Surprised that this hasn't been posted yet. The first American to win a GP. https://superbikeplanet.com/story/903/pat-hennen-the-first-american-to-win-a-grand-prix-has-died
Yeah, read that yesterday. Hope who ever forced him to go had that torment them the rest of their life.
"...helping him to navigate life after his life-altering crash. He was able to perform menial tasks and was thankful for the job..." This dude is such a dipshit. Didn't know being a jet engine tech and application engieener is a "menial task". https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2016/march/mcn-plus---whatever-happened-to-pat-hennen/ ‘Then I worked for United Airlines for about 12 years, in the Turbine Shop, where we did maintenance work on jet turbine engines. I then went to work as an application engineer for Motion Pro – one of the largest distributors of motorcycle parts in the U.S. I’m still very interested in racing and certainly don’t feel cheated by the sport. I honestly wouldn’t change a thing.’
Sometime the first news report isn't always the best one: https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/pat-hennen-first-american-to-win-a-500cc-grand-prix-r-i-p/
Unfortunately Pat's story is usually lost in the shadow of Kenny Roberts. Pat very well would have been the first American World 500GP Champion.
Chip Hennen is my technical support guy for Bay Materials and I spoke with him several times last year before I found out he is Pat's brother. We had a cool conversation about GP racing back in the day and I learned Chip was also Pat's mechanic in Europe. I could tell he was proud of what his brother accomplished. RIP Pat.
