A
superb and rare photo of J. Williams , seen in action with his impressive 350cc Rudge TT Replica during
the 1931 Junior (350cc) Isle of Man T.T. This image shows excellent
detail of his interesting racing machine. Unfortunately Williams was forced to
retire from the race due to mechanical problems. A typical Isle of Man wall of stone can be
seen on the background. The sign-post in the background reads “<-- To Onchan
- To Snaefell -->”, indicating the
Mountain Course the race was held on.
This
great and scenic photograph of the Isle of Man TT was taken during the 350cc
Junior T.T. race of 1931. The race was won by Norton factory rider Tim Hunt in
a time of 3 hours 34 minutes and 21 seconds, at an average race speed
of 73.94 mph (118.99 km/h).
His Norton team-mate Jimmie Guthrie finished second and Rudge rider Ernie Nott finished
3RD .
The 1931 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was again dominated by
the battle between Rudge, Sunbeam
and Norton motor-cycles. The 1931 Junior TT Race was run at a very fast pace by
Jimmie Simpson riding for Norton who completed the first lap in 30 minutes
and 49 seconds and was 6 second ahead of fellow Norton team-mate Stanley Woods
in 2nd place and 18 seconds ahead of Freddie Hicks in 3rd place riding an AJS
motor-cycle. Although, Jimmie Simpson was able to hold on to the lead for the
next 5 lap, he was slowed by having to refuel every two laps because of
carburetor problems. Fellow, Norton team-mate, Tim Hunt recovered from a slow
first lap with a loose plug-lead to set the fastest lap on lap 4 of
30 minutes and 5 seconds an average race speed of 75.27 mph (121.14 km/h) and steadlly moves-up
the leaderboard. Further, carburetor problems causes Jimmie Simpson to drops
off the leaderboard and eventually finishes in 8th place. This allows the 1931
Junior TT Race to be won by Tim Hunt riding for Norton, in 3 hours
34 minutes and 21 seconds, at an average race speed of 73.94 mph (118.99 km/h), from Norton team-mates
Jimmie Guthrie, and Ernie Nott riding a Rudge motor-cycle. The 1931 Lightweight
TT was dominated by the works Rudge motor-cycles and the race was lap 1 by
Ernie Nott by 45 seconds from Rudge team-mates, H. G. Tyrell Smith and Graham
Walker in 3rd place. By lap 6, Ernie Nott had a lead of 4 minutes over the
rest of the field, until on the last lap he slid of just below the Mountain
Mile and finished in 4th place steadying a damaged push-rod with his hand. This
provided a first and only TT Race win for Graham Walker riding a Rudge at an
average race speed of 68.98 mph (111.01 km/h). The highly
anticipated 1931 Senior TT Race which was again set to be dominated by Rudge
and Norton motor-cycles. However, it proved to dominated again by Norton and
Jimmie Simpson and Jimmie Guthrie, this time Guthrie led on lap 1 by 1 second
from Jimmie Simpson and Norton team-mate Stanley Woods by 17 seconds in 3rd
place. On lap 3, the 1931 Senior TT Race produced the first 80 mph (130
km/h) lap by Jimmie Simpson on a Norton motor-cycle
in 28 minutes and 1 seconds an average speed of 80.82 mph (130.07 km/h). Despite taking over
the lead from Guthrie, Jimmie Simpson crashed on lap 4 at Ballaugh Bridge and the bike
ending-up in the river. Despite re-taking the lead, Jimmie Guthrie slips-off at
the Governor's Bridge on lap 5, but contuines to finish in 2nd place at an
average speed of 77.34 mph (124.47 km/h). Fellow Norton
team-mate Stanley Woods finishes in 3rd place with a glove in the petrol-tank
filler. The fast paced and incident packed 1931 Senior TT Race provided Tim
Hunt with a popular Junior/Senior double win in 3 hours, 23 minutes
and 28 seconds for the 7 lap (264.11 mile) race at an average race speed
of 77.90 mph (125.37 km/h). The winner
of the 1929 Junior Race, Freddie Hicks crashed on lap 5 at Union Mills and was
killed.
