THE T.T. MOTOR-CYCLE RACES
THE T. T. MOTOR-CYCLE RACES
JIMMY GUTHRIE WINS jUNIOR RACE FOR NORTON AT 84.43 M.P.H. O. TENNI WINS LIGHTWEIGHT RACE FOR GUZZI AT 74.72 M.P.H. F. L. FRITH WINS SENIOR RACE FOR NORTON AT 88.21 M.P.H.
Unfortunately space is too taken up with car events for MOTOR SPORT to say much about motor-cycling matters, and in actual fact motor-cycle racing is poles apart from car-racing in a number of
ways. But naturally we must give a survey of what happened in the 1.0 .M. T.T. motor-cycle races, remarkable classics in which the whole sporting world is interested. The extreme interest shown in these races by manufacturers, who build special machines and modify existing ones after intense experiment, disclosing their moves often before the winter preceding the races is over, had its equal in motor-racing only in the palmy days when the French Grand Prix was at its zenith.
The Junior Race
A stern Struggle between Norton and Velocette was expected to materialise in the Junior race, for these makes have for years been in the Junior In practice Frith had got round the course at 82.69 m.p.h., his Norton smashing his previous year’s race lap-record of 81.94 m.p.h. Excitement was, as usual, intense for days beforehand, at: d all forecast a win for Stanley Woodsand his Velocette. Surprisingly enough everyone weighed in to time and even the rumour that Mellors (Velocette) was too badly injured in -a practice toss to ride the race evaporated in thin air. There were forty-three entries and Mellman (N.S.U.), Vaasen (Norton) and Fleischmann (N.S.U.) were the only non-starters. As starting time approached the mountain mist receded to give 1,000 yards visibility everywhere
and. the roads were drying. In these races the big field necessitates individual starting and so changes of position and the order of passage have no significance unless one understands the position as a whole. In the first lap Guthrie (Norton) broke the standing lap record by 50 secs. and Frith rode in second place on his Velo.• Third fastest was J. H. White (Norton), and the Norton-Velo. duel was on in earnest. N. P. Pope (Norton) retired, though uninjured, after leaving the model in a skid at Ballacraine, and Newman (Velocette) was four minutes curing plug trouble. Lap two saw Guthrie indisputably • ahead, with a lap-speed of 84.38 m.p.h., with Frith grimly second and now 14 secs. further away from White’s Norton, while Stanley Woods took his Velocette round at 82.34 m.p.h. to hold fourth place, with Mellors and Thomas on Velocettes behind him. The length of the T.T. lap has the curious effect of officials temporarily ” losing ” retire-, ments, but news eventually arrived that Paterson had reduced the Velocette opposition by crashing, with injuries, at the Gooseneck, whereupon Pitmington had levelled things up by vacating his Norton at lonely Windy Corner. Forbes (Norton) stopped at his pit for throttle adjustments and Rathbone (O.K. Supreme) came off at Governor’s Badge and Con tinued with bent handlebars. Guthrie
now covered another lap at record speed —84.65 m.p.h., or 26 mins. 45 secs. of concentrated effort. He led by 69 secs. On the third lap he refuelled. Woods came in for the same purpose, his goggles and numbers astonishingly fly-infested, and at the same time dashed Velocette hopes away by announcing that his rear brake was useless. Illichmann (N.S.U.) ran out of fuel and refilled to get “home,” disqualification ensuing. Frith maintained second place, Woods did wonders with one brake and Mellors retired. White lapped slower than Woods. Lap four produced sonic excitement as Woods, riding a magnificent race under the circumstances, got into third place
between Frith’s Norton and White’s Norton. M. Simo (Terrot) came off at Glentrammon, suffering cuts and bruises, and Brett (Norton) emulated his example at Sulby Bridge, but was more fortunate and continued. Incidentally, what memories these names of the corners revive ! Lap five uthrie did at 85.18 m.p.h. after the first four men had all beaten last year’s race average by almost one mile per hour. At the close of the fourth lap, with the leading Norton’s average at 84.33 m.p.h., Guthrie was now signalled to ease up, not once but frequently, and even so he completed his last lap at one second outside his record time. On this round Frith also equalled Guthrie’s
