Motorsport Memorial -

Kevin Wrettom

Complete name: Kevin W. Wrettom

Birth date: 29.Jun.1956

Birth Place: Poplar, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Death date: 12.Jul.1984

Death Place: Liège, Belgium

Nationality: United Kingdom

Gender: male

Age at death: 28

Event date: 07.Jul.1984

Series: Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) World Motorcycle Championship - 500 cm³

Race: Grand Prix de Belgique

Event type: practice

Country: Belgium

Venue: Spa-Francorchamps

Variant: 6.940-kilometer semi-permanent course, Bus Stop exit reprofiled (1984-1987)

Role: rider

Vehicle type: motorcycle

Vehicle sub-type: sports bike - from 351 cm³ up to 500 cm³

Vehicle brand/model: Suzuki RGB

Vehicle number: 51

Notes:

Kevin Wrettom
1956 - 1984

Photo courtesy of Paul Wrettom. Reproduced with permission, all rights reserved.

Kevin Wrettom was a very skilled rider, very often in the top ranks, although he raced as a privateer. In 1976 he won a race and finished second in another at the August Bank Holiday meet in Oulton Park. That year he was awarded the Grovewood Award as the most impressive young rider.

In 1977 his career suffered a sudden stop when he crashed heavily in the Isle Of Man and suffered severe injuries which almost costed him his right eye sight. It took three years to a determinate Wrettom to return racing, when he finally made his comeback he put an eyepatch on his helmet to remind him and others of his unlucky accident.

When Wrettom made his return, the momentum of his meteoric rise was lost and sponsors had left him. Wrettom languished a couple of years held back by low financial means. Things improved in 1982, when he obtained a Formula 1 Harris Kawasaki and finished eighth in the championship. In 1983 he finished fifth in a World Formula 2 Championship race at Assen. Later in the year he purchased a good RG500 Suzuki from Boet van Dulmen. The new bike secured him the second place in the British Championship and a spot in the World Championship for the next year. Bad luck struck again when his truck carrying the Suzuki was destroyed by a fire accident on the way to the first Grand Prix race in Spain. Even that could not prevent him from racing, he pieced his team together by the Dutch TT, although he failed to qualify his still not ready motorbike.

One week later Wrettom suffered the accident that costed him his life during saturday practice session for the 1984 Grand Prix de Belgique for motorcycles, category 500 cm³, on 07 July 1984. The accident occurred at the Blanchimont bend when he lost control and crashed into the barrier; probably during the falling he had lost his helmet that was found some meters ahead and violently hit the asphalt with his head. Virginio Ferrari was the first to arrive in the place of accident, he stopped his motorcycle and tried to help the unfortunate rider with a cardiac massage, standing in the middle of the road. Seriously injured at the nape of the neck, Wrettom was taken to a hospital of Liège, where he passed away the following Thursday 12 July 1984.

At the time of his death Kevin Wrettom lived in the Netherlands and worked in the DAF factory in Eindhoven. He left a widow, Julie, and a son, Paul.

Sources:

England & Wales, Birth Index, 1837-2005, retrieved by website MyHeritage: https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10442-119985695/kevin-w-wrettom-in-england-wales-birth-index .
Book Motocourse 1984-85, article "Kevin Wrettom", by Peter Clifford. [L]
Magazine Rombo, issue 10 July 1984.
Booklet "Rennen! Races! Vitesse! - Motor Racing Circuits in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria", by Rob Semmeling, published at http://www.wegcircuits.nl.
Website The World of Classic Motorcycling, by Murray Barnard, chapter Classic Motorcycling Memorial Tribute, page http://www.ozebook.com/gpwin/gpmem.htm.
Website Racing Memory, author not indentified, pages http://www.chez.com/racingmemo/MOTORSPORT/MOTO-GP-MEMORIAL.htm and http://www.chez.com/racingmemo/MOTORSPORT/MOTO-GP-1984.htm.
E-mail by Chris Hall, dated 04 May 2004.
E-mail by Andy Marlow, dated 24 December 2004.
E-mail by Andy Marlow, dated 01 January 2005.
E-mail by Pier Paolo Garagnani, dated 25 February 2005.
E-mail by Paul Wrettom, dated 19 April 2006.
E-mail by Paul Wrettom, dated 23 April 2006.
E-mail by Herman Looman, dated 28 August 2006.
E-mail by Herman Looman, dated 19 September 2006.
E-mail by Herman Looman, dated 08 February 2007, citing [L].