Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1472935
I n a road racing career that lasted just six short years, Pat Hennen's star shone brilliantly until that fateful day in the Isle of Man, just minutes after he had set the first-ever sub-20-minute lap. Hennen had ex-pat Brit racer Ron Grant to thank for opening the doors that led rapidly to some plum rides, but there was also a very strong Down Under influ- ence in his formative star racing years. Through the Coleman family, Suzuki importers in New Zea- land, some highly competitive Suzukis came his way for the NZ Marlboro International Series, run over the Christmas/New Year period, which he won three years in succession from 1975 to 1977. His first year in NZ was the 1972/'73 season, prior to the advent of the Marlboro Series where he rode what was called the Sayonara Special, a Suzuki TR500-based bike built by John Allnatt. But while the Kiwi series was hard-fought, it was mainly on small tracks (the longest be- ing Pukekohe at 2.5 miles), and in the Southern Hemisphere, the big daddy of all circuits was Mount Panorama at Bathurst, three hours west of Sydney. Mount Panorama came into being in 1938 and thereafter be- came the annual Easter destina- tion for the cream of Australasian racers and tens of thousands of spectators. By the early '70s, Mount Panorama was undergoing a transformation from a traditional battleground for the old British singles and twins, to a venue for the very latest Japanese rocket ships. In 1974, that meant For- mula 750. The four-mile lap included a steep climb up the mountain with an equally precipitous descent onto the quaintly named but ferociously fast Conrod Straight, coined for its ability to thunder- ously extract the internals of many an engine. That straight contained two humps that sent front wheels soaring on the new generation 750s and required a big heart to prevent the right hand from easing the throttle. Held just a few weeks after Daytona, where the TZ750 Yama- has arrived to monster the Suzuki and Kawasaki 750 triples, Easter Bathurst was a vastly different place to what it had been before. No fewer than 11 of the new Ya- mahas were entered for the main race, the Unlimited Grand Prix over 20 laps, including one for Hennen's mentor Ron Grant. Australia's top two riders, Gregg Hansford and Warren Will- ing, had both competed at Day- tona on their new Yamahas, and started as hot favorites. Ranged against the Yamahas were Kawasaki H2Rs for veteran Ron Toombs and Kiwi Ginger Molloy, plus the NZ-built Suzuki TR750, with Hennen in the saddle. The Suzuki had been built by chassis wizard Steve Roberts, with fi- nance from Rod Coleman, and in Geoff Perry's incredibly capable hands it was a highly competitive CN III ARCHIVES P124 Pat Hennen In Australia BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK Over the second "hump" on Conrod Straight, Pat Hennen leads Australian veteran Ron Toombs. PHOTOS: INDEPENDENT OBSERVATIONS ARCHIVES