lap record. The winning Norton had functioned perfectly, taking 3 hrs. 7 mins. 42 secs., an average of 84.43 m.p.h. F. L. Frith (Norton) was second in 3 hrs. 10 mins. 17 secs. and J. H. White neatly rounded things off for Nortons with third place in 3 hrs. 12 mins. secs. Fourth came a very gallant Stanley Woods for Velocette, judged the best rider on form in the race, in 3 hrs. 12 mins. 30 secs. Of the retirements : Paterson (Velocette), Archer (Velocette), Pirmington
(Norton), and Simo (Terrot) all came off without severe injury, Manders (Excelsior) had engine trouble in the first lap, H. B. Myers (Norton) lost a footrest on the first round, Noel Pope’s Norton. seized its engine at Ballacraine on lap. two, Binder’s Velocette broke its forks, Wood’s Excelsior showed a loss of power, Mellors (Velocette) experienced engine seizure, and Foster’s A. J .S. broke a fork spring. From which we can deduce that modern 350 c.c. road-racing motorcycles are extremely dependable.
The Lightweight Race
Long before the race was run a GermanItalian duel was forecast, with Stanley Woods (Guzzi) a popular favourite and Britain expected to be generally overshadowed, with its faith in the Excelsiors. Thirty-three had entered, and twenty-six started, several foreign entrants having failed to materialise, and Cauchy (Guzzi) did not qualify, Illichmann (Guzzi) was withdrawn mysteriously, while Simo (Terrot) and. Paterson. had not recovered from spills in the Junior. At 11 a.m. Thomas (D.K.W.) was off and the struggle had commenced. Lap one saw a duel between Woods (Guzzi) and Thomas, with Stanley 10 secs. ahead on time at Ramsey and 15 secs. ahead at the close of the lap, while the German rider Kluge (D.K.W.) and 0. Tenni for Italy behind Kludge putting on speed to make up an initial -9 secs. disadvantage and get well ahead, leader of the field, lapping at 30 mins. 2 sees. Tenni hit something at Governor’s Bridge and left part of the Guzzi’s exhaust
system there as a memento. Tyrell Smith had his Excelsior Manxman in third place for Britain, and the first six men. were within 25 secs. of one another. S. Renwick (O.K. Supreme) was bothered by a leaking oil-tank. Lap two saw Stanley Woods go round at 76.89 m.p.h., breaking his Lightweight (250 c.c.) lap record set up last year on a D.K.W. and giving him the lead in the race. Thomas (D.K.W.) also beat the old record with a lap at 76.54 m.p.h. Kluge hung grimly to second place a bare second behind Woods. Tenni was in fifth place and Ginger Wood (Excelsior) was sixth. Then, on the third circuit, Tenni got round in the astonishing time of 29 mins. 8 secs., an average of 77.72 m.p.h., bringing him up to fourth place. There was a thrill of a different sort when Stanley Woods refuelled in 20 secs., thereafter losing some time in restarting, whereas Kluge needed 27 secs. Tyrell Smith and Ginger Wood on the Excelsiors were third and sixth respectively and were flagged to speed up by their pit manager, Eric Fernihough himself. Tenni took second place on. the fourth lap, and only the D.K.W. team was now intact. Sensation on the fifth lap, for Kluge broke a throttle wire at Ballacraine and the German, after a magnificent ride in his first T.T. race, had no option but to retire. Woods still led, at 75.91 m.p.h., Tenni was second at 75.67 m.p.h., and Tyrell Smith’s Ex celsior was third at 75.62 m.p.h. with Thomas (D.K.W.) fourth and Woods (Excelsior) fifth. The sixth lap saw no abatement in the excitement, for although Stanley Woods led by 29 secs., Tenni was
