THE T.T. RACES: NOTES FROM THE COURSE
THE T.T. RACES: NOTES FROM THE COURSE.
By the ASSISTANT EDITOR.
THE JUNIOR TOURIST TROPHY RACE.
AMORE popular win could hardly be imagined than W. C. Handley’s triumph on the Rex-Acme. Both the rider and the firm deserve every bit of praise we can give them. Handley, who is only 22 years of age, had ridden in four other T.T.’s and he finished sixth in x922. He is just the type of rider whom we all like to see win a big race of this class. Quiet, unassuming, accepting defeat in the same spirit as he accepts victory ; nothing spectacular about Handley, nothing but sheer grit and determination to place his firm’s machine at the top of the list.
A wonderful rider, with an uncanny knowledge of the things that matter. To see him take the bends was a fine education, his footrest just that half-inch or so off the ground, that half-inch that makes all the difference between a fine rider with experience and the new entrant.
Of the second man, namely H. R. Davies, we can. but say that he rode an excellent race, and deserved to win as much as Handley did. Without doubt, the ” H.R.D. ” will be a popular machine this year.
Simpson, the star of the course, accomplished a miracle by finishing at all ; nevertheless, his chagrin was great when he discovered that he had not run into first place. Apparently some signals had been misunderstood, which accounted for his slackening the pace. He is undoubtedly a fine rider, and we must sympathise with him, wishing him better luck in the Senior.
The race itself was exciting, especially to those who had not the advantage of the most excellent lap boards by the grand stand. It was only those with accurate stop watches who knew that Handley was leading. At the stands everyone
was kept fully informed of the progress, and it was only the uncertainty of whether Davies or Handley would stick the pace best that filled the atmosphere with expectation.
To show the progress of the race in a nutshell, we .append the leaders on the six laps with their times.
From the above table a very interesting graph can be made out, which will give a very real idea of the ti.tc0. With the absence of any exciting crashes, there is very little more to be said, except to comment on the extraordinary speeds which were attained and kept up throughout the laps. There was a gasp of astonishment when it was announced that Dixon had done a lap in •
34 mins. 38 secs., which gave him a speed of nearly 66 m.p.h., which was 53 seconds faster than the record., This was considered unapproachable, so that, when Handley lapped in 34 min. 23 secs., the spectators were really unable to take it in, and everyone thought’ another lap at that speed would eliminate the Rex-Acme, as something must surely smash.
No team prizes were awarded at the distribution in the evening at Villa Marina, and only four riders gained: replicas of the Trophy.
Handley’s reception was overwhelming, and the insistent demands for him to make a speech were rather uncalled for. He had done enough that day. To sum up; the weather, always the deciding factor,’ and especially so this year as all the practising had been done on dry surfaces, could not have been more favonrable, the sun obliging by occasionally retiring, thus: giving the riders a rest from the glare. The course’ waS
covered in over thirty minutes less than last year, and this was accomplished without a single accident ; the only incident which might have provoked a crash was the breaking of a handlebar by Woods at the bump on Ballig Bridge, causing him to retire.
It seems impossible for the Senior to improve on the times put up on Monday ; if it should be wet an improvement will be nothing short of a miracle, and even should it continue dry some extraordinary driving will be seen.
THE ULTRA-LIGHTWEIGHT RACE.
Handley wins at Record Speed of 53.45 m.p.h.
9 a.m. Wednesday.
ONLY seven machines are lined up for the start of the Ultra Lightweight, but this in a way arouses great interest ; we are all wondering if there will be any finishers.
Of the seven, J. A. Porter (1179 New Gerrard), fails to get away at once, his engine refusing to fire until the end of the pits was reached, by which time the 1.73 Cotton, in C. W. Johnston’s hands, has overtaken him with about five seconds to the good.
C. Dodson (x.74 Dot) also failed to get off promptly, being passed by N. Hall (1.72 Excelsior) who got away well, as did his stable mate, C. S. Barrow. F. G. Morgan (i.73 Cotton) and W. L. Handley (i.74 Rex-Acme) the hero of Monday, both went away quickly, Handley’s machine being especially throaty. He did a lap in 72 yesterday morning, so he ought to win.
By now (9.15) everyone has passed Ballig, and we wait in expectancy to see who will be first to reach Sulby. The loud speakers have just announced that the course is in good condition throughout, but a strong northwesterly wind is blowing, especially over the mountain ; this is such to reduce the times of these small machines.
