'Crash and Burn': The story of Tommy Byrne

'Crash and Burn': The story of Tommy Byrne

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forsure

Original Poster:

2,118 posts

267 months

Sunday 26th March 2017
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BBC4 Monday 9pm.

He made it to F1 - briefly - so I thought it would be ok to post here, rather than the TV forum.

I watched this on BBC NI last week and can thoroughly recommend it; very interesting.

Very quick, but he upset the 'establishment'. Came across, to me, as the Alex Higgins of single-seater racing. With a different attitude he could have raced for McLaren (when they were dominant), but Ron Dennis didn't like him and his career went into decline.

A fascinating story, with much input from Byrne himself.

Killer2005

19,594 posts

227 months

Sunday 26th March 2017
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Cab also recommend this, very good viewing.

tobinen

9,178 posts

144 months

Sunday 26th March 2017
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Yes, well worth a watch. I bet his Mexico adventure was extremely wild. OK, he would have never fit into Dennis's McLaren structure but I'd have thought a top team would've taken him on simply for his pace. Still, it was his talent to waste.

Eric Mc

121,770 posts

264 months

Sunday 26th March 2017
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Two threads on this elsewhere - but worth repeating. Watched it the other night and it was very good.

tommunster10

1,128 posts

90 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Read his book and the TV doc was exemplary.

Killer2005

19,594 posts

227 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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On again tonight at 9 on BBC4 for anyone who may have missed it.

CraigyMc

16,300 posts

235 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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Killer2005 said:
On again tonight at 9 on BBC4 for anyone who may have missed it.
Live TV? How quaint.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08jqfqx/cras...

PH XKR

1,761 posts

101 months

Monday 27th March 2017
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this is great viewing

Tom Logan

3,191 posts

124 months

Tuesday 28th March 2017
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Watched it, good viewing and an interesting backstory, great stuff thumbup

It seems the guy was very talented but a bit of an 'Irish country boy' maverick which didn't go down well with the PTB at the time, it reminded me of an other British F1 driver of the 70s who was also a piss artist and serial shagger but had the connections and who reached the top of the tree.

If only TB could have been in the right place at the right time, eh?

PH XKR

1,761 posts

101 months

Tuesday 28th March 2017
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Was he any different to the other playboys of the era, other than absolutely flat broke?

StevieBee

12,789 posts

254 months

Tuesday 28th March 2017
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Excellent documentary.

I've been intrigued with Tommy Byrne since he first drove in F1. As a kid, I managed to blag my way into the pits for a tyre test at Brands and watched him do his stuff. Odd looking fella but in the car, even in my naive teenage years, you could sense he was special.

If you know what you are looking at, that footage of him testing the McLaren at Silverstone could have been Prost, Senna, Lauda...

What he had (and what did for him) is that he had what a lot of people say other drivers have but rarely is the case.....a natural, God-given talent for driving a car exceptionally fast, exceptionally well, consistently. Whilst others would commit to their craft 100%, abstain from all of life's distractions in the pursuit of perfection, he'd be properly on the sauce the night before, stagger to the circuit, strap in, stick it on pole and most likely win the race without missing a beat.

Very very few drivers have had this capacity and ability. Senna, maybe. I think part of the criticism levelled at Hamilton is rooted in the fact that he 'appears' not to have to try too hard to succeed.

Either way, well worth a watch.


StevieBee

12,789 posts

254 months

Tuesday 28th March 2017
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On a related theme...is the controller of BBC4 a race/car nut?

Seems they have done some proper top-drawer documentaries on motorsport over the years.

majordad

3,600 posts

196 months

Tuesday 28th March 2017
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StevieBee said:
On a related theme...is the controller of BBC4 a race/car nut?

Seems they have done some proper top-drawer documentaries on motorsport over the years.
Surtees last night.

mikecassie

608 posts

158 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Watched both the Surtees and Byrne programmes the other night. They were both essential viewing for anyone interested in racing. But that's my opinion and counts for nothing IMHO ;-)

I really felt sorry for big John when he was speaking about his son, losing a child must be a hard thing to come to terms with. RIP JS.

As for Tommy, he was so talented. His confidence/arrogance and his attitude just must have grated with the teams of that era but good doesn't do him justice. I kinda liked the guy although he did sometimes come across like he'd a chip on both shoulders but he talked just like a normal guy, no PC behaviour from him. Just a wasted talent, maybe wasted is exactly what he was most of the time too but I bet he's got loads of stories you couldn't put on TV. To get the chance to sit with him for a couple beers would be a good way to spend some time.

hammo19

4,897 posts

195 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Watched this excellent documentary too. Surely needs to be made into a feature film. This could be as good as Rush especially if it focussed on the Byrne/Senna rivalry.

ribiero

539 posts

165 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Great documentary, loved the footage of Byrne driving a Beemer in chumpcar around Daytona at the end!

Derek Smith

45,512 posts

247 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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mikecassie said:
Watched both the Surtees and Byrne programmes the other night. They were both essential viewing for anyone interested in racing. But that's my opinion and counts for nothing IMHO ;-)

I really felt sorry for big John when he was speaking about his son, losing a child must be a hard thing to come to terms with. RIP JS.

As for Tommy, he was so talented. His confidence/arrogance and his attitude just must have grated with the teams of that era but good doesn't do him justice. I kinda liked the guy although he did sometimes come across like he'd a chip on both shoulders but he talked just like a normal guy, no PC behaviour from him. Just a wasted talent, maybe wasted is exactly what he was most of the time too but I bet he's got loads of stories you couldn't put on TV. To get the chance to sit with him for a couple beers would be a good way to spend some time.
At the time he was quite heavily criticised in the sporting press. It was unusual. I wonder if it was something to do with the way he treated the reporters. Some did see themselves as authorities. Come to that, many readers agreed. Without the advantage of forums and other points of view it was difficult to form an educated opinion. Being an F1 driver is more than just going fast though, as many failed drivers testify. He crashed a lot. Fair enough, so did others who went onto success, but they behaved differently. Managers must have thought it just wasn't worth the aggro.

Looking back I think there was a prejudice against common as muck drivers - that's why I never succeeded, but that's another story. It was something of a gentleman's club. If you weren't part of the in crowd you had to conform to the norms. For some reason I thought John Cooper was from the wrong side of the tracks until I spoke with him.

I enjoyed the programme, but we mainly saw just the one side.

The Surtees programme was thoroughly enjoyable and rather touching.


PH XKR

1,761 posts

101 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Anyone got the title of the surtees episode to search on?

mikecassie

608 posts

158 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04wwc75/episodes/...

But it says the programmes are not available. I'm sure a google will let you find some illicit copies if you need to see them...

forsure

Original Poster:

2,118 posts

267 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Derek Smith said:
Being an F1 driver is more than just going fast though, as many failed drivers testify. He crashed a lot. Fair enough, so did others who went onto success, but they behaved differently. Managers must have thought it just wasn't worth the aggro.

I enjoyed the programme, but we mainly saw just the one side.

Fair points; a decade earlier James Hunt had the charm and charisma to get away with his anti-establishment, rock-star lifestyle, the paddock liked him and the media loved him.

For Byrne, pure talent alone was not enough.