being frantically instructed to ride “flat.” And then came news that Woods had pass ed Ramsey mis-firing seriously. Passing the stands the Guzzi still ran irregularly and Woods gave ” thumbs-down ” to the tense crowd. Then, as a sort of preceeding to climax, Tyrell Smith’s splendid fight finished at Creg-na-Baa, where the Excelsior broke its connecting-rod. Moreover, with a lap to go—and I.O.M. laps are long laps—Tenni himself was giving the distress signal! Thomas was out with a leaking fuel tank. Britishers looked hopefully at Ginger Wood’s indicator. Tenni went on faultlessly, however, save for a close shave at Creg-na-baa, and came home, winner of the Lightweight race by 37 secs., first foreigner ever to win a T.T. He had stopped at the Bungalow to Change a plug in his last lap ! The Guzzi averaged 74.72 m.p.h. Ginger Wood came in a well deserved second on the Excelsior at 74.50 m.p.h. with E. R. Thomas (D.K.W.) third at 73.17 m.p.h. Archer’s New Imperial was fourth, Wuensche (D.K.W.) fifth, Tattersall (C.T.S.) sixth and Moore (New Imperial) seventh. S. V. Smith (Excelsior) and L. G. Martin (Cotton) qualified for first-class Replicas. Of the retirements, Warren (New Imperial), Galway (Excelsior), Goddard (O.K. Supreme), ‘Wien. (Excelsior), Cook (O.K. Supreme), Man.ders (Excelsior), England (Cotton) and Warburton (O.K. Supreme),
MILAN RAGES—contd. from page 313 more, and Farina seemed to be in no hurry to catch him. Hasse was doing his best with a car that was far from being suited to the circuit, and had a terrific skid when he became engaged in a scrap with Nuvolari after the latter had lapped him. The only other incident approaching an accident was when the Hungarian. driver, Laszlo Hartmann, collided with
all went out with unspecified engine trouble Pepper (Cotton) broke a cam on the first lap, Mann (C.T.S. Python) had gearbox trouble on lap three, Kluge (D.K.W.) broke that throttle wire on lap five, Whitworth (Cotton) went out on the same lap for an unstated cause. TyrellSmith (Excelsior) broke the con-rod on lap six, Woods (Guzzi) his valve spring on the same round, Sorenson (Excelsior) seized the piston on this lap, and Hartley (Rudge) and Renwick (O.K. Supreme) disappeared on the last Circuit. Thus nine out of twenty-six finished, a percentage of just over thirty-four, compared with 42 per cent. finishers last year Tenni wired to Mussolini of his victory.
The Senior
This year’s Senior race was one of the most exciting of a long series. There were twenty-three starters, but nearly all eyes were on Jimmy Guthrie (Norton), who in practice had lapped at 87.82 m.p.h., and Stanley Woods, riding a Velocette. The non-starters comprised Mellinann (N.S.U.), Barrington (Norton), Clift (Norton), Marama-Toyo (Rudge) and Fleischman.n (N.S.U.). On the first lap Guthrie did the standing lap in 25 min. 49 secs., shattering the old record of Woods’s by 13 secs. Woods was 5 sees. outside his old record and Tenni, hero of the Lightweight Race, took 27 min. 5 secs. on his Guzzi. Jock West, astride the supercharged B.M.W., Frith (Norton) and White (Norton) were shaping well, but Tattersall (Vincent H.R..G.) had a fall at Quarter Bridge, from which he recovered and went on. From now on the contest was just terrific. Guthrie did lap two at the record speed of 88.51 m.p.h. and Stanley Woods was only 8 secs. slower. West was drawing away from White. Guthrie led at 88.11 m.p.h., Woods was second. and Frith third. Then Guthrie caused a vast sensation by doing lap three at a time only 2 sees. outside that for a lap at 90 m.p.h. The fast men came in for fuel, Guthrie needing only 80 secs. and Tattersall (Rudge) had stopped to change a faulty plug. C. J. Williams had a thrill on lap four, overshooting at Quarter Bridge with his Vincent H.R.D. and almost contacting with a barrier in the escape road. Tattersall again came off at this point, owing to oil on his rear tyre affecting the braking, but he continued. Tenni now found the Guzzi worried about its plugs and he changed one at the pits and another before reaching Bray Hill. Still Guthrie led for Nortons, still Woods sat on his tail-19 secs. behind—for Velocette, and the race average was at 88.3 m.p.h. Then poor Guthrie’s mount died at the Gooseneck, and it was Stanley Woods who led. The Norton pit got ready to
the straw barricades at 60 m.p.h., and continued without reducing speed.
