Crashed & Byrned

[douglasgdmw]

Folks,

Noticed that there is a documentary on Tommy Byrne on BBC Catch Up which I have just watched. I have read the book, which was an excellent read but the 1hr documentary was also reasonable viewing for any motorsport fan.

[/i]In case anyone does not know the name Tommy Byrne, here is the overview from Amazon on his book:
This is the thrilling, warts-engine-oil-and-all autobiography of the only racing driver Ayrton Senna ever feared - the 200mph flawed genius of Tommy Byrne.

It tells the surreal tale of a poverty-stricken Dundalk kid's rise to become the only racing driver the great Ayrton Senna ever feared - and how it all went wrong from there. For a brief moment Tommy Byrne was arguably the world's greatest driver, the motor racing equivalent of George Best and Muhammad Ali rolled into one - A racer, a thief, a raconteur.This is the story of his improbable escape, his rapid rise and his spectacular and bizarre fall from grace. Peppered with dark humour and a cast of ridiculous characters, it is the antithesis of a fairytale - and it's all true.

Hold on tight, the tale of Tommy Byrne is quite a ride - from fending for himself as the runt of a big Catholic litter in the '60s, running the gauntlet of the sectarian violence in the '70s, troubling Ayrton Senna and making it to F1 in the '80s, resorting to drugs in the aftermath and driving for a deluded billionaire madman and then gun-toting Mexicans in the '90s. It's raw, passionate, and - with Byrne's ability to tell it like it is - not for the faint-hearted

[van cleef]

Cheers for the heads up and it's now recorded onto the sky+ box for later viewing.

[greyrigg]

Read the book as well, will have to record the documentary. A great driver and a bit of a 'character'


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