The Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Race is a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man since 1907. The race is run in a time-trial format on public roads closed for racing by an Act of Tynwald (the parliament of the Isle of Man). The first race was held on Tuesday 28 May 1907 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 speed of 38.21 mph. The winner of the twin-cylinder class was Rem Fowler riding a Peugeot engined Norton motorcycle in a time of 4 hours 21 minutes and 52 seconds at an average speed of 36.21 mph. The Marquis de Mouzilly St. Mars Trophy is now presented annually to the winner of the Isle of Man Senior TT Motor-Cycle Race.

Race History
The first TT race over the Snaefell mountain course took place in 1911. 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 300cc single-cylinder and 340cc twin cylinder motor-cycles. The 1911 Senior TT Race was open for 500cc single-cylinder and 585cc twin-cylinder motor-cycles and was contested over 5 laps of the new 37.5 mile Mountain Course. The first event on the new course was the Junior TT Race 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 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 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 350cc capacity limit for the Junior TT and a 500cc 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.

Mountain Course
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 Snaefell mountain course and competitors now turned left at Cronk-ny-Mona and followed the primary A18 Mountain Road to Governors 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 250cc engine capacity. The Lighweight class of the 1920 Junior TT race was won by R.O 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 350cc Junior TT Race motor-cycle by a margin of 2 minutes and 3 seconds from Freddie Dixon and Hubert Le Vack. For 1922 the ACU introduced for 250cc 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).

The 1920s
The 1930s was a decade which the TT Races became the predominant motor-cycling event in the racing calendar and perhaps 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 commercialized. The George Formby film No Limit (1936 film) used the 1935 Isle of Man TT races as a backdrop for filming. Also, the 1930s was increasingly used by the motor-cycle manufacturers to show-case their products by racing at the Isle of Man TT Races. As a result, the 1930s produced an increased pace of motor-cycle development with the introduction of over-head camshaft engines, plunger rear-suspension and telescopic front-forks. 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, and 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 and the works Norton's taking the first four places along with 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 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 and was revenge for the 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, although 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. 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 10th TT win while riding 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 motor-cycle team. The 1930s was an era when 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-year buried in a field and the Senior Trophy was discovered displayed in a shop in Vienna at the end of the war.

The 1930s
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 with the inclusion of a Clubmans TT Races for Lightweight, Junior and Senior production motor-cycles. The 1949 Isle of Man TT Races was the first event of the inaugural Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship and Les Graham the first 500cc 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.
The 1950's 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 1950's 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 1930's, the period from 1947 to 1959 the dominance of the British motor-cycle industry was gradually eroded by increased European competition. Again throughout the 1950's 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 1950's, 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 125cc Ultra-Lightweigh 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 strangle-hold 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, Fitz 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 the Isle of Man TT races were headlined when he recorded the first 100 mph (161 km/h) lap, riding for Gilera motor-cycles.

Post War Racing 1947-1959
For the 1960 Isle of Man TT Races the Sidecar TT Race returned to the 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 1960's with further road widening at Ballig and at Greeba Castle. Further 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 Milltown Cottages during the 1963 Lightweight TT race. with John Hartle the winner of the first 750cc production class at an average race speed of 91.40 mph riding a Triumph motor-cycle. The 1968 Isle of Man TT Races was the last year of the 50cc Ultra-Lightweight class with Australian Barry Smith winning for Derbi at an average race speed of 72.90 mph. The first non-championship event for Sidecars not exceeding 750cc was introduced in 1968 was won by Terry Vinicombe riding a BSA sidecar outfit.
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. 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.
Today, the premier TT racing bikes are streamlined, technological wonders that complete the Snaefell course at an average speed exceeding 120 mph (193 km/h). Record holders include David Jefferies who set a then 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 equalling 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 130.35 mph (209.35 km/h). The most successful rider was Joey Dunlop who won 26 times in various classes from 1977 to 2000.

TT Racing 1960-1969
The Oxford Companion to World Sports and Games notes,
"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.
The future of the TT is always in doubt with regards to the safety, especially "Mad Sunday" when any member of the public can ride the mountain section of the course which is open one way from Ramsey to Onchan. The TT races are extremely dangerous because of the high speeds on very narrow, twisting streets, roads and lanes flanked by stone walls and even buildings. Between 1907 and 2007 there have been 224 deaths, all happened during official practices or races on the Snaefell mountain course (this number includes the riders killed during the 1923-2006 Manx Grand Prix and the Clubman TT races).
In 2007 the TT celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Description

Total overall race winners

Deaths at the Isle of Man TT
Tony Pond drove a standard production Rover 827 Vitesse during his second bid to be the first person to lap the Isle of Man TT circuit at an average speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) in a four wheeled vehicle. Tony, an Isle of Man resident and one of Britain's most famous rally drivers, almost made it during his attempt in 1988.

Trivia

Barker, Stuart (2007). 100 One Hundred Years of the TT. EMAP ISBN 1-84605235-1
Duckworth, Mick (2007). TT 100 - The Authorised History of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Racing. Lily Publications ISBN 1-8996067-4
Harris, Nick (1991). Motocourse History of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Races 1907-1989 Hazelton Publishing ISBN 0-905138-71-6
Mac McDiarmid (2004). The Magic of The TT. A Century of Racing over The Mountain Haynes Publishing. ISBN 1-84425-002-4
Noyes, Denis (1999) 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix. Hazelton Publishing Ltd ISBN 1-87455783-7
Pidcock, Fred & Snelling, Bill (2007) History of the Isle of Man Clubman's TT Races 1947 - 1956. Amulree Publications ISBN 1-90150810-9
Savage, Mike (1997) TT Heroes. Amulree Publications ISBN 0-95211269-8
Snelling, Bill (1996). The Tourist Trophy in Old Photographs Collected by Bill Snelling. Sutton Publishing ISBN 1 8401 505 99
Wright, David (2007). 100 Years of the Isle of Man TT Races. A Century of Motorcycle Racing. Crowood Press ISBN 1-861269064
Wright, David (2006). TT Topics and Tales. Amulree Publications ISBN 10-19015080-99 Miscellany
1907 • 1908 • 1909 • 1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • World War I • 1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929 • 1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • World War II • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 Cancelled • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 •

Sources

Road racing
Manx Grand Prix