Isle of Man

ISLE OF MAN

B. R. NICHOLLS

THE NAME “ISLE OF MAN” conjures up for the enthusiast a dream of the world’s finest motorcycle road course where brave men pit their skill and guts against 37¾ miles of difficult bumpy roads that have everything including a 120 mph-plus descent between kerbstones, a 1300 foot climb up a mountain and numerous high speed leaps that led one rider to remark, “it’s the world’s fastest moto cross.”

To practice means getting up at four o’clock in the morning for the roads are closed between 4:45 and 7:30 AM for that purpose. There is a week of practice including evening sessions as well as those in the mornings. It can be a week of frustration for the man whose machine won’t go right and it can be worrying until the qualifying time has been reached and a start assured. Those early morning stints can mean bitter cold, rain and mist on the mountain or, if fine, trouble with the sun shining straight into the rider’s eyes so early. Yes, the Isle of Man sorts them out and its a proud man who returns home with a bronze or silver replica.

And the A-C.U. organizers of the meeting can be proud, too, for where other World Championship meetings usually lack one or more of the Championship classes, they cater to the lot, including the newly-instituted 50cc event. So history was made this year as a lady rider competed for the first time in the solo classes. Riding in the 50cc race, Mrs. Beyrl Swain finished 18th at an average of over 48 mph and was not last. Apart from one wet weather practice, the week had been fine but cold, and the overall leader board showed that it would be a record-breaking week as three lap records had been unofficially broken.

SIDECAR RACE

The sidecars are always popular and they started the week’s sport with a threelap race for a distance of just over 113 miles. From the start both Max Deubel, the World Champion, and Swiss ace Florian Camathias, both on B.M.W. machines, broke the old lap record. The fastest went to Deubel at 90.70 mph. It was obvious that if both kept going the field would be left a long way behind. But after 21 miles of his second lap Camathias crashed, so at the end of the second lap Deubel led the British hope, Chris Vincent on his pushrod B.S.A., by a little over four minutes (which in terms of speed meant a 90.60 mph average compared with 83.93 ).

But they count the winners at the end of the race and soon after the start of the third and final lap Deubel retired with fuel injection system trouble. So Vincent’s faith in reliability paid off, ending the B.M.W. monoply which had lasted since 1955. In second place on a B.M.W. was Otto Kolle, whilst third was Colin Seeley on a Matchless G-50. Seeley is a very good runner and deceptively fast on a machine that is down on the power of B.M.W.’s so could well become one of the best.

250CC RACE

The second race for Monday was the lightweight 250cc class which was expected to be a Honda benefit as the fourcylinder Benelli arrived on the Island too late for Hailwood to qualify it. The field of 38 was reduced to 28 by non-starters who included the Suzuki team, still plagued by the seizing troubles that have beset them this season.

No sooner had the race started than news came from all parts of the course that Bob McIntyre was really fast, and this was confirmed by his standing start lap at 99.06 mph. Second on the leader board was Rhodesian Jim Redman (Honda), currently leading the 250 World Championship, ahd his speed was 96.62 mph. Minter, Phillis and Kitano made it five in a row for the Honda camp but their elation was short-lived as McIntyre blew up on the second lap and Phillis had a four-minute pit stop changing plugs. This put Redman, Minter and Hailwood (ex-works single cylinder Benelli) out front after two laps and the position was not changed after the third although Kitano had retired.

Then the drama started. Redman, who had an eight gallon tank fitted for a nonstop run, had a faulty filler cap leaking fuel so had to stop at the pits. Phillis was piling on the pressure after a second stop and Hailwood had to pull in for a loose fairing. To cure this trouble the whole thing was ripped off and away went Mike like the wind — no fairings, no numbers — just a man and a machine, in fact a photographer’s delight. But his gallant effort was of no avail for the engine cried “enough” just after the start of the last lap.

So with Minter Consolidating his first place with a fast fifth lap, Redman took second place followed by Phillis. There were only eight finishers, the last man home being on an overbored Triumph Tiger Cub who was one lap short and whose race average was 65.44 mph compared with the winner’s speed of 96.68 mph.

