The TR Register are saddened to learn of the death of our friend and racing driver, Tony Dron. Tony was best known for racing Triumph Dolomites for the works BL/Broadspeed team in the 1970s and for competing in Porsches at Le Mans the early 1980s.
He won his class at Le Mans in a Porsche 934 in 1982, then a Group C Kremer and in recent times bagged the Sussex Trophy three years on the trot at the Goodwood Revival.His writing talents saw him work for various car magazines and was editor of Thoroughbred & Classics Cars for a decade. Our condolences to family and friends of Tony Dron, pictured here with Paul Gerring’s Triumph TRS replica taken when he drove it alongside Nick Marsh at the 2006 Le Mans Classic supported by Revington TR – a great hero of the motoring world who will be sadly missed.
Tony Dron passed away 17th November 2021 aged 75.
Nick Marsh, who raced alongside Tony at Le Mans Classic in the TRS said;
"This is such sad news. What an amazing man - and fantastic race driver. I will always be humbled that I shared a race car with him in Paul and Jan Gerring's TR run by Paul Hogan and the TR Register It was an honour. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. A real Le Mans and Triumph hero."
Paul Hogan, who organised the team of Triumph's racing at Le Mans Classic in 2016 said on social media;
"When Bill Piggott and I approached Tony at the 2004 Goodwood revival and asked him if he would drive for us in the LeMans legends race in the ex works TR2 the following year. He replied " Yes but I'm a bit of a tart" meaning he wanted some payment. I immediately offered him £500 - all we had - and all the beer he could drink. "Done" he said and that was the start of a wonderful relationship with Tony. He then drove the TRS replica in the LeMans Classic, again with co driver Nick Marsh in 2006. There was absolutely no side to Tony. He was 100% behind us and he was always consistent with his lap times. In fact he never varied his laps at le man's by more than one tenth of a second and I still have the time sheets to prove it! How he squeezed his 6ft4" into his Suzuki swift always amazed me but he said it was one of the best cars he ever had. His other joy was his vintage Austin 7. Looking back on his career he must have raced more than 50 different types of cars from Aston's to TRs and everything in between. I did try to get Tony and Johnny Herbert to drive the TR one year but their great difference in height would have made driver changes very comical if not impossible. Tony leaves a lasting legacy for competitors in the Tony Dron trophy which Duncan Wiltshire had the foresight to organise on his behalf. Surely there can be no better tribute to him and his love of racing."
Chris Carter, of South Lincolnshire Classic Cars and former TR Register championship driver said,
"Very sad to hear this. He was a great man, fine racing driver and a huge mine of information as well as being a truly incisive journalist. We had a lot to do with him in the late '80's when he and Heritage were sourcing/developing the TR6 bodyshell. The stories he told were fabulous and sometimes just a little bit indiscreet but all the better for it. He will be much missed."
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