1907 Isle of Man TT explained
The
1907 Isle of Man TT races were the inaugural International Tourist Trophy for motor-cycles held on the Isle of Man. The event was held on Tuesday 28 May 1907 over the
St John's Short Course consisting of a Single Cylinder and a Twin-Cylinder class. The race was ten laps of the 15 mile 1,430 yards course, a total race distance of 158 miles 220 yards (226.071 km).
[1] [2] At 10am on the Tuesday 28 May 1907, 25 riders started in pairs in a time-trial format for the road-legal touring motorcycles with exhaust silencers, saddles, pedals and mud-guards.[3] On lap 1, Jack Marshall riding a Triumph suffered a fall and Frank Applebee Junior a puncture to his 5 hp Rex machine. By lap 2, Stanley Webb riding a 5 hp Triumph had to stop at St. Johns to adjust a drive-belt and retired on lap 3 with an engine exhaust-valve problem.[4] At the compulsory 10‑minute replenishment stop, Oliver Godfrey had to retire when his 5 hp Rex motorcycle caught fire.[5]
The Single Cylinder class race was won by Charles R. Collier riding a Matchless in 4 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds at an average race speed of 38.21 mph. His brother Harry Collier, also riding a Matchless, had problems with an engine seizure on lap 2 and eventually retired on lap 9.[5]
The Twin-Cylinder class and overall race was initially led by Rem Fowler riding a Norton. On lap 1, Fowler completed the course in 23 minutes and 19 seconds, in second place was Billy Wells in a time of 23 minutes and 21 seconds and Charlie Collier in the single-cylinder class with a time of 23 minutes and 45 seconds. The overall lead fell away as Fowler suffered a number of problems with drive-belts and spark-plugs, and on lap 7 crashed at nearly 60 mph due to a burst tyre at the "Devils Elbow" on the Kirk Michael to Peel section of the course.[6] Fowler nearly gave up, but was told by a spectator that he led the twin-cylinder class by 30 minutes from Billy Wells and went on to win at an average race speed of 36.22 mph and set the fastest lap of the race at 42.91 mph.
1907 International Auto-Cycle Tourist Trophy
Tuesday 28 May 1907 – 10 laps (158 miles 220 yards) St. John's Short Course.
| The 1st International Auto-cycle Tourist Trophy |
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| Pos | | Rider | Bike | Single Cylinder race classification |
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| Laps | Time | Speed | Prizes |
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| 1 | 4 |  Charlie Collier | 3 hp Matchless-JAP 431cc | 10 | 4:08.08.2 | 38.21 mph | 1st Prize - Trophy, £25 and S.F. Edge's prize for best British-made machine. |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | Jack Marshall | 3 hp Triumph 475cc | 10 | 4:19.47.3 | 36.60 mph | 2nd Prize - £15 and G.F. Spicer's prize. |
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| 3 | 1 | Frank Hulbert | 3 hp Triumph 475cc | 10 | 4:27.49.4 | 35.50 mph | 3rd Prize - £10 |
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| 4 | 5 | Rupert Brice | 3 hp Brown 475cc | 10 | 5:03.55.2 | 31.40 mph | |
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| 5 | 14 | Martin Geiger | 3hp NSU 331cc | 10 | 5:10.26.0 | 30.60 mph | Marquis de St. Mar's Prize for the best Foreign-made machine. |
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| 6 | 8 | J. C. Smythe | 3hp Rex 331cc | 10 | 5:23.40.3 | 29.40 mph | |
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| 7 | 11 | Robert Ayton | 3 hp Ayton-Riley Special 464cc | 10 | 5:30.26.0 | 29.10 mph | £5 for the 1st Private owners' machine. |
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| 8 | 10 | Frank W. Applebee | 3 hp Rex 475cc | 10 | 5:46.31.0 | 27.40 mph | |
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| 9 | 17 | John Le Grand | 3hp Two-speed G.B. | 6 | Finished course outside of time. |
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| DNF | 3 | Harry Collier | 3 hp Matchless-JAP | 9 | Retired on lap 9 due to broken exhaust valve, smashed piston. |
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| DNF | 18 | Bob Duke | 3 hp Triumph | 8 | Retired on lap 9. |
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| DNF | 15 | Tom Silver | 3 hp Thomas Silver | 6 | Retired on lap 7. |
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| DNF | 19 | George Horner | 4hp Royal Cavendish-JAP | 4 | Retired on lap 5. |
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| DNF | 15 | Stanley Webb | 3 hp Triumph | 2 | Retired on lap 3 due to broken valve. |
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| DNF | 12 | James D. Hamilton | 3hp NSU | 1 | Retired on lap 2. |
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| DNF | 6 | F. Winter | 4hp R.O.C. | 1 | Retired on lap 2. |
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| DNF | 9 | Walter Jacobs | 3 hp Rex | 0 | Crashed on first lap. |
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| DNS | 7 | Howard C. Newman | 4hp R.O.C. | | Crashed in practice. |
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| |  Charles Franklin | 3 hp JAP | | Entry withdrawn. |
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| | H.G. Cove | 3 hp Minerva | | Entry withdrawn due to illness. |
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| | W.D. Coplestone | 3 hp Peugeot | | Entry withdrawn. Bike was not delivered in time for him to satisfactorily test the machine before the race. |
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| | | The Isle of Man Motor Co. | | Entry withdrawn. |
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| | Fastest lap: Harry Collier, 23min. 5 2/5sec. 41.81 mph on lap 4. |
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|
|
| Pos | | Rider | Bike | Twin Cylinder race classification |
|---|
| Laps | Time | Speed | Prizes |
|---|
| 1 | 22 | Rem Fowler | 5hp Norton-Peugeot 671.4cc | 10 | 4:21.52.8 | 36.21 mph | 1st Prize - Trophy, £25 and Dr. Hele-Shaw's Prize. |
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| 2 | 21 |  Billy Wells | 5hp Vindec Special-Peugeot 671.4cc | 10 | 4:53.44.5 | 32.30 mph | 2nd Prize - £15 |
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| 3 | 26 | Billy Heaton | 5hp Rex 725.6cc | 10 | 5:11.03.5 | 30.50 mph | £5 for the 1st Private owners' machine. |
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| 4 | 25 | Arnold Dent | 5hp Vindec Special-Peugeot 671.4cc | 10 | | | The Schulte prize best performance with a two-speed gear. |
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| DNF | 24 | Theodore Tessier | 6hp BAT-JAP | 4 | Retired on lap 5. |
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| DNF | 23 | Harry Martin | 5hp Kerry | 4 | Retired on lap 5 due to engine trouble. |
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| DNF | 20 | Oliver Godfrey | 5hp Rex | 4 | Bike caught fire during refueling. |
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| DNF | 27 | Frank Applebee Jun. | 5hp Rex | 3 | Retired on lap 4. |
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| Fastest lap: Rem Fowler, 22min. 6 2/5sec. 42.91 mph on lap 6. | |
| |
External links
Notes and References
- International Auto-Cycle Tourist Trophy – OFFICIAL PROGRAMME Tuesday 28 May 1907 at 10 am page 4 COURSE The Auto-Cycle Club 18 Down Street Piccadilly London, W. Reproduction copyright Isle of Man Post Office (2007)
- Daily Express page 5 Wednesday 29 May 1907
- Isle of Man TT pages 11 & 12 Charles Deane (1975) Patrick Stephens Ltd
- Isle of Man Weekly Times page 3 Isle of Man Times and General Advertiser 1 June 1907
- The Motor Cycle dated 5 June 1907 p.446
- Isle of Man TT pages 12 Charles Deane (1975) Patrick Stephens Ltd