WEDNESDAY

With perfect weather again it was obvious that we were going to have a wonderful speed feast with records in both the 125 and 350cc evfcnts that were to be held. But though the sun shohe, the cloud of death and tragedy was hanging over the Island at the end of the day. Kunumitsu Takahashi, a fearless rider on his Honda, crashed on the opening lap of the 125 race and was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

in the 350 event brilliant Tom Phillis, one of the finest racers Australia ever produced, died soon after crashing on his 285 Honda at Laurel Bank. Colin Meehan, a new Zealander, died in a crash at Union Mills and Geoff Fccles was so seriously injured at the Gooseneck that the ambulance went on course during the race. These were brave men paying the price for skill and daring. The sport can ill afford such tragedies and their passing was evident in the subdued riding of many racing on Friday.

125CC RACE

With Takahashi out of the race so soon after the start, Luigi Taveri (Honda), the Swiss ace, really got cracking and recorded a lap at 90.1 3 mph to set a new record. He led from start to finish but once again it was Hailwood who was causing the excitement. Riding the British E.M.C. watercooled two-stroke machine he kept second place for two laps before engine trouble put him out. This let Ulsterman Tommy Robb (Honda) into second spot but then came Phillis and Derek Minter, both on production racers of the Honda marque. These bikes will be made available to the public later in the year if present information is correct. Redman was fifth and to complete the first six came Rex Avery, riding the only F.M.C. left out of three entered.

350 RACE

Never has there been a more brilliantly executed ride than that of Mike Hailwood (M.V.) in this year’s junior T.T. Starting ten seconds in front of Gary Hocking (M.V.), it was not long before they were together on the road joined by Tom Phillis on the Honda. Two M.V. fours and a Honda four scrapping together, a magnificent sight and a fabulous sound cut short when Phillis crashed on the second lap. His first lap on a 285cc machine from a standing start had been completed at 99.22 mph to give him third place on the leader board behind Hocking and Hailwood.

The second lap saw a record by Hailwood at 101.58, Hocking being fractionally slower at 101.49 mph. This gave them both an average of over 100 mph for two laps; third was McIntyre (Honda), 99.44, then Alan Shepherd (A.J.S.), 97.34, and Franta Stastny (Jawa), 94.87. Well known in the States, Tony Godfrey completed the first six with a speed of 94.59 on his Norton. But few spectators were seeing anything but the scrap in front. Even after pit stops they were together again within a couple of miles. McIntyre retired on the third lap. Shepherd went out of the running with a prolonged pit stop to change a tank so the finishing order was almost settled. Third was Stastny, fourth Roy Ingram, Norton, fifth Mike Duff, the Canadian, on an A.J.S., and sixth New • Zealander Hugh Anderson, A.J.S.

Then on the last lap Hailwood pressed on to shake off Hocking on the long mountain climb. Slow'ly but surely he was regaining the ten seconds starting interval and just as it looked as if he would take the lead his four turned into a “three” and Hocking started to retrieve lost ground. Then it was Hocking’s turn for the bad luck as his four lost two cylinders, so Hailwood won on the three, beating the “twin” by .07 mph.

50CC RACE

What a race! The first ten men, all team riders from Suzuki, Honda or Kreidler, averaged over 70 mph and the record lap set by Ernst Degner on a Suzuki was 75.52 mph. His race speed of 75.12 is less than .5 mph slower than the three lap 125cc race of ten years ago. No one could match Degner, and his win will be a good incentive to Suzuki after the disappointing showing of their 250 model. But all eyes focused on Mrs. Beryl Swain, the twenty-six-year-old honey blond, first lady ever to ride solo in the history of the T.T. races. Her average speed of 48.33 mph on a machine vastly inferior to the winner put her fourth from last and she hopes to go back again next year with something a little better.

500CC RACE

So often termed the blue ribbon of motorcycle racing, the Senior T.T. was won in dazzling fashion by double World Champion Gary Hocking on an M.V. at a record Speed of 103.51 with a new lap record of 105.75 mph. all the more surprising when one remembers that he had crashed on a similar machine in practice at 120 mph and the bike had been burnt out.

But it was a day of one hundred mile an hour laps and those who achieved them were Hocking and Hailwood on M.V., Shepherd and Duff on Matchless and Phil Read and Minter on Norton. The last four all retired, and Hailwood had a fifteen minute pit stop changing clutch plates that put him out of the running. So with all the acknowledged stars except Hocking sitting on the sidelines, lesser-known names filled the leader board, but they are all experienced men well deserving their unexpected success. •