1954 Isle of Man TT


The 1954 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the second race in the 1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season and proved highly controversial for TT Course and race changes. The 1954 Junior TT was the first race where the official race distance was reduced from 7 laps to 5 laps. The 1954 Senior TT Race was stopped at half distance due to the weather conditions on the Mountain Section of the course.
The first world championship event for the 1954 Isle of Man TT Races was the 350cc Junior TT Race. The race was led on lap 1 by Fergus Anderson from Gilera team-mate Ken Kavanagh by 10 seconds and Ray Amm riding for Norton a further 6 seconds adrift in 3rd place. On lap 2, Fergus Anderson retired at Kirk Michael with an engine problem and Ken Kavanagh retired at the pits with an engine mis-fire on lap 3. The race was then led by Ray Amm by 24 seconds from Rod Coleman riding for AJS motor-cycles. However, Ray Amm retired at Barregarrow on lap 5 allowing Rod Coleman to become the first New Zealander to win an Isle of Man TT Race at an average race speed of 91.54 mph.
The new 10 lap Sidecar TT held on the Clypse Course was led from start to finish by Eric Oliver and passenger Les Nutt riding a Norton outfit with a "dust-bin" fairing at an average speed of 68.87 mph. The Norton outfit of Bill Boddice/J.Pirie hit a bank at Creg-ny-Baa and flipped over on lap 7, but continued on to finish the race in 6th place. The winner of the 1954 Lightweight TT race, Werner Haas crashed at Governor's Bridge on lap 1 of the 1954 Ultra-Lightweight TT Race, also held on the Clypse Course. This allowed Rupert Hollaus to win the race in 1 hour, 33 minutes and 3.4 seconds at an average race speed of 69.57 mph. His victory was notable because he was one of only seven riders to have won an Isle of Man TT race in their first attempt.
In deteriorating weather conditions and with reduced visibility on the Mountain Section of the course the 1954 Senior TT Race was held after a short delay and started at midday. Despite the conditions, Geoff Duke riding the works Gilera set a time of 25 minutes and 41.0 seconds an average speed of 88.18 mph and led Ray Amm riding for Norton by 14 seconds on lap 1. On the second lap, Geoff Duke lapped in 26 minutes and 23 seconds at an average speed of 85.84 mph and Ray Amm lapped at an average speed of 86.49 to reduce the lead to just 2 seconds. Further heavy rain and low cloud on the Mountain Section reduced speed further and the conditions caused John Grace and Ted Frend to retire at the TT Grandstand on lap 2 and Ray Amm used "feet-down" tactics on the slower corners. The leader, Geoff Duke, decided to refuel on lap 3. Ray Amm in second place went straight through without stopping and lapped in 25 minutes and 28 seconds at an average speed of 88.93 mph and now led Geoff Duke by 32 seconds. At the Windy Corner on lap 4, the visibility was down to 20 yards and a decision was made to stop the race because of the conditions. This allowed Ray Amm, due to refueling at the TT Grandstand on lap 4, to win the 1954 Senior TT Race in 1 hour, 42 minutes and 46.8 seconds at an average race speed of 88.12 mph. The controversial decision by race organisers to stop the 1954 Senior TT Race on lap 4, just as the weather started to improve, was protested by the Gilera management. This was on the grounds that the works Norton team were told of the decision allowing Ray Amm to lead the race on lap 3, but the official protest was rejected by the race organisers. During lap 1 of the 1954 Senior TT Race, Simon Sandys-Winsch riding a Junior Velocette crashed at the Highlander and died in hospital a few days later.

Race results

1954 Clubmans Senior Results

10 June 1954 – Mountain Course
RankRiderTeamSpeedTime
1 Alistair KingBSA85.76 mph1:45.36.0
2 J Ben DentonBSA85.69 mph1:45.41.6
3 Ewan HaldaneBSA85.26 mph1:46.12.2
4 Tony A OvensTriumph84.47 mph1:46.42.2
5 M R BaigentBSA84.74 mph1:46.51.8
6 Percy TaitBSA84.58 mph1:47.05.0
7 Dave ChadwickNorton83.20 mph1:47.05.0
8 Eric CheersTriumph76.53 mph1:58.20.0
9 Len R KingTriumph82.92 mph1:50.17.2
10 Eddie DowBSA81.40 mph1:50.33.0