Rudge motorcycles were known for their
incredible innovations in engine and transmission
design, and off course its racing successes. Their sales motto
was "Rudge it, do not trudge it." Rudge Whitworth Cycles originally
resulted from the merger of two bicycle manufacturers in 1894, one of which
descended from the original bicycle company founded by Daniel Rudge. Rudge also
produced the first detachable wire wheel in 1907 and was known for its knockoff
wheels on sports cars well into the 1960s. Selling
re-badged Werners in 1909, the company went on to produce their first
motorcycle in 1911. This
was a single-cylinder F-head, or IOE (inlet over exhaust), 500 cc bike. In 1912
the belt drive 499 cc Rudge Multi was released, using variable groove-depth
pulleys to gain 21 forward ratios, and a top gear as high as 2.75:1. (The
Zenith Gradua and 1907 FN 244 cc single used a similar system.) In 1913 a 750 cc Multi was released. In 1914, a Multi won the Isle of Man TT . In 1915 a 1000 cc using a Jardine four speed
gearbox was released, followed by a 1000 cc Multi. In 1923, they introduced an
in-house manufactured 4 speed gear box to replace the Jardine gearbox, and
Multi production ended. It was called a Rudge Four, because of the four speeds
and four valves, not four cylinders. This single cylinder 350 cc machine showed
markedly superior performance to the competition on release, having more power
than its 500 cc predecessor. Rudge engineer, George Hack, is said to have taken
his design idea from the four valve head Ricardo-Triumph Special of 1921, a one off machine. He designed a four valve
head for Rudge and in 1924 they produced their first four valve cylinder head
on a 350 cc engine. The valves were arranged in parallel, and were not radial. In
1925, a 500 cc version with linked front and rear
brakes appeared, and the big end bearings were now fed oil through the
crankshaft pin. The old 350 cc was dropped in 1926. For 1928 Rudge motorcycles
were fitted with saddle tanks, and 8 inch internal expanding drum brakes. Stanley
Glanfield designed a Rudge for dirt racing, marketed from 1928 as the Glanfield
Rudge. In 1929 Graham Walker won the Ulster Grand Prix averaging over 80 mph. This prompted the release of the Rudge Ulster,
as well as a JAP engined 250 cc and parallel 4 valve 350 cc. The Ulster was one of their most famous models.
Rudge bikes also finished first, second and third at the 1930 Junior TT using
prototype radial 350 cc 4 valve engines. They also took first and second in the
Senior TT. The road bike engines were changed to dry sump lubrication. The JAP
250 and the parallel four valve 350 cc ended production in this year. In 1931
Rudge released its first 250 cc and 350 cc road machines with the radial valve
layout. TT Replicas were available in 350 cc and 500 cc. The parallel valve 500
cc was also available in Special and Ulster models, the Ulster now having a 100 mph guarantee. First and second were taken in
the 1931 Lightweight TT, and in 1932, second and third. A radial head 500 cc
was produced for 1932 only. A 250 cc TT Replica was built, and the road bikes
were fitted with proper oil bath primary chains, and a stand that could be
operated "with just one finger". With the depression biting, 1933 was
the last year of production for dirt track bikes, and the TT Replicas. The Ulster 500 cc was fitted with a
"semi-radial" (parallel valves with radial ports) cast iron head. For
1934 the Ulster had its head cast in aluminium bronze, and a radial 4 valve 250
cc Sports was released. Rudge motorcycles took the first three places in the
1934 Lightweight TT. A two valve 250 cc was produced in 1935, and in 1936 the
last of the radial 4 valve 250 cc model were produced, while round tube forks
were introduced on other models. In 1937 the valve gear became fully enclosed
on the 500 cc models, but finances were bad and Rudge was bought by EMI, and
production was interrupted, being moved to Hayes, Hillingdon in Middlesex. A
250 cc 2 valve Sports was released in 1938, and for early 1939 the Ulster had an RR50 aluminium cylinder head.
Production ceased in December 1939 in order to convert to radar production for
the war effort.
The International Isle
of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Race is a motorcycle racing event held on
the Isle of Man and was for many years
the most prestigious motor-cycle race in the world. The event was part of the
FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship during the period 1949-1976 before
being transferred to the United
Kingdom after safety concerns
and run by the FIM as the British Grand Prix for the 1977 season. The Isle of
Man TT Races became part of the TT Formula 1 Championship during the period
1977-1990 to preserve the event's racing status. From 1989 the racing has been
developed by the Isle of Man Department of Tourism as the Isle of Man TT
Festival. 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 motor-cycles 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 motor-cycle 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.
