Two months later and Tom was back home for the
Ulster Grand Prix on the roads around Dundrod. In the opening 500cc race, the normally fast starting Tom was almost last away but by the end of the opening lap he had set a new lap record and was beginning to make progress through the field. He eventually took second place with a brilliant display of riding but was unable to get to eventual race winner John Williams. In the 250cc race Tom led from the off to win by just over twenty seconds from his great friend and fellow GP privateer Jon Ekerold with whom he enjoyed many legendary dices.
Next up was the TT Formula 1 race where Tom took over the race lead on lap five from Tony Rutter (Honda) and went on to win again by over 20 seconds. He completed his hat-trick with victory in the Superbike race. Events however were overshadowed with the news that his friend John Williams had passed away in hospital following a crash at Wheelers.
The 1978 season would see Tom consolidate his reputation as one of the world's best privateers as he again featured strongly in the final Grand Prix standings with sixth and fifth place finishes in the 250cc and 350cc championships respectively. One of the highlights of 1978 was the British GP at Silverstone where Tom brilliantly raced to two runner-up positions. That season, he had paired up with two stroke engine specialist Harald Bartol who supplied the special barrels for Tom's two bikes, making him more than a match for the factory Kawasakis. He finished the season ranked number eight in the Motorcourse Top 10 riders standings.
For the 1979 season Tom secured a deal with Suzuki GB to race their RG500 in the Blue Riband 500cc World Championship. The deal also included participation, on the newly developed and fearsome 652cc four cylinder, two-stroke superbike (XR23)in the Transatlantic Trophy and selective Superbike races. As he prepared for the season ahead, Tom was all too aware of the task
that lay ahead of him, firstly he was relatively inexperienced on the bigger machinery and secondly he would be racing against unfamiliar
opposition. As he said at the time, 'I'm into a new class this season, I don't know anyone's form in the 500 class'. He was however determined
to learn the new bikes and quickly get dialled in to his new role.
Incidentally this was Tom's second ride on a factory Suzuki GB machine. At the 1976 Finnish GP at Imatra he made a one off appearance on the
500-4 of injured regular John Williams.
Unfortunately oiled plugs brought his race to a premature end after only two laps.
Returning to 1979 and Tom certainly found himself in illustrious company. One of his team mates in the Texaco Heron Team Suzuki set up was none other than double world champion Barry Sheene and among others there were similarly Suzuki mounted rising Italian star Virginio Ferrari and Dutchman Wil Hartog, as well as the little matter of Yamaha's reigning champion Kenny Roberts to contend with.
Tom actually missed the pre-season Suzuki GB track day at Brands Hatch as his friend and mechanic Dave Johnson explains:-
"I was still in Lisburn and seem to remember there was bad weather at Belfast airport and Tom could not get there."
However, on Sunday March 18th 1979, Tom lined up on the Venezuelan 500cc Grand Prix grid for his first taste of racing in the 500cc class as a full factory rider. He didn't disappoint.
He found himself on the front row after finishing second quickest to Sheene in practice, however an uncharacteristic poor start left him languishing in ninth place. As the race progressed Tom had brilliantly
battled his way to second but the sheer heat and effort involved would eventually see the tiring Ulsterman finish a magnificent third behind
eventual winner Sheene and second placed Ferrari. (Tom was so exhausted after the race that he couldn't make it to the podium).
Consistent early season performances at Donington Park and Cadwell Park were proof that Suzuki had pulled off a real coup by securing Tom's signature. In Easter that year Tom took his place in the British team for the
traditional Transatlantic Trophy races and fully justified his selection with a brilliant third place in the first race at Brands Hatch behind
Sheene and American Mike Baldwin, however a spectacular crash at Westfield sidelined him for the rest of the weekend, his absence proved
to be a bigger loss to the team than many could have imagined.
Back on the grand prix scene, and strong finishes in Austria (fourth) and Italy (third) put Tom in third place in the championship as the series headed for Spain where a practice crash left him with a badly broken right thumb and third degree burns to his arms and elbows and as such, unable to race. Despite this, he was still lying fourth in the championship when he arrived back in his native Northern Ireland for the North West 200.
...........................................................................
In his few months as a factory rider in the 500cc championship that
year, Tom had proven himself as a genuine contender not only for race honours but also for the championship itself. Indeed to this day, like many, I am convinced he would have been world champion, possibly in that debut year. It is sad that we will never know just what he would have
achieved as he entered this new phase in his career. It is also cruel and tragic that his life was cut short just when he had really reached
the big time in his chosen profession.
However, that said, I am ever mindful of the fact that Tom was a much loved son, husband, father and brother. That is the real tragedy with his passing.
His performances on his privately run 250/350cc Yamahas particularly on the world stage, his total of three Isle of Man TT wins to which he would surely have added more, all speak for themselves. As for his lap of 127.63mph on Jim Finlay's 750cc Yamaha at the 1978 North West 200, well that is something that can only be believed with a great degree of difficulty some 31 years later! At the time it was the fastest lap of any British Isles circuit and indeed, it remained so up until recent years.
That lap was a truly awesome display of riding, taking over eight seconds off the existing lap record and it is perhaps fitting that subsequent alterations have not only made the circuit safer but also ensures that the statistics of this incredible speed will always be there to see. It certainly put Tom on a pedestal with the best.
In his home in California, Tom's great friend and three times world champion Kenny Roberts has a picture of a racing motorcyclist on the wall, and that is of Tom.
There can be no better testimony to Tom's greatness and popularity.
Stephen McKeown