1921 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Date 14 and 16 June 1921 Location Douglas, Isle of Man Course Snaefell Mountain Course 37.75 miles (60.75 km) Organiser Auto-Cycle Union Clerk T.W. LoughboroughJunior TT First Eric Williams, AJS Second Howard R Davies, AJS Third Tom Sheard, AJSFastest lap Howard Davies 41min. 4sec. 55.15 mph New recordLightweight class First Doug Prentice, New Imperial-JAP Second Geoff Davison, Levis Third W.G. Harrison, VelocetteSenior TT First Howard R Davies, AJS 349cc Second Freddie Dixon, Indian Third Bert le Vack, IndianFastest lap Freddie Edmond 40min. 8sec. 56.40 mph New record The 1921 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Junior 350 cc race took place on Tuesday 14 June and the Senior 500 cc was on Thursday 16 June.
In this year AJS redeemed themselves by completing a hat trick, taking the first four places for a total of six of the top ten places in the Junior 350 cc race. Works teams boosted the entries to 133 riders and machines and amongst the thousands of spectators was Stanley Woods, making his first visit to the island as a young man, who would later return to make TT history by winning 10 times. IOM TT The Mountain Circuit (retrieved 20 August 2006)
The Junior race speeds also rose considerably over the previous year with a lap speed of more than . It had been suggested that sidecar racing could start in 1921 but this idea was not well received and not implemented until 1923. It was announced there was a possibility of moving the TT races to Belgium for 1922 but the Auto-Cycle Union never made the switch. Steam-Packet 2006 Manx GP (retrieved 20 August 2006)
Despite AJS motorcycles filling the first five places of the Junior race, it was punctures that decided the race outcome. The eventual winner of the 1921 Junior TT Race was Eric Williams riding an AJS in 3 hours, 37 minutes and 23 seconds, an average race speed of . The race was initially led by Howard R Davies also riding for AJS who set a new lap record for the Junior race of 41 minutes and 4 seconds, an average speed of . Time lost by Howard Davies mending a puncture at Windy Corner gave the lead to Jim Whalley riding a Massey-Arran motorcycle. On the last lap Whalley also punctured at Windy Corner and finished the Junior race in fifth place. New Imperial made sales-boosting news with a win in the Lightweight 250 cc class by rider Doug Prentice, coming tenth overall in the 350 cc Junior race. New Imperial Owners Association History (retrieved 16 October 2006)
More drama was to follow in the Senior event as the race-lead changed every lap between Alec Bennett riding a Sunbeam, Freddie W.Dixon riding an Indian, and Freddie Edmond riding a Triumph who set a new lap record of 40 minutes and 8 seconds, an average speed of . The Senior race was eventually won by Howard Davies riding a 350 cc Junior race motorcycle, by a margin of 2 minutes and 3 seconds from Freddie Dixon and Bert Le Vack in 4 hours, 9 minutes and 22 seconds, at an average race speed of .
