IOM NC	YUG -	NED -		DDR -	CZE -	SWE -	FIN -	ESP -	0	–	0
1973	250cc	Yamaha	FRA -	AUT -	GER -		IOM 9	YUG -	NED -	BEL -	CZE -	SWE -	FIN -	ESP -		2	39th	0
	350cc	Yamaha	FRA -	AUT -	GER -	NAT -	IOM NC	YUG -	NED -		CZE -	SWE -	FIN -	ESP -		0	–	0
1974	250cc	Yamaha		GER -		NAT -	IOM 4	NED 6	BEL 8	SWE -	FIN -	CZE -	YUG 8	ESP -		14	14th	0
	350cc	Yamaha	FRA -	GER -	AUT -	NAT -	IOM 4	NED -		SWE -	FIN -		YUG 9	ESP -		10	22nd	0
	500cc	Yamaha	FRA -	GER -	AUT -	NAT -	IOM 15	NED -	BEL -	SWE 9	FIN -	CZE -				2	31st	0
1975	250cc	Yamaha	FRA 9	ESP 7		GER -	NAT 7	IOM NC	NED -	BEL -	SWE -	FIN 10	CZE -	YUG 6		16	13th	0
	350cc	Yamaha	FRA -	ESP -	AUT -	GER -	NAT -	IOM 3	NED -			FIN -	CZE 4	YUG 4		26	9th	0
	500cc	Yamaha	FRA -		AUT 8	GER -	NAT -	IOM 21	NED -	BEL -	SWE -	FIN -	CZE -			3	34th	0
1976	250cc	Yamaha	FRA 21		NAT 7	YUG 2	IOM 1	NED 7	BEL 10	SWE 6	FIN 5	CZE 6	GER 14	ESP 13		47	4th	1
	350cc	Yamaha	FRA 9	AUT 6	NAT 5	YUG 5	IOM 26	NED 7			FIN 3	CZE 3	GER -	ESP 9		41	4th	0
	500cc	Yamaha	FRA -	AUT 12	NAT -		IOM 1	NED -	BEL 12	SWE 9	FIN -	CZE -	GER -			17	13th	1
1977	250cc	Yamaha	VEN 6	GER 7	NAT 4	ESP 7	FRA 7	YUG 3	NED 10	BEL 9	SWE 7	FIN 5	CZE 5	GBR -		54	5th	0
	350cc	Yamaha	VEN 5	GER 6	NAT -	ESP -	FRA 7	YUG 4	NED 4		SWE 6	FIN 4	CZE 2	GBR -		56	2nd	0
1978	250cc	Yamaha	VEN -	ESP 8		FRA 5	NAT 4	NED -	BEL -	SWE 5	FIN 8	GBR 2	GER 3	CZE -	YUG -	48	6th	0
	350cc	Yamaha	VEN -		AUT -	FRA 4	NAT -	NED 6		SWE 5	FIN 3	GBR 2	GER 5	CZE 8	YUG -	50	5th	0
	500cc	Suzuki	VEN -	ESP -	AUT -	FRA -	NAT -	NED -	BEL 9	SWE -	FIN -	GBR -	GER -			2	26th	0
1979	500cc	Suzuki	VEN 3	AUT 4	GER -	NAT 3	ESP -	YUG -	NED -	BEL -	SWE -	FIN -	GBR -	FRA -		28	10th	0