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I saw Tom race a number of times in period , including his pole at Silverstone and his non championship win at the Race of Champions at Brands, both in the Shadow in 1975. I also found myself next to him in the queue for a bacon sandwich at Oulton to him and regret I was then too shy to say hello to the guy who was then winning in Formula Atlantic .
But I wouldn't assume he was destined for world championship victory - such assumptions are almost invariably wrong. Look at Hunt (who few rated very highly until he made the March 731 fly , Lauda , who didn't make the March 721 fly or Jackie Ickx , who often looked invincible in his Ferrari and Brabham years ) .
I attended a lovely exhibition to Tom's life at Denbigh town hall museum in 2018 - low key , but deeply moving .
His life , along with those of Tony Brise and Roger Williamson was beautifully portrayed in David Tremayne's masterpiece , The Lost Generation , which is essential reading for students of that era .
Of the three , I felt Brise was possibly most likely to go on to great things as he had more killer instinct than Tom or Roger -not that it matters now , of course , and the best testament to Tom was that nobody ever had a bad word to say about him .
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