(9.23) The first man has just reached Sulby, i.e., Porter, who must have picked up his seconds lost in starting. No. 2 was not far behind, however, but there is a space of minutes before No. 3 reaches Sulby. But no 1 it is Handley, No. 7, who is marked up next ; this looks like the start of a wonderful lap.
At 9.25+ Porter reaches Ramsey, with Johnston close on his heels. Neither Hall nor Barrow have yet reached Sulby. Only two minutes behind comes Handley. Hall has got going again now, but Barrow’s indicator still sticks at Ballig. Morgan has passed Ramsey. Barrow is going again and has passed Sulby.
Porter has reached the Bungalow (9.35) and Johnston is only a minute behind. Another minute and a quarter and Handley also passes the point. He is gaining, if only very slightly. It now transpires that Barrow was held up near Ballacraine with plug trouble. The yellow disc is now over Porter’s number and in a
moment he will flash by ; here he comes, he is going well and sounds like sticking the pace. No. 2 is signalled, and we notice that Nos. 4 and 5 are stuck near Ramsey. Johnston has just flashed past and Handley is signalled. Now he is coming down the straight, missing slightly withal, but going as well as Porter and Johnston. It now seems a race between Porter, Handley and Johnston, as yet Nos.r3, 4, 5 and 6 are not signalled.
9.48+ and Dodson runs into the pits and wastes 40 seconds before he is off again. No. 6, Morgan, has just run through, his Cotton sounding quite healthy.
… Nos. 4 and 5 are both at the Bungalow, the leaders crack, we can consider them out
LAP No. 2.
The above formation has not yet changed, but Morgan has stuck between the start and Ballig. No. 5 (Barrow) has just arrived with his face cut about ; Porter has reached Sulby (10.5), but Handley’s pointer sticks at Ballacraine. Hall has retired at Craig-ny-baa. Johnston reached Sulby but Handley gets there a fraction late.
Here it is announced that Handley’s speed for the first lap, namely 54.08, is a record for the Ultra.
From here onwards we will not follow them too closely on paper, but should the leaders alter their positions we will note it.
It transpires that Barrow came off at Governor’s Bridge, accounting for his cut face ; he is also having carburettor trouble.
Handley is still just about holding first place. 10.21, Porter at Craig-ny-baa. Io.24, he runs into the pits, but is away again in seven seconds ; we believe he has improved his time. 10.25+, and Johnston is in the pits for 20 seconds, at Craig-ny-baa, but at 10.27 he is here, and after spending 15 secs, at the pits he is off again faster than ever. Dodson has retired at Ballaugh with a leaky petrol tank. Nos. 4, 5 and 6 are wells behind. All the riders through have complained that the wind is exceedingly fierce over Snaefell.
but unless of it.
LAP No. 3.
For the present position it will be seen that it is anybody’s race (out of the first three), but Handley has demonstrated that he could crash and still keep ahead of the other two. Just here, during a pause in the interest, an announcement was made that the only piece of news from the course was that the Marshals at Governor’s Bridge were not getting enough beer. A wag in the crowd shouted that if they couldn’t get beer they should ask for PORTER 111
General feeling is manifested when Handley is seen to stick at Sulby, but an announcement relieving us is made to the effect that the Sulby ‘phone is out of order.
10.59. All the three men have now passed Ramsey, seemingly in the same formation.
Handley has passed Johnston and has reached the Bungalow only a fraction behind Porter. Johnston reaches the Bungalow two minutes later. Morgan is still pluckily going round.
Handley is signalled at Craig-ny-baa only a few seconds after Porter. In a few minutes they will have completed their third lap, perhaps running in almost together, in which case it is Handley’s race if his engine can stick it. Porter is signalled, here they come, Handley only half a minute behind, but still missing, only a minute and a half later Johnston runs through.
It will be seen that Handley’s lead has appreciably increased.
LAP No. 4.
Morgan has just run through, going well, in fact as well as any of the leaders, but no hope can be held out for him. Amid cheers, Handley’s indicator shows that he has overtaken Porter before Ballacraine. We all hope he will stick it.
He passes Sulby well ahead of Porter and Johnston.
This race is much easier to follow than the Junior, quite apart from the number of the competitors, as all three leaders started almost together.
Great excitement is manifested when Handley reaches Ramsey ahead of the other two. Morgan is still between Ballacraine and Sulby.
Handley holds his lead, and despite a stop at Craigny-baa through misfiring, he comes on finally to run in a winner at 53.45 m.p.h., having accomplished the circuits in 2 hours 48 minutes 27 seconds.
