The International Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Race
It’s origins & history prior to WWII
The TT is a motorcycle racing event held annually on the Isle of Man and was for many years the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world. Many enthusiasts regard it still as ‘the greatest show on earth’.
The race is run in a time-trial format on public roads closed for racing by the provisions of an Act of Tynwald (the parliament of the Isle of Man). The first race was held on Tuesday 28 May 1907 and was called the International Auto-Cycle Tourist Trophy. The event was organised by the Auto-Cycle Club over 10 laps of the St John’s Short Course of 15 miles 1,470 yards for road-legal touring motorcycles with exhaust silencers, saddles, pedals and mud-guards.
The winner of the single-cylinder class, and overall winner of the first event in 1907, was Charlie Collier riding a Matchless motorcycle in a time of 4 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds at an average race speed of 38.21 mph.
The winner of the twin-cylinder class was Rem Fowler riding a Peugeot engined Norton in a time of 4 hours 21 minutes and 52 seconds at an average race speed of 36.21 mph The trophy presented to Charlie Collier as the winner of the 1907 Isle of Man TT Race, was donated by the Marquis de Mouzilly St. Mars. It featured a stylised version of Olympic God Hermes by Giovanni Da Bologna as a silver figurine astride a winged wheel. The trophy was similar in design to the 18 carat gold Montague Trophy presented to John Napier (Arrol-Johnston) as the inaugural winner of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy car race in 1905 now known as the RAC Tourist Trophy. The Marquis de Mouzilly St. Mars Trophy is now presented annually to the winner of the Isle of Man Senior TT Motor-Cycle Race.
Early TT race history (1904–1910)
Gordon Bennett and Tourist Trophy car races
Motor racing began on the Isle of Man in 1904 with the Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trial and were originally restricted to touring automobiles. As the Motor Car Act 1903 placed a speed restriction of 20 mph on automobiles in the UK, Julian Orde, Secretary of the Automobile Car Club of Britain and Ireland approached the authorities in the Isle of Man for the permission to race automobiles on public roads. The Highways (Light Locomotive) Act 1904 gave permission in the Isle of Man for the 52.15 mile Highlands Course for the 1904 Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trial which was won by Clifford Earl (Napier) in 7 hours 26.5 minutes for 5 laps (255.5 miles) of the Highlands Course. The 1905 Gordon Bennett Trial was held on 30 May 1905 and was again won by Clifford Earl driving a Napier automobile in 6 hours and 6 minutes for 6 laps of the Highland Course. This was followed in September 1905 with the first Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race for racing automobiles, now known as the RAC Tourist Trophy and was won by John Napier (Arrol-Johnston) in 6 hours and 9 minutes at an average speed of 33.90 mph.
International Motor-Cycle Cup Race (1905)
For the 1905 Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trial it was decided to run an eliminating trial for motorcycles the day after for a team to represent Great Britain in the International Motor-Cycle Cup Races. An accident at Ramsey Hairpin forced-out one of the pre-race favourites and the inability of the motorcycle competitors to climb the steep Mountain Section of the course forced the organisers to use a 25-mile section of the Gordon Bennett Trial course. This ran from Douglas south to Castletown and then north to Ballacraine along the primary A3 road and returned to the start at the Quarterbridge in Douglas via Crosby and Glen Vine along the current Snaefell Mountain Course in the reverse direction. The 1905 International Motor-Cycle Cup Race for 5 laps (125 miles) was won by J.S. Campbell (Ariel) despite a fire during a pit-stop in 4 hours, 9 minutes and 36 seconds at an average race speed of 30.04 mph.
