1939 Isle of Man TT


The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last races until 1947 due to the interruption by World War II. It was also the last of ten Isle of Man TT victories for the 34-year-old Stanley Woods in which he won the Junior TT on a Velocette at 83.19 mph and also finished in 4th place in the Senior TT race. The 250cc Lightweight TT race was a first time winner for Ted Mellors and the Benelli marque. The Senior TT race was won by the German competitor Georg Meier on a supercharged 500CC BMW Type 255 motor-cycle.
The Austrian competitor Karl Gall riding for the works BMW team crashes at Ballaugh Bridge during an evening practice session and later dies of his injuries and the effects of pneumonia in hospital.

Junior TT (350 cc) Race final standings

Monday 12 June 1939 – 7 laps Isle of Man TT Mountain Course
RankNoRiderTeamSpeedTime
1 Stanley WoodsVelocette83.19 mph3:10.30.0
2 Harold DaniellNorton83.13 mph3:10.38.0
3 Heiner FleischmannDKW82.51 mph3:12.28.0
4 Ted MellorsVelocette82.34 mph3:12.28.0
5 David WhitworthVelocette79.58 mph3:19.09.0
6 Siegfried WünscheDKW78.87 mph3:20.57.0
7 Maurice CannNorton78.78 mph3:21.10.0
8 S. WoodVelocette78.55 mph3:22.36.0
9 Ernie ThomasVelocette48.69 mph3:26.18.0
10 Frank MussettVelocette77.60 mph3:24.14.0

Fastest Lap: Harold Daniels – 85.05 mph on lap 7.

Lightweight TT (250 cc) Race final standings

Wednesday 14 June 1939 – 7 laps Isle of Man TT Mountain Course
RankNoRiderTeamSpeedTime
1 E.A. Ted MellorsBenelli74.26 mph3:33.26.0
2 Ewald KlugeDKW72.97 mph3:37.11.0
3 H. G. Tyrell SmithExcelsior71.91 mph3:40.23.0
4 Les G. MartinExcelsior68.87 mph3:50.08.0
5 Siegfried WünscheDKW68.78 mph3:50.25.0
6 Charlie MandersExcelsior66.93 mph3:56.48.0
7 Harold HartleyExcelsior66.19 mph3:59.27.0
8 Ernie ThomasDKW65.81 mph4:00.48.0
9 S. WoodRudge65.04 mph4:03.41.0
10 Chris TattersallCTS63.95 mph4:07.50.0

Fastest Lap: Stanley Woods – 78.16 mph

Senior TT (500cc) Race final standings

Friday 16 June 1939 – 7 laps Isle of Man TT Mountain Course
RankNoRiderTeamSpeedTime
149 Georg Meier494cc BMW89.38 mph2:57.19.0
235 Jock West494cc BMW88.22 mph2:59.39.0
317 Freddie Frith499cc Norton87.96 mph3:00.11.0
410 Stanley Woods499cc Velocette87.91 mph3:00.17.0
551 John H. White499cc Norton85.92 mph3:04.27.0
619 Les Archer495cc Velocette84.31 mph3:07.58.0
728 Ted Mellors495cc Velocette83.76 mph3:09.12.0
818 S.Wood499cc Norton48.69 mph3:26.18.0
920 Maurice CannMoto Guzzi81.96 mph3:13.22.0
1040 Jack Galway499cc Norton81.37 mph3:15.00.0

Fastest Lap: Georg Meier – 90.75 mph on lap 2.