Johnston proves to be second, taking 2 hours 53 minutes 54 seconds, while Porter comes in third in 2 hours 57 minutes 40 seconds.
THE SENIOR TOURIST TROPHY.
SOMEHOW, the Senior is always the race of the week, and those interested expect enormous speeds and thrilling tales of hair-breadth escapes from death; these are .present in a modified form in the other races, but until they are over we cannot imagine the little engines
of the junior races putting up such a fight as the big 500 c.c. machines, and yet the difference in speeds this year between the junior and senior is almost negligible, until one considers the velocity of the wind which was sweeping the island on Wednesday.
Not only must it have considerably affected the speed of the machines, but there was the unknown quantity of the force of a squall.hitting a competitor on some fast exposed corner. I have just returned from the summit of Snaefell, and riding against the wind up there was a very cold job, and at high speeds it took fully five or six miles an hour off my machine.
So, having considered the elements which were at work on Wednesday, we can turn to the speed of the winning competitor, which every sportsman knows by heart by now ; 66.134 miles per hour average ; over 66 m.p.h. for over 226 miles of a course which includes over ten notorious corners, and at least another ten really nasty ones, and a course which, when taken fast, seems a mass of bends and twists and turns, apart even from the really bad portions. In addition, although the surface is generally good throughout, a generous selection of bumps appear, even when touring round. A little loose stuff over the mountain is inclined to be baulking after some of the excellent surfaces which one obtains on the western side of the island.
Another point that is often overlooked when marvelling at the remarkable average. Take another glance at the map and try and realize that 2,000 odd feet of mountain have to be climbed three times during the two hundred miles. I doubt if the gain in speed down Snaefell makes up for the climb on the other side, which must surely stress the engines to the last degree. To a certain extent, a little advantage is gained in the fact that the approach to Hillberry enables a slight strain to be taken off the engine for a few moments and perhaps reduces the temperature a little ; all of which helps to ensure a faster climb up to Signpost Corner, but at the same time it endangers the chances of a rider by allowing the plug to try and oil up. In the Ultra, it was observed that Handley’s Rex-Acme was missing at this point, and twice it passed the Grand Stand still missing.
At one o’clock, forty-seven riders were waiting for their turn to start. At three minutes past 4.30 H. R. Davies tore past the Grand Stand. At 30 years of age, Mr. H. R. Davies rode a hard race to a popular finish, on his H.R.D., a machine which bids fair to rival some of the best we have in this country. Upon the dismantling of the engine, it was found perfect, even to a film of oil upon the rocker gear ; a slight deposit of carbon inside and dust outside were the only indications of the tremendous stress so imposed upon the engine and frame.
Naturally enough, we do not have to introduce Howard Davies to the majority of our readers, but on this occasion, which will be (like all T.T. Seniors) historical, a little resume of his deeds will not come amiss.
He first raced in the Island in 1914, mounted on a Sunbeam ; on this occasion he tied for second place. Each year since the war he has ridden consistently, and in 1921 he was second in the Junior and he won the Senior on a 350 C.C. machine. In both cases an A. J.S. This year he repeats his 1921 success, on a machine of his own manufacture, into which all his experience has been introduced.
Mr. Davies is married, and we must congratulate Mrs. Davies, not only on her husband’s victory, but in her courage to watch him and his progress throughout the race from the Grand Stand.
His final triumph was in the evening, when before an unprecedented number of cheering spectators he received from the Bishop the Senior Trophy, two replicas and a cheque.
I will deal with the race itself at no long length., because no doubt our readers have devoured every scrap of news concerning it.
Vrom the time that Alec Bennett on the Norton dropped back on the first lap, it was clear that Davies should win, for it would prove a hard job for anyone to catch him. Nevertheless, we all received a surprise when Simpson’s (A. J.S.) time for his second lap was announced, namely 32 min. 50 sec., which works out at the phenomenal speed of 68.97 m.p.h. We did not of course disbelieve the A.C.U. (whose organization was, by the way, almost as wonderful as Simpson’s speed), but to credit anyone with an average of nearly 70 m.p.h. takes a lot of faith, even in these days. In spite of his valiant attempt, however, plug trouble pursued him and he eventually had to give up on his fourth lap, near Ballacraine.