Isle of Man TT Race (1907)
During the 1906 International Cup for Motor-Cycles held in Austria, the event was plagued by accusations of cheating and sharp practices. A conversation on the train journey home between the Secretary of the Auto-Cycle Club, Freddie Straight and the brothers from the Matchless motorcycle company, Charlie Collier and Harry Collier and the Marquis de Mouzilly St Mars led to a suggestion for a race the following year for road touring motorcycles based on the automobile races to be held in the Isle of Man on closed public roads. The new race was proposed by the Editor of “The Motor-Cycle” Magazine at the annual dinner of the Auto-Cycle Club held in London on 17 January 1907. It was proposed that the races would run in two classes with single-cylinder machines to average 90 mpg-imp (0.031 l/km) and twin-cylinder machines to average 75 mpg-imp (0.038 l/km) fuel consumption. To emphasise the road touring nature of the motorcycles, there were regulations for the inclusion of saddles, pedals, mudguards and exhaust silencers and the first event, the 1907 Isle of Man TT race, was won by Charlie Collier at an average race speed of 38.21 mph and the winner of the twin-cylinder class was Rem Fowler riding a Norton motorcycle at an average race speed of 36.21 mph.
For the 1908 race, the fuel consumption was raised to 100 mpg-imp (0.028 l/km) for single-cylinder machines and 80 mpg-imp (0.035 l/km) for twin-cylinder machines and the use of pedals was banned. The race was won by Jack Marshall on a Triumph motorcycle at an average speed of 40.49 mph. For the 1909 Isle of Man TT races, the fuel consumption regulations was abandoned along with the use of exhaust silencers. The single-cylinder machines were limited to a capacity of 500 cc and the twin-cylinder machines to a 750 cc engine capacity. Due to the concern over increasing lap-speed, for the 1910 Isle of Man TT the capacity of the twin-cylinder machines were reduced to 670 cc. However, Harry Bowen riding a BAT twin-cylinder motorcycle increased the lap record to an average speed of 53.15 mph (85.54 km/h), later crashing-out of the 1910 event on the wooden banking at Ballacraine corner.
Snaefell Mountain Course
The first TT race over the Snaefell Mountain Course or Mountain Course was the 1911 Isle of Man TT Races. This was followed in 1923 with the introduction of the Manx Amateur Motorcycle Road Races — a race originally reserved for amateurs and raced on the same Mountain Course. In 1930 it changed its name to the Manx Grand Prix.
For the 1911 event two separate races were introduced. A four lap Junior TT Race for 300 cc single-cylinder and 340 cc twin-cylinder motorcycles and was the first event on the new course and was contested by 35 entrants. It was won by Percy J. Evans riding a Humber motorcycle in 3 hours, 37 minutes and 7 seconds at an average speed of 41.45 mph.
The Senior TT Race was open for 500 cc single-cylinder and 585 cc twin-cylinder motorcycles and was contested over 5 laps of the new 37.5 mile Snaefell Mountain Course. The new technical challenges of the Mountain Course forced changes on entrants and motorcycle manufacturers alike. The American Indian Motor-Cycle factory fitted a two-speed gearbox and chain-drive. This proved to be the winning combination when Oliver Godfrey won the 1911 Isle of Man Senior TT race riding an Indian in 3 hours, 56 minutes and 10 seconds at an average speed of 47.63 mph. In contrast the Matchless motorcycles were fitted with a six-speed belt drive and Charlie Collier riding a Matchless motorcycle finished second in the 1911 Senior TT race but was later disqualified for illegal refuelling. During practice for the 1911 race Victor Surridge died after crashing his Rudge motorcycle at Glen Helen.
For the 1912 event the single and twin-cylinder classes were combined with a 350 cc capacity limit for the Junior TT and a 500 cc capacity for motorcycles for the Senior TT race. In 1913 Major Tommy Loughborough replaced Freddie Straight as secretary of the Auto-Cycle Club and promptly decided to make the races more difficult. The Junior and Senior races were to be run in sections. The Junior TT race was divided into two races of two and four laps and the Senior TT race consisted of a three lap race followed by a four lap race combined with the Junior TT event. In 1914 the Junior TT was reduced to 5 laps and the start-line moved to the top of Bray Hill to increase paddock space of the competitors. The use of crash-helmets was made compulsory. The 1914 Junior TT was held in heavy rain and mist on the Mountain Section of the course and was won by Eric Williams riding an AJS motorcycle in 4 hours, 6 minutes and 50 seconds at an average speed of 45.58 mph. The race was marred by the death of Frank Walker riding a Royal Enfield motorcycle who had been leading until a puncture on the third-lap. In the following pursuit of the leaders he fell twice and on the last-lap over-shot the finish line in Ballanard Road and crashed into a wooden barrier placed across the road and posthumously declared a third place finisher by the ACU race committee
The 1920s
Motorcycle racing in the Isle of Man did not restart after the end of the First World War until 1920. Changes were made to the Mountain Course and competitors now turned left at Cronk-ny-Mona and followed the primary A18 Mountain Road to Governor’s Bridge with a new start/finish line on Glencrutchery Road which lengthened the course to 37 ¾ miles.
