Motor racing began on the Isle of Man in 1904 with the Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trial and were originally restricted to touring automobiles. As the Motor Car Act 1903 placed a speed restriction of 20 mph on automobiles in the UK, Julian Orde, Secretary of the Automobile Car Club of Britain and Ireland approached the authorities in the Isle of Man for the permission to race automobiles on public roads. The Highways (Light Locomotive) Act 1904 gave permission in the Isle of Man for the 52.15 mile Highlands Course for the 1904 Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trial which was won by Clifford Earl (Napier) in 7 hours 26.5 minutes for 5 laps (255.5 miles) of the Highlands Course. The 1905 Gordon Bennett Trial was held on 30 May 1905 and was again won by Clifford Earl driving a Napier automobile in 6 hours and 6 minutes for 6 laps of the Highland Course. This was followed in September 1905 with the first Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race for racing automobiles, now known as the RAC Tourist Trophy and was won by John Napier (Arrol-Johnston) in 6 hours and 9 minutes at an average speed of 33.90 mph.
International Motor-Cycle Cup Race (1905)
For the 1905 Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trial it was decided to run an eliminating trial for motorcycles the day after for a team to represent Great Britain in the International Motor-Cycle Cup Races. An accident at Ramsey Hairpin forced-out one of the pre-race favourites and the inability of the motorcycle competitors to climb the steep Mountain Section of the course forced the organisers to use a 25-mile section of the Gordon Bennett Trial course. This ran from Douglas south to Castletown and then north to Ballacraine along the primary A3 road and returned to the start at the Quarterbridge in Douglas via Crosby and Glen Vine along the current Snaefell Mountain Course in the reverse direction. The 1905 International Motor-Cycle Cup Race for 5 laps (125 miles) was won by J.S. Campbell (Ariel) despite a fire during a pit-stop in 4 hours, 9 minutes and 36 seconds at an average race speed of 30.04 mph.
Isle of Man TT Race (1907)
The Norton Twin motorcycle which won the first Isle of Man TT races in 1907.
BAT single-cylinder motorcycle
During the 1906 International Cup for Motor-Cycles held in Austria, the event was plagued by accusations of cheating and sharp practices. A conversation on the train journey home between the Secretary of the Auto-Cycle Club, Freddie Straight and the brothers from the Matchless motorcycle company, Charlie Collier and Harry Collier and the Marquis de Mouzilly St Mars led to a suggestion for a race the following year for road touring motorcycles based on the automobile races to be held in the Isle of Man on closed public roads. The new race was proposed by the Editor of "The Motor-Cycle" Magazine at the annual dinner of the Auto-Cycle Club held in London on 17 January 1907. It was proposed that the races would run in two classes with single-cylinder machines to average 90 mpg-imp (0.031 l/km) and twin-cylinder machines to average 75 mpg-imp (0.038 l/km) fuel consumption. To emphasise the road touring nature of the motorcycles, there were regulations for the inclusion of saddles, pedals, mudguards and exhaust silencers and the first event, the 1907 Isle of Man TT race, was won by Charlie Collier at an average race speed of 38.21 mph and the winner of the twin-cylinder class was Rem Fowler riding a Norton motorcycle at an average race speed of 36.21 mph.
For the 1908 race, the fuel consumption was raised to 100 mpg-imp (0.028 l/km) for single-cylinder machines and 80 mpg-imp (0.035 l/km) for twin-cylinder machines and the use of pedals was banned. The race was won by Jack Marshall on a Triumph motorcycle at an average speed of 40.49 mph. For the 1909 Isle of Man TT races, the fuel consumption regulations was abandoned along with the use of exhaust silencers. The single-cylinder machines were limited to a capacity of 500 cc and the twin-cylinder machines to a 750 cc engine capacity. Due to the concern over increasing lap-speed, for the 1910 Isle of Man TT the capacity of the twin-cylinder machines were reduced to 670 cc. However, Harry Bowen riding a BAT twin-cylinder motorcycle increased the lap record to an average speed of 53.15 mph (85.54 km/h), later crashing-out of the 1910 event on the wooden banking at Ballacraine corner.
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| Isle of Man TT |
For the 1905 Gordon Bennett Eliminating Trial it was decided to run an eliminating trial for motorcycles the day after for a team to represent Great Britain in the International Motor-Cycle Cup Races. An accident at Ramsey Hairpin forced-out one of the pre-race favourites and the inability of the motorcycle competitors to climb the steep Mountain Section of the course forced the organisers to use a 25-mile section of the Gordon Bennett Trial course. This ran from Douglas south to Castletown and then north to Ballacraine along the primary A3 road and returned to the start at the Quarterbridge in Douglas via Crosby and Glen Vine along the current Snaefell Mountain Course in the reverse direction. The 1905 International Motor-Cycle Cup Race for 5 laps (125 miles) was won by J.S. Campbell (Ariel) despite a fire during a pit-stop in 4 hours, 9 minutes and 36 seconds at an average race speed of 30.04 mph.
Isle of Man TT Race (1907)
The Norton Twin motorcycle which won the first Isle of Man TT races in 1907.
BAT single-cylinder motorcycle
During the 1906 International Cup for Motor-Cycles held in Austria, the event was plagued by accusations of cheating and sharp practices. A conversation on the train journey home between the Secretary of the Auto-Cycle Club, Freddie Straight and the brothers from the Matchless motorcycle company, Charlie Collier and Harry Collier and the Marquis de Mouzilly St Mars led to a suggestion for a race the following year for road touring motorcycles based on the automobile races to be held in the Isle of Man on closed public roads. The new race was proposed by the Editor of "The Motor-Cycle" Magazine at the annual dinner of the Auto-Cycle Club held in London on 17 January 1907. It was proposed that the races would run in two classes with single-cylinder machines to average 90 mpg-imp (0.031 l/km) and twin-cylinder machines to average 75 mpg-imp (0.038 l/km) fuel consumption. To emphasise the road touring nature of the motorcycles, there were regulations for the inclusion of saddles, pedals, mudguards and exhaust silencers and the first event, the 1907 Isle of Man TT race, was won by Charlie Collier at an average race speed of 38.21 mph and the winner of the twin-cylinder class was Rem Fowler riding a Norton motorcycle at an average race speed of 36.21 mph.
For the 1908 race, the fuel consumption was raised to 100 mpg-imp (0.028 l/km) for single-cylinder machines and 80 mpg-imp (0.035 l/km) for twin-cylinder machines and the use of pedals was banned. The race was won by Jack Marshall on a Triumph motorcycle at an average speed of 40.49 mph. For the 1909 Isle of Man TT races, the fuel consumption regulations was abandoned along with the use of exhaust silencers. The single-cylinder machines were limited to a capacity of 500 cc and the twin-cylinder machines to a 750 cc engine capacity. Due to the concern over increasing lap-speed, for the 1910 Isle of Man TT the capacity of the twin-cylinder machines were reduced to 670 cc. However, Harry Bowen riding a BAT twin-cylinder motorcycle increased the lap record to an average speed of 53.15 mph (85.54 km/h), later crashing-out of the 1910 event on the wooden banking at Ballacraine corner.
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