The 1935 Junior TT Race provided a Junior TT double win for Jimmie Guthrie at an average race speed of 79.14mph (127.36km/h) and Norton with a 1-2-3 race win with Walter Rusk and "Crasher" White filling 2nd and 3rd places.
The 1935 Lightweight TT Race was a debut event for the Italian Omobono Tenni. It was team-mate Stanley Woods that led the 1935 Lightweight TT Race from start-to-finish at an average race speed of 71.56mph (115.16km/h) followed by Tyrell Smith and Ernie Nott, both riding for Rudge motorcycles.
The 1935 Senior TT Race was postponed to the next day due to poor weather. Despite the delay, the race produced one of the most dramatic TT races. The race was led away by Jimmie Guthrie at number 1 while Stanley Woods starting at number 30 had a 15-minute wait. By the last lap of the 1935 Senior TT Race, Jimmie Guthrie had built up a lead of 26 seconds.
As the Moto Guzzi pit-attendants made preparations for Stanley Woods to refuel on the last lap, the Norton pit-crew signalled to Guthrie to easy the pace on the last lap. Stanley Woods riding for Moto Guzzi went straight through the TT Grandstand area without stopping on the last lap and set a new overall lap record of 26minutes and 10 seconds at an average speed of 86.53mph (139.26km/h). Despite the Norton team telephoning the signal station at Ramsey on the last lap to indicate to Jimmie Guthrie to speed-up the pace, Stanley Woods won the 1935 Senior TT Race by 4 seconds from Jimmie Guthrie in 3hours, 7minutes and 10 seconds at an average speed of 84.68mph (136.28km/h).[1]
Senior TT (500cc)
Saturday 22 June 1935 – 7 laps (264.11miles) Mountain Course.
Stanley Woods returned to racing in the Isle of Man after breaking a scaphoid bone in his wrist after crashing a 500 Husqvarna on lap 1 of the 1934 Dutch TT Race.[2]
Major alterations to the Snaefell mountain course were carried out for the 1935 TT Races. This included the removal of the hump-backed bridge at Ballig. The road work was completed for the Manx Grand Prix in September 1935. Road widening occurred on the Mountain Course at the Highlander, Laurel Bank, Glen Helen (between the Old Quarry and Brew's Restaurant) and at Brandywell with the removal of the Beinn-y-Phott sheep-gate.[3]
A warm-up period was introduced for the first time before each race.[4]
Associated Talking Pictures used the 1935 TT Races for the backdrop for the motion picture No Limit starring George Formby, who dreams of riding a Shuttleworth Snap motorcycle in the Isle of Man TT Races. Filming started on 15 June 1935 with co-star Florence Desmond using Douglas Beach, White City, Douglas Head Road, the Palace Ballrooms and the Douglas Camera Obscura.[3]
Royal Enfield entered a 500 cc four valve racing model for the Senior TT 1935. This was the last TT Royal Enfield entered.[5]
During practice N. Cook riding an Excelsior crashed at Keppel Gate and George Rowley riding for AJS at Signpost Corner. An injury to a thumb caused by replacing a drive-chain at Sulby caused Wal Handley to withdraw from the 1935 TT Races.[6]
On lap 3 of the 1935 Junior Race, John Angus Macdonald riding a Norton motorcycle crashed at Union Mills and was killed.[6]
The 1935 Lightweight Race was held in poor weather conditions and Omobono Tenni crashed in the mist at the 32nd Milestone on the 5th lap. Although Tenni continued, he again crashed at Creg-ny-Baa, collided with a flag-marshal and suffered a fractured vertebra. Also, during lap 5 of the 1935 Lightweight Race, Doug Pirie crashed at the 33rd Milestone and was killed.
The 1935 Senior TT Races were postponed from Friday 21 June 1935 to the following day. Interested visitors to the 1935 Senior Race included Florence Desmond, the Duke of Richmond and Gordon and Baron Von Falkenhayn the General Director of NSU motorcycles.[7]
Stanley Woods was an Irish motorcycle racer famous for 29 motorcycle Grand Prix wins in the 1920s and 1930s, winning the Isle of Man TT races ten times in his career, plus wins at Assen and elsewhere. He was also a skilled trials rider, competing in the 1940s.
James Guthrie was a Scottish motorcycle racer.
The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last races until 1947 due to the interruption by World War II. It was also the last of ten Isle of Man TT victories for the 34-year-old Stanley Woods in which he won the Junior TT on a Velocette at 83.19 mph and also finished in 4th place in the Senior TT race. The 250cc Lightweight TT race was a first time winner for Ted Mellors and the Benelli marque. The Senior TT race was won by the German competitor Georg Meier on a supercharged 500cc BMW Type 255 motor-cycle.
The 1938 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw the Senior TT lap record of 90.27 mph set by Freddie Frith the previous year broken in 1938 when Harold Daniell completed a lap at 91.00 mph on his Norton, a record which would stand for 12 years. He won, beating Stanley Woods by only 14.4 seconds. Stanley Woods won the Junior, with Harold Daniell coming fifth, while Ewald Kluge on a DKW won the Lightweight. Kluge was the second Lightweight TT winning non-British rider in a row, Omobono Tenni having won the previous year.