The 1920 Junior TT Race included for the first time a new Lightweight class for motorcycles of 250 cc engine capacity. The Lightweight class of the 1920 Junior TT race was won by Ronald Clarke riding a Levis and he may have won the event overall but crashed at the 33rd Milestone on the last lap, finishing fourth overall. The 1921 Senior TT race was won by Howard Davies riding a 350 cc Junior TT AJS by a margin of 2 minutes and 3 seconds from Freddie Dixon and Hubert Le Vack. For 1922 the ACU introduced for 250 cc motorcycle a Lightweight TT race and the first winner was Geoff S Davison riding a Levis motorcycle at an average race speed of 49.89. The 1922 Junior TT Race was won by local Isle of Man competitor Tom Sheard riding an AJS motorcycle at an average race speed of 54.75 mph. Despite crashing twice, a broken exhaust and a fire in the pits, Stanley Woods riding a Cotton managed to finish in 5th place in the 1922 Junior TT Race. In the 1922 Senior TT Race, Alex Bennett riding a Sunbeam motorcycle led all 6 laps from start to finish to win from Walter Brandish riding a Triumph.
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More changes to the course followed in 1923 with the adoption of a private road between Parliament Square and May Hill in Ramsey. The course had previously had negotiated Albert Road and Tower Road in Ramsey and the new course length was now 37.739 miles (revised to 37.733 miles in 1938). Part of the Mountain Course was named ‘Brandish’ after Walter Brandish crashed at a corner between Creg-ny-Baa and Hillberry and broke a leg. The first Sidecar TT race was held in 1923 over 3 laps (113 miles) and was won by Freddie Dixon and passenger Walter Denny with a special Douglas banking-sidecar average race speed of 53.15 mph. The Senior TT Race of 1923 was held in poor weather and local course knowledge allowed local Isle of Man competitor Tom Sheard riding a Douglas motorcycle to win his second TT Race to add to his first win in the 1922 Junior TT Race on an AJS motorcycle. Another first-time winner of a TT race in 1923 was Stanley Woods riding to victory in the Junior TT Race on a Cotton.
In 1924, an Ultra-Lightweight TT Race was introduced for motorcycles of 175 cc engine capacity following the introduction of a Lightweight TT Race in 1922. The 1924 Ultra-Lightweight TT was allowed to begin with a massed-start for competitors rather than pairs for the normal time-trial format of the Isle of Man TT Races. The first winner of the Ultra-Lightweight TT in 1924 was Jock Porter riding a New Gerrard motorcycle at average speed of 51.20 mph. The Lightweight TT and the Senior TT Races of 1924 were run in conjunction and Eddie Twemlow (the brother to Ken Twemlow) riding a New Imperial motorcycle won at an average race speed of 55.44 mph. The Senior TT Race of 1924 like the Junior TT Race of the same year was also run at record breaking pace and was the first with a race average speed over 60 mph and was won by Alec Bennett riding a Norton motorcycle.
After numerous retirements in 1924, Wal Handley won the 1925 Junior TT Race over 6 laps of the Mountain Course for Rex-Acme motorcycles at an average speed of 65.02 mph. Later in the week Handley became the first TT rider to win two races in a week when he won the Ultra-Lightweight TT Race again on a Rex-Acme motorcycle. The 1925 Senior TT Race was sensationally won by Howard Davis while competing against the works teams with a motorcycle of his own manufacture a HRD Motorcycles at an average speed of 66.13 mph. Further changes occurred in 1926 with the scrapping of the Side-Car and Ultra-Lightweight TT Races from the lack of entries. Most of the Snaefell Mountain Course had now been completely tarmaced including the narrow sections on the A18 Mountain Road.
