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.
Following on from the dramatic win by Stanley Woods in the 1935 Senior TT Race, the 1936 Junior TT Race proved to be highly controversial and was marred by disqualification and protest. As Moto Guzzi were involved in war production for the crisis in Abyssinia, Stanley Woods rode for Velocette in the 1936 Junior TT but retired at Sulby on lap 1 with engine problems. After leading for five laps, Jimmie Guthrie was forced to stop between Hillberry and Signpost Corner to replace the drive chain.[1] Although Jimmie Guthrie continued in 2nd place the lead passed to Norton team-mate Freddie Frith who had joined the team after winning the 1935 Junior Manx Grand Prix. At Parliament Square in Ramsey on lap 6, Jimmie Guthrie was 'black-flagged' for receiving outside assistance and disqualified. Guthrie denied the charge, however, and continued the race to finish in fifth place which was won by Freddie Frith to record his first Isle of Man TT win at an average race speed of 80.14mph (128.97km/h). The Norton race team protested the disqualification and Jimmie Guthrie was posted in 5th place in the final race classification and was awarded 2nd place prize money.[1]
In the Senior TT race Harold Daniell and George Rowley rode supercharged AJS V4s, but despite their high top speed, the bikes lacked acceleration. Both riders retired due to mechanical problems.[2]
The 1936 Lightweight TT Race was held after being delayed for a day because of mist and fog on the Mountain Course. The 1936 Lightweight Race proved to be closely contested by Bob Foster riding for New Imperial and Stanley Woods riding the 3 cylinder supercharged 250 cc DKW who retired on lap 7 after stopping to change a spark-plug. The 1936 Lightweight Race was won by Bob Foster at an average race speed of 74.28mph (119.54km/h) from Tyrell Smith riding for Excelsior in 2nd place and A.Geiss in 3rd place riding a DKW motorcycle.
Prize money for the 1936 Senior TT Race was 1st place £120, 2nd place £80 and 3rd place £70. For the 1936 Junior TT and Lightweight TT Races it was 1st place £100, 2nd place £60 and 3rd place £50.[4]
During the 1936 Junior TT Race, Noel Christmas retired at the TT Grandstand and H.G. Tyrell Smith at Creg-na-Baa with engine problems on lap 2. On lap 6, E.R. Thomas in 2nd place slipped off at the Quarterbridge. He continued, but stopped on the Ballahutchin Hill to straighten handlebars and footrest, but was eventually black-flagged.[1]
The fastest lap for the 1936 Junior TT Race was set by Freddie Frith in 27minutes and 38 seconds at an average speed of 81.94mph (131.87km/h).
During lap 2 of the 1936 Lightweight TT Race, O. Steinbach riding for DKW stopped at Ballaugh with engine problems and L.G. Martin riding a Cotton motorcycle crashed at Sulby.[1]
The fastest lap for the 1936 Lightweight TT Race was set by Stanley Woods in 29minutes and 43 seconds at an average speed of 76.20mph (122.63km/h).
Sources
1 2 3 4 Isle of Man Weekly Times dated 20 June 1936.
↑ Title: Classic Racer magazine, Issue: 121, Article: Ahead of the Game, Subtitle: Supercharged V4 AJS on test, Pages: 34 – 40, Publisher: Mortons Media Group (Horncastle, Lincolnshire UK), ISSN1470-4463
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.
Frederick Lee Frith OBE was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world champion. A former stonemason and later a motor cycle retailer in Grimsby, he was a stylish rider and five times winner of the Isle of Man TT. Frith was one of the few to win TT races before and after the Second World War. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1950 Birthday Honours.
The 1949 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the first round of the Grand Prix World Championship that was held in the Isle of Man.
James Guthrie was a Scottish motorcycle racer.
The 1924 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw the introduction of the Ultra-Lightweight class for motorcycles of 175 cc capacity that was run only twice, in 1924 and 1925. This was the second year of the Sidecar race that would also be dropped after 1925.
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.
For the 1935 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, Stanley Woods provided another surprise by moving again, from Husqvarna to Moto Guzzi.
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.
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.
Alfred Robert Foster was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed professionally from 1935 to 1951 and won the 1950 FIM 350cc Grand Prix world championship.
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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