For some reason the Douglas riders had continual bad luck throughout, and the only one to finish was the last man home, namely Judd, who, in spite of a crash and a long stop on the course for adjustments, finished in four hours six minutes and thirty-eight seconds. As his machine appeared to be running on one cylinder some of the time, he made a plucky effort in finishing at all. The redoubtable Freddy Dixon fell a victim to an engine seizure, and crashed in Parliament Square, Ramsey. Another of the “hot stuff” machines which was amongst the leaders was Craig’s Norton, which had done a practice lap in 34.20 ; this was well in the running for second, if not first place, but on the fourth circuit Craig’s pointer stopped at Ballacraine, and Craig appeared no more.
To condense a large quantity of information about the first six men, I give below a table showing their positions. Langman.’s efforts, for instance, will be clearly apprecited.
Key to above Nos.—(15) H. R. Davies, H.R.D. ; (35) F. A. Longman, A.J.S. ; (ii) A. Bennett, Norton ; (18) ‘1’. Bullus, P.&M.; (55) H. Langman, Scott ; (28) L. Randles, Sunbeam ; (20) J. Craig, Norton ; (38) G. Walker, Sunbeam ; (29) H. F. Harris, H.R.D. ; (40) C. T. Ashby, P. & M. One cannot write about the T.T. without mentioning George Dance. Always a good and reliable rider, he invariably has bad luck in the Island. This time his fate still pursued him, and he was forced to retire with engine trouble at Ballaugh Bridge on his third circuit, G. N. Harvey (New Hudson) was the only man to injure himself seriously. Getting a wobble as he shut off for the Craig-ny-baa corner he was unable to straighten,out with the result that he was thrown against the base of the hotel wall. His machine somersaulted twice and hit the wall above, and then dropped
down on to him, having narrowly missed one or two members of the Press, one of whom was able to obtain the already well-known photograph.
Another retirement of interest was that of Grahame Walker, whose Sunbeam had been running well, with the promise of fourth place. It seemed that the bulk of trouble was experienced with the power units, which this year have developed to an extraordinarily high pitch of efficiency—as a matter of fact beyond the limits of durability, particularly in the case of Douglas and New Hudson machines. This latter firm entered three entries, one which finished ridden by Tom Sheard, the Manxman. With a little more experience in racing, New Hudsons should do well, but as they have only just entered the field we did not expect wonderful results. Some remarkable driving was witnessed in this race ; Dixon I think was, but for the exception of Simpson, perhaps, the real exponent of saving split seconds ;
Alec Bennett really excels at his job, by being one of the most reliable men who can make a fast lap.
T. Bullus is only 18 years of age, and a veritable tower of strength. He is a man to watch in future races, and, had his mount been a fraction faster in this, he would have been a hard man to beat. As it was, he pulled up to fourth place, determined that P. & M.’s should not be out of it because of Ashby’s bad luck.
Longman knows the course, and as usual finished with the first three, by riding well and truly into second place on the A.J.S.
Randles, last year’s Sunbeam amateur, rode very well, and I hope to see him higher up the list next year. From among the five races the Senior can be placed as the event in which most favourites failed. In all the other events, the racing has been more consistent, the leading men keeping their places almost from the start. One is inclined to think, at the finish of the Senior,
his cornering and general handling of his machine showed him to be the master hand. Simpson is certainly as good, but perhaps not quite so exciting to watch.
Davies is always the steady man, and yet he gets round nearly as quickly as the other two.
Langman is, of course, still quite inimitable in his style : a pretty rider who is as fast as anv over the course.
that the speeds of 1925 cannot be improved upon, but Who can say what the results would have been on a windless day. But we must possess ourselves in patience till 1926, to see who and what will beat Simpson’s startling speed of 68.97. A remarkable feat, and should 1926 repeat 1925 history the course will be too small to hold the Senior machines.
THE LIGHTWEIGHT RACE.
CONDITIONS were excellent on Friday for the
Lightweight and Senior Races. Brilliant sunshine prevailed all over the Island, but the wind, although a Point or two more westerly, was still blowing as hard as ever, and Windy Corner more than upheld its name ; once again, however, records were beaten and the eventual average speed was 57.74, this being two miles an hour faster than last year’s winner’s speed.
Edwin Twemlow, the first man away, started from his place of honour in front of the test, being last year’s winner, and by the way he went off it was clear that he was going to uphold his title. K. Twemlow followed him and S. Woods, also on a New Imperial, went away fourth, after Porter had vanished on the New Gerrard. A great cheer was roused for Handley, No. 17, on the smaller Rex-Acme ; by quarter to nine he was at
Ballacraine, which indicated that he had crept past a good many others already.