The 2007 Isle of Man TT was the Centenary event which ran between 26 May and 8 June 2007 and featured a special
Re-enactment of the 1907 Isle of Man TT Race held on the village green next to
Tynwald Hill in St John's on Monday 28 May 2007. The vintage
parade of 100 classic motor-cycles for the Centenary Re-enactment on the
original St John's Short Course
was flagged away by former World Motor-Cycle Champion Geoff Duke. The first of
the participants to be flagged away was the recently restored twin-cylinder
Peugeot-Norton ridden by Rem Fowler during the first Isle of Man TT Race in
1907. Also participating in the 2007 Re-enactment was TT race competitor Guy
Martin riding a 1938 Triumph Tiger 100 500cc and other former TT competitors
including Alan Cathcart, Sammy Miller, Nick Jefferies and Mick Grant also
completed the Re-enactment lap.
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 the
30th 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. For the 1905 Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trial it was decided to
run an eliminating trial for motor-cycles 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 motor-cycle 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.
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 motor-cycle 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 motor-cycles 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 motor-cycles, 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 motor-cycle 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 motor-cycle 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, 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 motor-cycle 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. 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 motor-cycles
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 motor-cycle
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 motor-cycles 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 motor-cycle 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 motor-cycles were fitted with a six-speed belt drive and
Charlie Collier riding a Matchless motor-cycle 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
motor-cycle 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 motor-cycles 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 motor-cycle 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 motor-cycle 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. Motor-cycle 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 motor-cycles 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
motor-cycle a Lightweight TT race and the first winner was Geoff S Davison
riding a Levis motor-cycle
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 motor-cycle 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
motor-cycle led all 6 laps from start to finish to win from Walter Brandish
riding a Triumph. 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 motor-cycle to win his
second TT Race to add to his first win in the 1922 Junior TT Race on an AJS
motor-cycle. 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 motor-cycles 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 motor-cycle 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 motor-cycle 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 motor-cycle. After numerous retirements in
1924, Wal L. Handley won the 1925 Junior TT Race over 6 laps of the Mountain
Course for Rex-Acme motor-cycles at an average speed of 65.02 mph. Later
in the week Wal L. 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 motor-cycle. The
1925 Senior TT Race was sensationally won by Howard Davis while competing
against the works teams with a motor-cycle 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 motor-cycle 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 motor-cycle 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 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 L.
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. 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 motor-cycle manufacturers to show-case
their products. As a result, the 1930s produced an increased pace of
motor-cycle 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 motor-cycle
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 motor-cycles, 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 L. 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 motor-cycles. The
1931 Senior TT Race provided Tim Hunt with a popular Junior/Senior double win
and also produced the first 80 mph lap by Jimmy
Simpson on a Norton motor-cycle. 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
L. 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. 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 1938 Lightweight 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 E A (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
motor-cycle team. In the 1930s, TT winners were allowed to keep the trophies
for a year. The 1939 factory BMW motor-cycle 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. For the 1947 Isle of Man TT Races a number of changes occurred
to the race schedule and the rules governing the races. First, the inclusion of
a Clubmans TT Races for Lightweight, Junior and Senior production motor-cycles.