Race results Junior TT 350cc Held on Tuesday, 14 June, at 9:30 am over a distance of 188.75 miles (5 laps of 37.75 miles each), limited to machines of cylinder capacity not exceeding 350cc., with a class for 250 cc. engines run concurrently for The Motor Cycle cup.The Motor Cycle page 723, 9 June 1921 All 65 entries started the race (43 in 350cc class, 22 in 250cc class), comprising 33 four-stroke singles, 22 two-stroke singles, 7 Flat Twins and 3 V Twin, thirty-eight finished (25 in 350cc class, 13 in 250cc class). The 10th International Isle of Man Tourist TrophyThe Motor Cycle page 803, 23 June 1921 Pos # Rider Bike Cyl. Junior TT and Lightweight class race classification Laps Time Speed Prizes & Remarks 1 52 Eric Williams 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 53.37.23 52.21 mph1st Prize - Winner of Junior Tourist Trophy, £40 and gold medal. 2 59 Howard R Davies 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 53.41.1051.15 mph2nd Prize - £20 and gold medal. 3 59 Tom Sheard 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 53.49.0949.45 mph3rd Prize - £10 and gold medal. 4 32 George Kelly 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 53.49.2249.40 mphGold medal. 5 23 Jim Whalley 2¾ hp Massey-Arran 348cc 1 53.52.3948.70 mphGold medal. 6 57 Ossie Wade 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 53.59.0247.40 mphGold medal. 7 48 W. Howarth 2¾ hp DOT 346cc 1 54.05.1446.25 mphGold medal. 8 38 Harry Harris 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 54.10.0945.30 mph 9 39 R. Carey 2¾ hp Blackburne 348cc 1 54.12.1444.90 mph 10 24 Doug Prentice 2¼ hp New Imperial (249 cc JAP) 1 54.12.3744.80 mph1st in Lightweight class - Winner of The Motor Cycle Trophy and a gold medal. Fastest lap: Howard Davies, 41min. 4sec. 55.15 mph (New record)
Senior TT Held on Thursday, 16 June, at 9:30 am over a distance of 226.50 miles (6 laps of 37.75 miles each), limited to machines of cylinder capacity not exceeding 500cc. Out of 68 entries, comprising 52 four-stroke singles, 9 four-stroke twins, 6 two-stroke twins and 1 two-stroke single, sixty-four started the race and twenty-four finished. The 10th International Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Pos # Rider Bike Cyl. Senior TT race classification Laps Time Speed Prizes & Remarks 1 2 Howard R. Davies 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 64.09.2254.49 mph1st Prize - Winner of Senior Tourist Trophy, £50 and gold medal. 2 65 Freddie Dixon 3½ hp Indian 498.8cc 1 64.11.3554.02 mph2nd Prize - £25 and gold medal. 3 32 Bert le Vack 3½ hp Indian 498.8cc 1 64.12.0653.91 mph3rd Prize - £15 and gold medal. 4 9 Alec Bennett 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 64.14.1153.47 mphGold medal. 5 60 Jack Watson-Bourne 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 64.18.5552.49 mphGold medal. 6 62 Leslie Mitchell 3½ hp Norton 490cc 1 64.24.0451.46 mphGold medal. 7 48 Freddie Edmond 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 64.24.0651.46 mphGold medal. 8 67 George Dance 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 64.24.25Gold medal. Rode last 4 laps on top gear with a broken gearboxThe Isle of Man Examiner page 5, 26 May 1922 9 61 Tom Sheard 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 64.26.42Gold medal. 10 14 Frank Townshend 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 64.27.51Gold medal. 11 34 Douggie Alexander 3½ hp Norton 490cc 1 64.29.30Gold medal. 12 44 Billie Hollowell 3½ hp Norton 490cc 1 64.30.18Gold medal. 1st Private entry. 13 52 Walter Brandish, Junr. 3½ hp Rover 499cc 1 64.30.36Gold medal. 14 59 Harry Harris 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 64.30.53Gold medal. 15 51 Noel Brown 3½ hp Indian 498.8cc 1 64.34.00Gold medal. 16 29 George Shemans 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 64.34.14Gold medal. 17 28 R.W. Stanfield 3½ hp Scott 486cc 2 64.39.041st Twin-cylinder. 18 54 Ray Braid 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 64.43.44 19 27 M.H. Edmunds 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 64.50.15 20 45 Norman Black 3½ hp Douglas 494cc 2 64.52.21 21 21 George Strange 3½ hp James 496cc 2 65.00.20 22 15 J.W. Moffat 3½ hp Scott 486cc 2 65.04.41 23 17 Vivian Olsson 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 65.21.33 24 6 Albert Milner 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 65.27.08 Fastest lap: Freddie Edmond, 40min. 8sec. 56.40 mph (New record)
References
External links Detailed race results Isle of Man TT winners