All the machines went off easily from the start, except perhaps the P. & P., driven by J. J. Hall. It was soon apparent from the board that the fast men were Handley, Johnston (Cotton), Porter, Horton (New Imperial), and Brockbank on another Cotton. The Twemlows did not appear to be pushing their machines too hard. Nevertheless, E. Twemlow was still in position at Craig-ny-Baa, followed closely by Porter, with K. Twemlow and Stanley Woods the next pair round. All four were irreproachable in their cornering here. Perhaps Woods came a bit far out but he was fast and steady. Cooke, on the Dot, was next round, having picked up one position by virtue of fact that the A. J. R., driven by A. J. Robertson, had dropped out.
Handley gave us all a surprise by rounding the bend ninth ; his corner work here was wonderful, well in he was, and his engine firing gently all the time. Brockbank was up four places, but J. M. Sheard (0.E.C.-Blackburne) had dropped from io to 15.
Some of the slower men were really slow on this corner, shutting off a long time beforehand and practically coasting round. Faith in biakes must be born and not made. Thus the first lap saw Handley the leader, with a lap time of 37 min. 36 secs. (speed 60.21). Then came :—
PP
Much do I regret that the space is not at my disposal to mention all the riders, for many a man amongst the rearguard has ridden a hard race, and is fit to win, but often he has been dogged by trouble during the whole circuit.
Needless to say, Handley’s lap constituted a record, and that from a standing start. 60.21 m.p.h. round the Isle of Man on a 250 c.c. machine !
On the second lap two incidents occurred to enliven matters. Porter had the misfortune to break a rocker arm near Ballacraine, and M. Scott (Levis) crashed past Ramsey through a seized engine. He was taken to hospital, but was found to be suffering only from shock.
Handley continued to lead and to keep up a cracking pace, being actually two miles an hour faster than Johnston, the second man. With Porter out, it looked a certain hat-trick for Handley, and we were not put off by his engine missing. I came to the conclusion that it must be a trick of his to bring his price with the bookies down, for wherever I noticed him in either races, the Rex-Acme was always playing that little original tune of its own.
A word about the way they took Hillberry. Once again the Twemlows and Handley were the artists, the two men on Cottons were also good, and Woods was apparrently making up time onithis bend. I noticed again what a vast difference there was between the real T.T. men and some of the others. Style and pace were altogether in another category.
From this lap onwards the order of positions changed completely, for by the end of the round Johnston was leading with Horton (New Imperial) second, then the other Cotton, with the two Twemlows as fourth and fifth.
Amid cries of ” Hard luck ! ” Handley appeared, with his helmet off and obviously out of it ; his tyre had burst, throwing him and bending his clutch, so that even had he had a new tyre put on, he could not have finished. Still he was already twice a victor, and many times a record smasher, so this piece of bad luck did not come too hardly, and incidentally gave the Twemlow boys the opening they wanted.
On the next lap, E. Twemlow took the lead from Johnston, who had been delayed at the pits with an unexpected discovery, and forsooth a lucky one. His spare push rod had been fouling the spokes. Discarding the spares, he tore off down Bay Hill, but during that time Twemlow was hitting the trail with more speed than ever. There were a lot of important retirements about this time ; Horton, Woods and Sheard all reported engine trouble, and Hall (P. & P.) was having a bad time with his plugs. J. Cooke came more into the picture by bringing his Dot into fifth place, but he never troubled the leaders as he was quite five minutes behind the fourth man.
At the end of the fifth circuit the position was unchanged, but for the complete disappearance of Brockbank, whose pointer never reached Sulby. Johnston made his chance more slender by again visiting the pits, and it was a matter for conjecture whether he or K. Twemlow would be the second to finish. E. Twemlow looked a certainty for the last lap, if ever the T.T. course can offer a certainty.
In this case fickle fortune was hiding, for Twemlow flashed across the line a winner at 12.56; coinciding with his arrival a signal gun boomed, and the crowd rose to cheer a popular hero. K. Twemlow arrived ten minutes after his brother, but nearly immediately Johnston was signalled. Three minutes after Twemlow he brought his Cotton into second place, having ridden a great part of the way without goggles.
A large percentage of non-finishers points in most cases to engine trouble. This year the 250 C.C. engine has been so developed that in some cases a firm’s 250 c.c. is faster than their 350 c.c. ; but the moving parts object, and the designers have before them a whole year in which to improve the metals rather than the power output of their diminutive giants.