The 1937 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw Freddie Frith break the 90+ mph lap for the first time during the Senior TT with a speed of 90.27 mph on his Norton beating Stanley Woods by only 15 seconds. Frith also beat Wood in the Junior TT but only with a second placing.
The 1936 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw Norton rider Jimmie Guthrie win the Senior, and come fifth in the Junior. The Junior was won by Freddie Frith in his first year on the Norton team, and the Lightweight was won by Bob Foster on a New Imperial.
Tommaso Omobono Tenni was an Italian motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed The Black Devil, he was a multiple Italian Motor Cycle champion, who raced to 47 victories for Moto Guzzi from 1933 till 1948, the year he died from an accident during practice for the Swiss GP.
For the 1934 Isle of Man TT Races, despite the winning of four TT Races in two years, Stanley Woods parted with Norton motorcycles over the issue of prize money and race tactics and joined Husqvarna alongside Ernie Nott.
The 1933 Isle of Man TT saw a double victory for Stanley Woods, who won the Junior TT Race at an average speed of 78.08 mph (125.66 km/h), heading a top three place finish for riders from the Norton marque, followed by Tim Hunt and Jimmie Guthrie.
The 1932 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy race meeting was watched by Prince George, Duke of Kent, the first royal visitor to the Isle of Man TT Races. The 1932 Junior TT Race was won by Stanley Woods riding a Norton at an average race speed of 77.16 mph (124.18 km/h) from Wal Handley and Tyrell Smith riding for the Rudge factory. Again Rudge were beaten in the 1932 Lightweight TT Race by Leo H. Davenport riding a New Imperial motorcycle at an average race speed of 70.48 mph (113.43 km/h). The 1932 Senior TT Race provided Stanley Woods with the "Norton Habit" and another Junior/Senior double win at an average race speed of 79.38 mph (127.75 km/h). The 1932 Senior TT Race was initially led on the first lap by Norton teammate Jimmie Simpson who set a new overall lap record of 27 minutes and 47 seconds at an average speed of 81.50 mph (131.16 km/h). 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.
The 1931 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was again dominated by the battle between Rudge, Sunbeam and Norton motorcycles.
The 1930 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was dominated by the Rudge marque. Despite problems in practice for Rudge and the new George Hicks designed four-valve over-head valve motor-cycles the 1930 Junior TT was a closely contested race. At the end of the first lap, Charlie Dodson riding for Sunbeam led the Rudge of H. G. Tyrell Smith by only 4 seconds. On lap 2, a dead-heat was posted between Dodson and Tyrell Smith both completing the Snaefell mountain course in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 32 seconds. At Kirk Michael on lap 3, Charlie Dodson retires with valve problems, leaving Tyrell Smith to win the 7 lap race at an average speed of 71.08 mph (114.39 km/h) from Rudge team-mates Ernie Nott and Graham Walker.
For the 1929 Isle of Man TT races the Velocette marque had high expectations of another win in the Junior TT Race. Despite the early lead of Alec Bennett, riding a Velocette, and Wal Handley, now riding an AJS motor-cycle, it was Freddie Hicks that led from the third lap and won the 1929 Junior TT Race at a record average speed of 69.71 mph (112.19 km/h) and setting a new race lap record of 31 minutes and 5 seconds an average speed of 70.95 mph (114.18 km/h). Two times European motorcycle champion Cecil Ashby suffered serious injuries during the race, and died at Noble's Hospital several hours later.
The 1957 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the Golden Jubilee event and the second race in the 1957 Motorcycle World Championships.
Further changes occurred in the 1926 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy with the scrapping of the Side-Car TT and Ultra-Lightweight TT Races from the lack of entries. Most of the TT Course had now been tarmacked, including the Snaefell Mountain Section. 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.
Robert MacGregor McIntyre was a Scottish motorcycle racer. The first rider to achieve an average speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) for one lap of the Snaefell Mountain Course in 1957, McIntyre is also remembered for his five motorcycle Grand Prix wins which included three wins at the Isle of Man TT races, and four victories in the North West 200. He died nine days after injuries sustained racing at Oulton Park, Cheshire, England in August 1962.
The 1954 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the second race in the 1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season and proved highly controversial for TT Course and race changes. The 1954 Junior TT was the first race where the official race distance was reduced from 7 laps to 5 laps. The 1954 Senior TT Race was stopped at half distance due to the weather conditions on the Mountain Section of the course.
Walter Leslie Handley born in Aston, Birmingham, known as Wal Handley, was a champion British inter-war motorcycle racer with four wins at the Isle of Man TT Races in his career. Later he also raced cars in the 1930s, and died in a World War II aircraft accident while serving as pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary.
Manliffe Barrington was an Irish professional motorcycle racer. He was a two-time winner at the Isle of Man TT races.
The Isle of Man TT and other motorcycle racing in the island did not restart after the end of the First World War until 1920. Changes were made to the Snaefell Mountain Course causing competitors to turn left and proceed up the hill at Cronk-ny-Mona to follow the primary A18 Snaefell Mountain Road through to Governor's Bridge with a new start/finish line at Glencrutchery Road lengthening the course to 37¾ miles.
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