Thomas Byrne (born 6 May 1958) is a former racing driver from Ireland. He participated in two Formula One Grands Prix in 1982 with the backmarker Theodore team, failing to qualify for another three. He failed to finish in either of the Grands Prix he started and scored no Formula One championship points.
| Born | 6 May 1958 Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland[1][2] |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Irish |
| Active years | 1982 |
| Teams | Theodore |
| Entries | 5 (2 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1982 German Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix |
After performing well in the Irish Formula Ford Championship in 1981, Byrne won the 1982 British Formula 3 Championship even though he missed some races while he competed in Formula One. At that time, he also tested a McLaren MP4/1 Formula One car in October 1982 against Marlboro-backed Spirit Racing's European F2 drivers like Stefan Johansson and Thierry Boutsen. During this test he set a time quicker than the works drivers, Watson and Lauda, despite the car being specifically detuned for him and not the other drivers at the test.[3] After a brief return to Formula Three in 1983, where he raced for Eddie Jordan, Byrne moved to the United States and began racing in the American Racing Series in 1986, where he won ten races in 55 starts, both second place in the series record books. He also was the championship runner-up in 1988 and 1989. He raced in the series until 1992 and then retired. Despite his extended career in the States, Byrne never made a Champ Car start. He lives in Florida, and teaches Honda Teen/Adult Defensive Driving, Advanced Defensive Driving, Acura High Performance and Acura Advanced Performance Driving during the race season at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. He is also a driver coach for Indy Lights team Brian Stewart Racing.
He co-authored a book with Mark Hughes which was released in the UK on 8 August 2008, titled Crashed and Byrned: The Greatest Racing Driver You Never Saw. The book won the William Hill Irish Sports Book of the Year for 2009.[4]
Byrne was the subject of Seán Ó Cualáin's documentary Crash and Burn in 2016.[5]
Racing record
editCareer summary
edit| Year | Series | Pos. |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Formula One | NC |
| British Formula Three | 1st | |
| 1983 | British Formula Three | NC |
| European Formula Three | 4th | |
| 1983 Macau Grand Prix | NC | |
| Formula Mondial North American Cup | 15th | |
| 1984 | European Formula Three | 6th |
| 1984 Macau Grand Prix | 8th | |
| Formula Super Vee | 13th | |
| 1985 | Formula Super Vee | NC |
| 1986 | Formula 3000 | NC |
| GT | 24th | |
| Indy Lights | 7th | |
| 1987 | Indy Lights | 3rd |
| 1988 | Indy Lights | 2nd |
| 1989 | HFC American Racing Series Championship | 2nd |
| 1990 | Firestone American Racing Series Championship | 13th |
| 1991 | Firestone Indy Lights Championship | 12th |
| 1992 | Firestone Indy Lights Championship | 10th |
| 2001 | Grand American Road Racing | 13th |
| American Le Mans | NC | |
| 2002 | Grand American Road Racing | 3rd |
Complete Formula One results
edit(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Theodore Racing Team | Theodore TY02 | Cosworth V8 | RSA | BRA | USW | SMR | BEL | MON | DET | CAN | NED | GBR | FRA | GER DNQ |
AUT Ret |
SUI DNQ |
ITA DNQ |
CPL Ret |
NC | 0 |
References
edit- ^ O'Rourke, Steve (6 June 2016). "'Better than Senna' - Tommy Byrne was the greatest racing driver you've probably never heard of". the42.ie. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ "Crash and Burn review: Tommy Byrne - Far beyond driven". irishtimes.com. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ The Greatest Racing Driver You Never Saw: excerpt from Tommy Byrne's book
- ^ Review of Crashed and Byrned archive at Wayback Machine
- ^ "Review of Irish Film @ Cork Film Festival: Crash and Burn". Film Ireland. 27 November 2016. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
External links
edit- Crash and Burn (a documentary about Byrne) at IMDb
- Profile at grandprix.com
- "Tommy Byrne, TNFer & award-winning author" on the Autosport's The Nostalgia Forum