Another change in 1926 was the ban on alcohol based fuels forcing competitors to use road petrol. Despite these changes the prestige of the Isle of Man TT Races had encouraged the Italian motorcycle manufacturers Bianchi, Garelli and Moto Guzzi to enter. The 1926 Lightweight TT Race produced one of the most notorious events in the history of the Isle of Man TT Races described by the magazine “The Motor-Cycle” as the “Guzzi Incident.” The Italian rider Pietro Ghersi was excluded from second place for using a different sparking-plug in the engine of his Moto Guzzi. The 1926 Senior TT Race produced the first 70 mph lap and was again set by Jimmy Simpson on an AJS motorcycle in 32 minutes and 9 seconds an average speed of 70.43 mph.
More changes occurred in 1927 with a fatal accident during practice to Archie Birkin a brother to Tim Birkin of the Bentley Boys fame. The corner in Kirk Michael where the accident occurred was renamed Birkin’s Bend and from 1928 practice sessions were held on closed-roads. The newly developed ‘positive-stop’ foot gear-change[22] by Velocette gave Alex Bennett his fifth TT Race win in the 1928 Junior TT Race at an average race speed of 68.65 mph from his team-mate Harold Willis. The 1929 Lightweight TT Race was led for 5 laps by Pietro Ghersi on a Motor Guzzi competing in his first TT race since the disqualification in the ‘Guzzi Incident’ of 1926. Despite Pietro Ghersi setting the fastest lap at an average speed of 66.63 mph, engine failure gave the win to Syd Crabtree. During the 1929 Senior TT Race a number of riders crashed at Greeba Castle after Wal Handley clipped the hedge and crashed. This included Jimmy Simpson, Jack Amott riding for Rudge and Doug Lamb who later died of his injuries on the way to Nobles Hospital. Charlie Dodson completed a Senior TT double by winning the 1929 Senior TT Race at an average race speed of 72.05 mph.
TT Racing in the 1930s
The 1930s were a decade in which the Isle of Man TT races became the predominant motor-cycling event in the racing calendar, and are seen as the classic era of racing in the Isle of Man. A number of changes occurred to the Mountain Course during the 1930s, with extensive road widening on the A18 Mountain Road and the removal of the hump-back bridge at Ballig for the 1935 racing season in the Isle of Man.
The 1930s produced a number of changes for the Isle of Man TT Races in which the event became more commercialised. The George Formby film No Limit (1936 film) used the 1935 Isle of Man TT races as a backdrop for filming.
Also, the 1930s saw increasing use of the TT races by motorcycle manufacturers to show-case their products. As a result, the 1930s produced an increased pace of motorcycle development, with the introduction of supercharging and over-head camshaft engines, plunger rear suspension, and telescopic front forks. These technological improvements were played out by the different British motorcycle manufacturers such as AJS, Rudge, Sunbeam, and Velocette gradually being eclipsed by the pre-eminence of the works Nortons. Increasing interest by foreign manufacturers in the 1930s produced works entries from BMW, DKW, NSU, Bianchi and Moto Guzzi at the Isle of Man TT races. The increased competition produced a frantic search for more engine power and better handling. At first, better handling was the best way to produce faster lap times, but as the power advantage of supercharged machines increased, their lap speeds began to match and finally overtook the others. Consequently, by 1938, most British manufacturers had a supercharged machine under test. Increased professionalism by the TT riders during the 1930s was the reason for Stanley Woods parting with Norton motorcycles, despite the winning of four TT races in 2 years, over the issue of prize money. Woods joined Husqvarna, and later rode for Moto Guzzi and Velocette.