The Winner. Edwin Twernlow is the younger of the two brothers, being only 19 years old. He has made history by winning this race two years in succession. He was second in the Amateur T.T. last year, so he can claim to be quite unique, even among the winners of the past 14 T.T. years
THE SIDECAR RACE.
AS we are learning to expect ,the sidecar event provided as many thrills as can be found anywhere in the world, and a continuous film of Freddie Dixon’s progress would be a real pull at any cinema. Unhappily, unless Mr. Allen were to carry a photographer round on the bars of his S.S.ioo, we can see no prospect of this ever being accomplished.
Dixon (Douglas) and Langman (Scott) were the two giants of the practice laps, and with great expectation we looked forward to a wonderful duel. They were both disappointing, however, for Langman fell out on the first lap with gear box trouble and Dixon, although taking our breath away for two laps, surprised us by filling up with oil at the end of the second, and subsequently was reported as going badly near Ballacraine. His first lap constituted a record by being accomplished in 40 min. 17 secs., a speed of 56.21 m.p.h. Some day he will pick a Douglas that will stand up to his treatment, and T.T. riders for the following years will have a hard task to beat his lap times. There were eighteen starters, but only six finishers, once again indicating that the reliability note may have to be introduced more strongly next year.
Only three retirements were announced in the first lap. Driscoll broke the rocker support on his Norton near Ballacraine. Kerkshaw’s New Hudson seized its engine at Ba.11augh, and Langman had to give up at Le Zayre. Dixon, as usual, set the pace, and Hatton and Parker both showed that their Douglases were not so slow by completing the lap within 30 seconds of Dixon’s. Simpson disappointed everyone by not finishing in under 51 min. 21 secs., this however was due to his handlebars working loose, an incident which lost him
second or at least third place.
Dixon’s indicator showed him to be at Sulby when some of the later machines were still starting on their second lap.
Those at the Grand Stand were treated to a real thrill by the attempt of “Pa” Cowley, who is over 61 and who drove a Sunbeam, to pass Simpson along the straight, They were neck and neck at the top of Bray Hill, but Simpson being on the inside took preference in the descent. Another small thrill was provided by the oldest competitor, who, through over anxiety as to his passenger, nearly developed a bad wobble at the start.
Dixon held his own till the finish of the second lap, but Parker was on his heels when they came through, Hatton having fallen by the way between Craig-ny-baa and Governor’s Bridge.
Taylor, Grinton and Tucker, the Norton experts, were following hard, and then to our surprise Hatton came on the scene, having overcome his trouble temporarily.
Dixon again made a new record, as he completed his two laps in i hr. 19 min. 53 secs., having taken only 39 min. 36 secs, for his second lap. Surely it could not last, and yet he reported everything O.K. at the pits, and was away like a streak, only to find his engine would not fire properly almost as soon as he left, and at Crosby he was touring through, to retire at Ballacraine.
Douglas hopes received another sh, king when Hatton retired at Kirkmichael with broken front forks, and suffering from shock. His passenger was reported unhurt.
Reed (Dot) retired with a faulty back brake, and he did not start on his next lap. His passenger may have been thankful, for on the previous lap his face was literally shaved at Braddon Bridge, so neatly that his goggles were taken clean off. Perhaps we would say that he was rather roughly shaved, for certainly his face came in contact with the wall. Tinkler (P. & M.) had engine trouble again, which brought him down to last place. Thus at the completion of the third lap it had the appearance of a real tussle, with the riders placed as follows :—
Anyone of the first three might be home first, and although we heard that Grinton imagined he had three minutes in hand, Parker was undoubtedly the fastest man, and it rested with him to decide on taking a chance of cracking up his engine. He decided to take it and raced home, reaching the finish first in place and time.
Tucker, last year’s winner, had trouble, and Bridcutt brought his Dunelt into a well-deserved sixth place. A fact that impresses one about the Dunelt is that, although not terrifically fast, it is certainly capable of standing up to very hard work and unlikely to crack up.
The winner, Leonard Parker, is a private entrant, and rode in 1923 in the Amateur T.T., also in the Senior Race last year. His time for the last lap was only 4/5 second slower than Dixon’s record lap.
A. E. Taylor is an amateur and is to be congratulated on coming home second in what was undoubtedly the best race of the week. Throughout, the spectators were never at all certain of the ultimate winner, even eliminting the chances of engine trouble. Some of the finest cornering was to be seen round the course, and it was reported that ” Pa ” Cowley was one of the most efficient exponents. We are sure that all will join with us in congratulating him on his very sporting effort.