TANGERINE DREAM THE HANKS DYNASTY
Roy: The reason they gave me the No.1 plate that year, 1997, was that Dave Molyneaux, who’d won it the year before, had gone on to GPs. I said: “Is there any chance I could be No.1?” as it was obvious it was never going to happen. I put on the biggest No.1 I could find, even if the scrutineers kept saying: “It’s illegal. It’s bigger than it’s supposed to be!”
In the race Rob Fisher passed me going into Ballacraine but then I never saw another soul. I had quite a good ride and as I started the last lap I was third. I rode back into the pits, into the holding area and there was no Rob Fisher. He’d broken down coming out of the Gooseneck, so as I pulled into the enclosure, after all the years of them waving me past, I thought: “Yes. I’m in!” I didn’t know I’d won but my brother Norman wandered over and I think it was the first time I had ever seen him in tears. He said: “You’ve won... I think. ButTom is catching you”.
Norman: Vince Biggs came across the line second and Roy was “great, great” as Vince used to ride with Roy, and then he said: “How’s Tom doing?” Tom was given start number 36 but all the way through practice it was clear he was head and shoulders above everyone else. His first lap was 31sec slower than his next two, just getting past people.The funny thing was Roy was going “Come on Tom. Come onTom”.Then the guy with the headphones said: “Hold on a minute. He’s only seven seconds behind” and Roy starts going “Slow down Tom. Slow down” and all this was coming over the loud speakers!
We’d got to wait about seven minutes to be sure I’d won.Vince had been leading on the last lap but he all-but overshot Signpost and I beat him by 1.2sec. But Vince was over the moon and the podium was a real family affair.
Family affair sums it up, as the Tom mentioned is Norman’s son and Roy’s nephew. There isn’t space to explain the full family tree, but suffice to say it started with three brothers, Norman, Peter and Roy, following in the footsteps of their father, Fred.
My dad Fred came back after winning the war, with Errol Flynn and John Wayne, and was looking after the horses in the camps where they were holding the Germans at the time. He looked to start a horse business but someone said: “No! The way forward is motorcycles.”
