Pat Hennen
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Hennen leading Barry Sheene in 1978
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| Nationality |  United States |
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Pat Hennen (born April 27, 1953 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is best known for being the first American to win a 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle road race when he won the 1976 Finnish Grand Prix.[1][2]
Hennen began his career racing in dirt track events in Northern California, where his family had moved when he was young.[3] He was successful enough to earn a place on the Suzuki factory Grand Prix racing team.[3] Hennen finished third in the 1976 500cc road racing World Championship.[4] The following year he again finish third in the World Championship and won the 1977 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.[4] He was also the top point scorer at the 1978 Trans-Atlantic Match Races, scoring three wins, two seconds and a third.[5] Hennen also won the New Zealand Marlboro series for three consecutive years (1974–75, 1975–76 and 1976–77) riding Suzuki TR500, TR750 and RG500 machines. The Marlboro Series was run over five seasons, of which he won three.
Hennen's career was cut short when he crashed competing in the 1978 Isle of Man TT.[6] He had just recorded the first sub-twenty-minute lap in TT history when he struck a kerb at 150 m.p.h.[3][7][8] There was a suggestion at the time that he had struck a bird although this is now considered to be unfounded rumour. The subsequent crash caused severe head injuries from which Hennen was able to recover over time, but the lasting effects forced his retirement from racing.[3]
Hennen currently resides in California and was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007.[2][3]
Grand Prix career statistics [4]
| 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 | Points | Rank | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 500cc | Suzuki | FRA Ret |
AUT Ret |
NAT 5 |
IOM - |
NED 2 |
BEL 8 |
SWE Ret |
FIN 1 |
CZE Ret |
GER 3 |
46 | 3rd | 1 | |
| 1977 | 500cc | Suzuki | VEN 3 |
AUT - |
GER 2 |
NAT Ret |
FRA 10 |
NED 3 |
BEL 3 |
SWE 10 |
FIN Ret |
CZE 4 |
GBR 1 |
67 | 3rd | 1 |
| 1978 | 500cc | Suzuki | VEN 2 |
ESP 1 |
AUT Ret |
FRA 2 |
NAT 2 |
NED - |
BEL - |
SWE - |
FIN - |
GBR - |
GER - |
51 | 6th | 1 |
External links
- Pat Hennen at the AMA Hall of Fame
- Pat Hennen in January 1977 American Motorcyclist Magazine article on European road racing
- Reminiscences of Hennen's visits to Australia
References
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- ↑ American Motorcyclist, June 1978, Vol. 32, No. 6, ISSN 0277-9358
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- ↑ www.isle-of-man.ws
- ↑ 1978 Isle of Man TT at iomtt.com