The 1930 Senior TT Race was won by Rudge with Wal Handley becoming the first TT rider to win in all three major TT Race classes and the first lap under 30 minutes of the Mountain Course. The 1931 TT Race meeting was again dominated by the battle between Rudge and Norton motorcycles. The 1931 Senior TT Race provided Tim “Percy” Hunt with a popular Junior/Senior double win and also produced the first 80 mph lap by Jimmy Simpson on a Norton motorcycle.
The 1932 TT Race meeting was watched by Prince George, Duke of Kent the first royal visitor to the Isle of Man TT Races. The 1932 Senior TT Race provided Stanley Woods with the Norton Habit ] and another Junior/Senior double win. Also on the first lap, Wal Handley, riding for Rudge, crashed at the 11th Milestone sustaining a back injury and retired.
The place on the TT course where the incident occurred was renamed Handley’s Corner.
<div id=”fb-root”></div><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));</script><div class=”fb-video” data-allowfullscreen=”1" data-href=”/1530684080504430/videos/vb.1530684080504430/1662824897290347/?type=3"><div class=”fb-xfbml-parse-ignore”><blockquote cite=”https://www.facebook.com/1530684080504430/videos/1662824897290347/"><a href=”https://www.facebook.com/1530684080504430/videos/1662824897290347/"></a><p>TT All Records Shattered (1932)</p>Posted by <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/Neils-Old-Photos-of-The-Isle-of-Man-1530684080504430/">Neil's Old Photos of The Isle of Man</a> on Wednesday, 25 November 2015</blockquote></div></div>
The 1933 Senior TT Race gave Stanley Woods another Junior/Senior double win, with works Nortons taking the first four places, ridden by Jimmy Simpson, Tim Hunt and Jimmie Guthrie. The 1934 TT Races was another double Junior/Senior win for Jimmie Guthrie and the last TT race for Jimmy Simpson. For the 1935 TT Races, Stanley Woods provided another surprise by moving to Moto Guzzi and was a debut event for the Italian Omobono Tenni. The 1935 Senior TT Race produced one of the most dramatic TT races, as the Moto Guzzi pit attendants made preparations for Stanley Woods to refuel on the last lap, but Woods went straight through the TT grandstand area without stopping and went on to win by 4 seconds from Jimmie Guthrie. Despite disqualification during the 1936 Junior TT Race, Jimmie Guthrie won the 1936 Senior TT Race, avenging his dramatic defeat the previous year.
The 1937 TT Races produced the first foreign winner, when the Italian TT rider, Omobono Tenni won the Lightweight race. Jimmie Guthrie was killed a few weeks later while riding for the Norton team during the 1937 German Grand Prix. The 1938 TT Races produced the first German winner when Ewald Kluge won the 1938Lightweight TT Race and became the first overall European Motor-Cycle Champion for the works DKW team.
In the 1939 Isle of Man TT Races, the works Norton team did not compete, as the Norton factory were changing over to war production. Although the 1938 model Norton was provided to Harold Daniell and Freddie Frith to race, the 1939 TT Races provided Stanley Woods with a tenth TT win, aboard a Velocette in the Junior TT Race and a well judged first win for Ted Mellors riding a Benelli in the 1939 Lightweight TT Race. The Blue Riband race of the Isle of Man TT Races was won for the first time by a foreign competitor when Georg ‘Schorsch’ Meier won the 1939 Senior TT Race riding for the factory BMW motorcycle team.
In the 1930s, TT winners were allowed to keep the trophies for a year. The 1939 factory BMW motorcycle that won the 1939 Senior TT Race spent the war years buried in a field, and the Senior TT trophy was discovered displayed in a shop in Vienna at the end of the war
Motorcycle racing did not return to the Isle of Man and the Mountain Course until September 1946 with the first post-war event the 1946 Manx Grand Prix.
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Wikipedia information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man_TT
Isle of Man online booking: http://www.destination-isle-of-man.com
UK Island Holidays: http://www.holiday-island.co.uk/2012/02/isle-of-man.html
Hotels in Douglas Isle of Man http://www.inglewoodhotel-isleofman.com
Homepage: https://heritage-holiday.co.uk