Trossi’s doubts as to his steering prevented the Ferrari cars from coming in first, second and third, for Hans Ruesch handled his 3.8-litre Alfa-Romeo extremely well to finish third, ahead of Hasse ‘s Auto-Union. ” Bira ” had a spell of driving in this race when. he took over De Rahm’s wave Frith to his greatest effort but already he was riding flat out, indulging in a duel with Jock West’s B.M.W. He lapped in 25 mins. 35 sees., equalling Guthrie’s record ride on the second round. Things were rendered more indecisive by the stoppage of West’s wonderful B.M.W., on account of a split fuel tank. He came in and filled up and found that another stop would be necessary before the end of the lap. Tenni was now going very Slowly. Woods now led, ten seconds ahead of Freddie Frith’s Norton, with White’s Norton third, Daniell’s Norton fourth, Mellors’s Velocette fifth and West (B.M.W.) sixth. Another lap over—lap six—and Woods and. Frith entered their last lap literally equal on the time basis. Frith had not been in to replenish I Excitement was intense, Mansell of Nortons feverishly watching his flitting watch-hand, while Willis of Velocettes paced to and fro behind the pits. The announcer, Rev. E. H. Stennmg, found it too close to pass judgment. Frith took Hillbury at terrific speed, hit the grass bank and just got out of the ensuing wobble safely. Both leaders finished and the time came through. Frith the winner by 15 sees. HIS last lap had been a record one at the astounding speed of 25 min. 5 secs., or
more than 90 m.p.h. average. Frith’s race average was 88.21 m.p.h. Stanley Woods (Velocette) was second at 88.09 m.p.h., J. H. White (Norton) third at 83.97 m.p.h., E. A. Mellors (Velocette) fourth, H. L. Daniell (Norton) fifth, Jock West (B.M.W.) sixth, and J. C. Galway (Norton) seventh. Archer (Velocette), Noel Pope (Norton), Williams (Norton), Beevers (Norton) and Lamacraft (Velocette) all qualified for second class awards, all save Pope on 350 c.c. machines, and Hartley (Rudge) completed
the course. Velocette took the Team. Prize. Of the retirements, Gatley
(Norton) crashed without injury, Pepper (Norton) ran out of fuel on lap two, Vartak (Rudge), Tenni (Guzzi), Guthrie (Norton), and Forbes (Norton) were victims of engine or general trouble, Tattersall (Vincent-H.R.D.) had clutch trouble, and Williams (Vincent-H.R.D.) and Oliver (Vincent-H.R.D.) went out for reasons unspecified. It had been a truly great race, with Nortons able once again to win, in spite of the unexpected failure of Jimmy
Guthrie’s hard-driven motor. Black print or any other sort cannot do justice to Frith’s great ride. He is twenty-eight years of age and entered the Norton team as a professional for the first time last year. There is nothing much amiss with British motoring sport when we have T.T. racts of this calibre and all who can should get over to the I.O.M. next year, when the Italian-German struggles and Norton-Velocette duel will very likely be ” on ” again.
Maserati. After working up to seventh place he ran out of petrol away from the pits and retired.
1. Nuvolari (Alfa-Romeo). 2. Farina (Alfa-Romeo). 3. Rueselt (Alfa-Romeo). 4. Hasse (Auto-Union). 5. Trossi (Alfa-Romeo). 0. Alluozzi (Alfa-Romeo). 7. Brezzi (Alfa-Romeo). S. Hartmann (Alfa-Romeo).
Milan Grand Prix 1. Nuvolari