Geoffrey Ernest Duke, born in St. Helens, Lancashire, was a British multiple motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion. He raced several brands of motorcycle: Norton, Gilera, BMW, NSU and Benelli. After retirement from competition, he was a businessman based in the Isle of Man.
Phillip William Read, was an English professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1961 to 1976. Read is notable for being the first competitor to win world championships in the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc classes. Although he was often overshadowed by his contemporary, Mike Hailwood, he won seven FIM Grand Prix road racing world championships.
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.
The 1950 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy festival was the second year the Isle of Man TT races were part of the Grand Prix World Championship.
The BSA Gold Star is a motorcycle made by BSA from 1938 to 1963. They were 350 cc and 500 cc single-cylinder four-stroke production motorcycles known for being among the fastest bikes of the 1950s. Being hand built and with many optional performance modifications available, each motorcycle came from the factory with documented dynamometer test results, allowing the new owner to see the horsepower (bhp) produced.
Robert Leslie Graham was a British motorcycle road racer who competed in the 1930s and 1940s. He won the inaugural Grand Prix motorcycle racing 500 cc World Championship in 1949.
James Guthrie was a Scottish motorcycle racer.
Reginald Armstrong was an Irish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was born in Dublin, grew up in Dublin and raced for the AJS, Velocette, Norton, NSU, and Gilera factory racing teams. He then became team manager for Honda's racing team in 1962 and 1963, and they won five world championships in that time. He was also in his lifetime a sales agent for NSU, Honda, and Opel. He competed in Grand Prix Motorcycle World Championships and at the Isle of Man TT, usually placing highly. He died in a road accident in 1979.
The 1957 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the Golden Jubilee event and the second race in the 1957 Motorcycle World Championships.
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.
Ingeborg Stoll-Laforge was a female German motorcycle racer.
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.
In the 1955 Isle of Man TT the Lightweight 250cc race moved to the 10.75 miles long Clypse Course, also used for the Lightweight 125cc TT race, and the Sidecar TT, and the course was used for these races until 1959. During this period the rest of the TT program remained on the Mountain Circuit.
The 1956 Isle of Man TT was the first round of the 1956 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place between 4 June and 8 June 1956 at the Snaefell Mountain Course for the Senior and Junior TTs and the Clypse Course for the Lightweight, Ultra Lightweight and Sidecar TTs.
William Raymond Amm was a Rhodesian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1951 to 1954. Amm was a six-time Grand Prix race winner including three victories at the Isle of Man TT when, he died in 1955 after an accident during a race in Italy.
Thomas Edward Phillis was an Australian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He won the 1961 125cc motorcycle road racing World Championship and was the first person to lap the Isle of Man TT mountain circuit at over 100 mph on a pushrod engined motorcycle. He was also the first person to win a World Championship motorcycle race on a Japanese machine.
Denis Jack Robert Parkinson was an English Grand Prix motorcycle road racer of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and a founder member and President of the Wakefield and District Motor Sports Club, and won the 1947 Isle of Man TT Clubmans Junior TT on a 350cc Norton, and the 1953 Senior Manx Grand Prix.
The MV Agusta 500cc road racers were motorcycles that the manufacturer MV Agusta built and which were used to compete in 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing series between 1950 and 1976. 18 500cc world championship titles were achieved with these machines ridden by John Surtees, Gary Hocking, Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read between 1958 and 1974.
The MV Agusta 125 Bialbero was a 125 cc factory racer from the Italian brand MV Agusta, which was used between 1950 and 1960. The machine won 34 GPs, 6 rider's championships and one manufacturer's championship. The machine also won 4 Italian Championships and 10 National Championships in other countries.
Eric Williams DCM FIMI (1893-1963) was a British pioneer of motor cycle racing, motor vehicles and automated agricultural harvesting equipment. He was a two-time winner of the Isle of Man Junior TT race in 1914 and 1921 and also gave distinguished military service in First World War as a despatch rider, receiving the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for bravery. In the Second World War he served as an advisor in Ministry of Agriculture working on mechanical production in Worcestershire. He raced professionally for AJS, NUT and Sunbeam. After his racing career he established a motor trade business, Eric Williams Ltd, in Worcester which operated between 1920 and 1960. He had a lifelong passion for racing activities, which he passed to his younger son, Henry ‘Don’ Williams, who also raced cars and motorcycles competitively.