Second, and more important the rules governing all international road racing
were changed to effectively ban all forms of supercharging. The 1949 Isle of
Man TT Races was the first event of the inaugural Motorcycle Grand Prix World
Championship and Les Graham the first 500 cc World Champion finished 10th
in the 1949 Senior TT Race. For the 1951 Isle of Man TT the Ultra-Lightweight
TT Race was re-introduced that was won by Cromie McCandless riding a Mondial
motor-cycle at an average race speed of 74.84 mph. From 1947 to 1959 there
occurred a number of course changes and improvements. Road widening occurred
between the 33rd Milestone and Keppel Gate for the 1947 season and further
major changes for the 1954 Isle of Man TT Races with significant alterations to
Ballaugh Bridge,
Creg-ny-Baa, Signpost Corner and Governor's Bridge. Also the 1954 Isle of Man
TT Races was the first year of the Clypse Course, the re-introduction of the
Sidecar TT Race and the first ever female competitor, Inge Stoll, to enter an
Isle of Man TT Race. The 1950s may be seen as a decade when the course and race
changes the Isle of Man TT Races evolved into the motor-cycle event that occurs
today. Perhaps seen as the golden-era, the 1950s for the Isle of Man TT Races
mirrored changes in the motor-cycling industry and motor-cycling technology and
the increasing globalisation of not only of motor-cycle racing, but also of the
motor-cycle industry. As with the 1930s, the period from 1947 to 1959 the
dominance of the British motor-cycle industry was gradually eroded by increased
European competition. Again throughout the 1950s this was played-out through
increased technological change. The introduction of the Featherbed frame and
the abortive Norton Kneeler concept by the works Norton team it was not
sufficient to challenge the multi-cylinder European motor-cycles from Gilera
and Moto Guzzi. Financial problems led to the demise of the Norton team and
along with other traditional British motor-cycle manufacturers AJS, BSA,
Matchless and Velocette and were replaced by European competition from CZ, DKW,
Ducati, Mondial, MV Agusta and NSU at the Isle of Man TT Races. By the end of
the 1950s, the East Germany motor-cycle
firm MZ used the Isle of Man TT Races to improve their Walter Kaaden designed
two-stoke technology. The 1959 Isle of Man TT Race was the first race for the
fledgling Japanese Honda team when Naomi Taniguchi finished in 6th place in the
1959 125 cc Ultra-Lightweight TT Race on the Clypse Course at an average
race speed of 68.29 mph. Pre-war, the Isle of Man TT Races was seen as the
preserve of British, Irish and Commonwealth competitors. This stranglehold was
first broken by Omobono Tenni as the first foreign winner in 1937. As the Isle
of Man TT Races became a World Championship event in 1949, the post-war period
produced race wins from European competitors such as Carlo Ubbiali and
Tarquinio Provini. The first New Zealand winner was
Rod Coleman in 1954 and first competitor from Southern
Rhodesia was Ray Amm when he raced at the 1951 Isle of
Man TT Races. Despite a win by Eric Oliver at the first post war Sidecar TT
race, this also became dominated by German and Swiss competitors such as Walter
Schneider, Fritz Hillebrand, Fritz Scheidegger and Helmut Fath. For the Senior
TT Race this was still dominated by new British TT competitors, Geoff Duke
winning the 1955 Senior TT Race, John Surtees riding for MV Agusta and Bob
McIntyre in the 1957 Isle of Man TT races were headlined when he recorded the
first 100 mph (160
km/h) lap, riding for Gilera motor-cycles. The 1958
Isle of Man TT Races was the debut event for another British rider with the 18
year old Mike Hailwood who would dominate the next decade. For the 1960 Isle of
Man TT races the Sidecar TT Race returned to the Snaefell Mountain Course for
the first-time since 1925, along with the Ultra-Lightweight and Lightweight
classes with the abandonment of TT racing on the Clypse Course. A number of
changes occurred to the Mountain Course during the 1960s with further road
widening at Ballig Bridge and at Greeba Bridge. Other
safety features included the introduction of a safety helicopter for the 1963
Isle of Man TT races and was used for the first-time when Tony Godfrey crashed
at the exit to Milntown Cottages during the 1963 Lightweight TT race. Despite
problems with the sidecar class, the winner of the 1960 Sidecar TT race was Helmut
Fath riding a BMW outfit at an average speed of 84.40 mph. The 1962 Isle
of Man TT races produced the first winner of the newly introduced 50 cc
Ultra-Lightweight race when Ernst Degner won the 2-lap race (75.46 miles)
for Suzuki at an average speed of 75.12 mph. This was followed with Mitsuo
Itoh becoming the first Japanese winner of an Isle of Man TT Race winning the
50 cc Ultra-Lightweight TT race again for Suzuki in 1963. For the Diamond
Jubilee race in 1967 the Production TT races were introduced consisting of
three races; a 250 cc, a 500 cc, and a 750 cc run at the same
time but each having a separate "Le Mans" start at 5 minutes
after each other. John Hartle was the winner of the first 750 cc
production class at an average race speed of 91.40 mph riding a Triumph
Thruxton Bonneville. The 250 cc class was controversial due to the use of
racing exhausts by the Bultaco team. In the 1968 Isle of Man TT races the
Production race rules were changed. But the changes the winner, and 2nd placed
man, of 250 cc Production race were under protest and were excluded for
