It started quite innocuously, at the Belgian round of the FIM F750 Cup at Mettet in 1975. Barry Sheene and John Newbold turned up with extra stripes on the paintwork of their Suzuki TR750s. The yellow stripes were unobtrusive, but they were the first visible sign anyone saw of a team that would go on to become one of the greatest in racing.
The yellow represented the Heron Corporation – a British property development company – that had just bought Suzuki GB and was keen to go racing. The Heron Suzuki GB team was born.
Suzukis had been imported into the UK since 1963 but, in 1968, Suzuki (Great Britain) Limited went into receivership and was bought by the Lambretta-Trojan Group, headed up by Peter Agg. The company was renamed Suzuki GB Limited until it was bought by the Heron Corporation in 1975 and the company was renamed Heron Suzuki GB.
When oil giant Texaco went on board with sponsorship, one of the most iconic colour schemes in motorcycle racing was created – the classic white/yellow/red (later black/yellow/red) of Texaco Heron Suzuki.
Suzuki GB began its involvement with racing in a small way in 1970, when then technical manager Rex White agreed to supply Suzuki dealer Eddie Crooks with a TR500 to race at that year’s TT. The bike handled like a pig and, after Malcolm Uphill crashed it
