1910 Isle of Man TT (pics+video). Race #4

The regulations changed once again for the 1910 race, which was held at the end of May.

Start of a race at St John's, 1910 TT

This proved to be the last TT on the St John's Course, which now featured a wooden banking section to protect the riders from the jagged wall at the left-hander at Ballacraine.

The motorcycle industry had really got the message that racing was the perfect way to test products and parts and 83 machines were entered, half of them twins. The TT was turning into a tough, competitive battle to improve sales between the factories. It was an exciting time and exactly what Freddie Straight had envisaged when he drew up that first set of regulations.

There were worries about the speed of the modern machinery, with the twins lapping at over 50 mph. Because of this, and their success the year before, their capacity was reduced to 670cc, but, as in modern times, the restriction made no difference to the bikes' record-breaking performances. In fact, the record lap speed was increased to 53.15 mph by Harry Bowen on his BAT twin, although he failed to finish when he crashed on that wooden banking at Ballacraine.

The race was a great triumph for the Collier brothers and their twin-cylinder Matchless machines. Charlie won at a record-breaking 50.63 mph, with Harry second in front of the single-cylinder Triumph of Billy Creyton. They did not have it all their own way, however, with the BAT twins giving them an especially hard time until forced out. The German NSU concern had also produced a very quick twin; the race was becoming more international and was talked about throughout the Continent.

TT Winners:
№1 Charlie Collier, Matchless - Prize - Trophy and £40
№2 Harry Collier, Matchless - Prize - £20.
№3 Walter Creyton, Triumph - Prize - £10
№4 W. Creyton, Triumph - Prize - Silver Cup and £5 5s for the 1st Private owners' machine.
№5 Jack Scriven, Rex - Prize - Silver Cup and £2 2s for the 2nd Private owners' machine
№6 J. Marshall, Triumph

Fastest lap: Harold Bowen, BAT; 17min. 51sec. 53.15 mph (New record)

This image appears online frequently, usually captioned "Syd Justien Tessier, on a 1910 Bat". However, Wikipedia says of the same image that the rider is Harold Bowen.

Neville Owen Soresby, 'Peco' number 41

W.H. Bashall (5HP B.A.T) with machine number 10 on fire, 1910 TT

Rider number 43 rounding Ramsey Hairpin with John Bull tyre advertisement visible behind, 1910

Vintage Road Racing at the 1910 Isle of Man TT

#race #tt #tt1910 #triumph #matchless