the same offence (using a racing exhaust) but later reinstated on appeal by the
R.A.C.because of the lack of an official translation of the law in Spain on the
subject of silencing. 1968 was also the last year of the 50 cc
Ultra-Lightweight class with Australian Barry Smith winning for Derbi at an
average speed of 72.90 mph. The first non-championship event for sidecars
not exceeding 750 cc was introduced in 1968 and won by Terry Vinicombe riding a
BSA sidecar outfit. The 1969 Production TT races were honoured by the presence
of the Duke of Edinburgh as starter. The race went off without any controversy
with a new set of rules being strictly enforced and were therefore probably the
first really fair production races. The result was a 750 cc race in which
Malcolm Uphill twice topped the 100-mph lap on the works Triumph Bonneville and
set an average race speed of 99.99 mph. The 500 cc and 250 cc
classes provided their own dramas with Graham Penny bringing his 450 cc
Honda home first after the leader Tony Dunnell on a three cylinder Kawasaki crashed. The
250 race had a fresh leader on each lap ending with Mike Rogers taking the
laurels on his 250 cc Ducati Mach 1 giving Ducati their very first Isle of Man win. From
1949 to 1976 the race was part of the Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship
and was the home of the British Grand Prix. The event came under increasing
scrutiny due to safety concerns despite efforts by the ACU to retain its world
championship status. When Italian rider Gilberto Parlotti was killed during the
1972 TT, his close friend and the reigning world champion Giacomo Agostini,
announced that he would never again race on the Isle of Man. More riders joined
Agostini's boycott and by the 1976 season, only a handful of serious Grand Prix
riders were among the entrants. Shortly after the 1976 TT, the FIM made the
long-anticipated announcement that the TT, once the most prestigious race on
the Grand Prix calendar, was stripped of its world championship status. The
Grand Prix action was moved to the UK with the
1977 British Grand Prix being held at Silverstone. In the early 21st century,
the premier TT racing bikes complete the Snaefell course at an average speed
exceeding 120 mph (193 km/h). Record
holders include David Jefferies who set a lap record of 127.29 mph
(204.81 km/h) in 2002. This was surpassed by John McGuinness during the
2004 TT on a Yamaha R1 setting a time of 17 min 43.8 s; an average lap
speed of 127.68 mph (205.43 km/h). McGuinness lowered this even
further at the 2007 TT, setting a time of 17:21.99 for an average speed of
130.354 mph (209.35 km/h) becoming the first rider to break the 130 mph limit on the
Snaefell Mountain circuit. The most successful rider was Joey Dunlop who won 26
times in various classes from 1977 to 2000. For 2009, the Manx government added
a new event to the June race schedule. The Time Trial eXtreme Grand Prix
(TTXGP) was billed as the first zero-emissions motorcycle race. While any
technology could enter, as a practical matter zero emissions means electric.
The oldest motor-cycle racing circuit still in use is the Snaefell Mountain
Course over which the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races are run. Starting at the
town of Douglas on the south-east coast, the course takes a wide sweep to the
west and north to enter the town of Ramsey on the north-east coast and thence
return to the starting point, each lap measuring 37 3/4 miles
(60.7 km) and taking in over 200 bends while climbing from sea level to an
altitude of over 1,300 ft (396 m). This
circuit is the epitome of the natural road course, all the roads used being
ordinary public highways closed for the racing and practice sessions.
Traditionally held in the last week of May and the first week of June, the TT
races create a carnival atmosphere. Picnicking crowds flanking the circuit are
reminiscent of the community festivals that are part of another form of cycle
racing in a different country - Le Tour de France. During the TT Festival it is
difficult to travel across or around the island because of the road closures.
There is a TT access road in Douglas that gives
access to the centre of the Mountain Course during the event.
This
is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of 1930s motorcycle
history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to own this photo,
therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 11.5"
(ca. 20 x 29
cm). It makes it perfectly
suitable for framing!
Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you
buy. For 5 or more photos, shipping is free!
(Note: A. Herl, Inc. does not appear on
photo, for ebay purposes only)
No copyright
expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our
archives that we have gathered from various sources.
All items always sent well
protected in PVC clear files and board backed
envelopes.
We have
photographs that came from professional collections and/or were bought from the
original photographer or press studio! They are all of professional and
excellent quality.
After many decades
of professionally collecting photographs and posters we are clearing out our
archives. They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They
will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a
border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace,
restaurant, bar or club!
First come -
first served. And you can always contact us for your requests. Please ask any
questions before the auction ends.