1954 Clubmans Junior Results

10 June 1954 – Mountain Course
RankRiderTeamSpeedTime
1 Phillip PalmerBSA81.83 mph1:50.39.4
2 Des A WrightBSA81.68 mph1:51.50.8
3 Jimmy W DavieBSA81.66 mph1:50.54.4
4 A Sandy BowieBSA81.56 mph1:51.06.0
5 Geoff TannerNorton81.54 mph1:51.04.0
6 George E ArnoldBSA81.20 mph1:51.30.8
7 Jimmy BuchanBSA80.75 mph1:52.08.6
8 Willie GibsonBSA80.05 mph1:53.08.0
9 J MuirNorton79.70 mph1:53.08.0
10 Bill RobertsonBSA78.37 mph1:55.33.0

1954 Isle of Man Junior TT 350cc final standings

14 June 1954 – 5 Laps Mountain Course.
PlaceRiderNumberCountryMachineSpeedTimePoints
1 Rod ColemanNew ZealandAJS91.51 mph2:03.41.88
2 Derek FarrantBritainAJS90.14 mph2:05.35.06
3 Bob KeelerBritainNorton90.03 mph2:04.43.64
4 Leo T SimpsonNew ZealandAJS89.17 mph2:06.58.83
5 Peter A DaveyBritainNorton88.13 mph2:08.26.42
6 John R ClarkBritainAJS90.49 mph2:08.26.41

1954 Isle of Man Lightweight TT 250cc final standings

14 June 1954 – 3 Laps Mountain Course.
PlaceRiderNumberCountryMachineSpeedTimePoints
1 Werner HaasGermanyNSU90.88 mph1:14.44.48
2 Rupert HollausAustriaNSU89.99 mph1:15.28.66
3 Reg ArmstrongBritainNSU89.92 mph1:15.31.84
4 Hermann Paul MüllerGermanyNSU88.87 mph1:16.25.63
5 Fergus AndersonBritainMoto Guzzi86.48 mph1:18.32.22
6 Hans BaltisbergerGermanyNSU86.46 mph1:18.33.61

1954 Isle of Man Ultra-Lightweight TT 125cc final standings

16 June 1954 – 10 Laps Clypse Course.
PlaceRiderNumberCountryMachineSpeedTimePoints
1 Rupert HollausAustriaNSU69.57 mph1:33.03.48
2 Carlo UbbialiItalyMV Agusta69.52 mph1:37.07.46
3 Cecil SandfordBritainMV Agusta66.35 mph1:37.35.84
4 Hans BaltisbergerGermanyNSU65.78 mph1:38.25.23
5 Ivor LloydCanadaMV Agusta62.68 mph1:43.16.62
6 Brian PurslowBritainMV Agusta60.84 mph1:46.24.61

1954 Sidecar TT final standings

16 June 1954 – 10 Laps Clypse Course.
PlaceRiderNumberCountryMachineSpeedTimePoints
1 Eric Oliver/Les NuttBritainNorton68.87 mph1:34.00.28
2 Fritz Hillebrand/M.GrünwaldGermanyBMW67.48 mph1:35.56.26
3 Willi Noll/Fritz CronGermanyBMW65.22 mph1:39.16.44
4 Walter Schneider/H.StraussGermanyBMW64.45 mph1:40.27.43
5 Jacques Drion/Inge StollFranceNorton61.91 mph1:41.18.82
6 Bill Boddice/J.PirieBritainNorton62.28 mph1:43.22.81

1954 Isle of Man Senior TT 500cc final standings

Friday 18 June 1954 – 4 Laps Mountain Course.
PlaceRiderNumberCountryMachineSpeedTimePoints
1 Ray Amm93RhodesiaNorton88.12 mph1:42.46.88
2 Geoff Duke76BritainGilera87.19 mph1:43.52.66
3 Jack Brett56BritainNorton86.04 mph1:45.15.24
4 Reg Armstrong53BritainGilera86.63 mph1:45.45.63
5 Rudy Allison64South AfricaNorton83.85 mph1:48.06.62
6 Gordon Laing22AustraliaNorton83.85 mph1:48.37.21