Frederick James Walker

Frederick James 'Frank' Walker (1876 - 19 May 1914) Kingstown, County Dublin, Ireland was an Irish motorcycle racer who competed at the Isle of Man TT races.

A hat manufacturer by trade, Frank Walker competed at the 1914 TT races riding a Royal Enfield motorcycle in the Junior TT race. After leading on the first lap, Walker suffered tyre problems and eventually dropped to sixth place. After regaining third place by lap 5, Walker ran wide into a ditch at Hillberry and was thrown over the handle-bars. After recovering his motorcycle, Walker continued on the last lap but fell at Willaston Corner on Ballanard Road after locking both wheels under braking. Again managing to continue, on the short distance to the finish his view of the finish-line was obscured by spectators who had spilled onto the road to watch the competitors cross the finish-line.[1] Passing the judges-box at the finish-line, Walker continued at full racing speed through St. Ninians Crossroads and collided with a wooden barrier across Ballaquayle Road, was thrown from his motorcycle and taken to hospital where he died of his injuries.[2] Later, Walker was posthumously declared third-place finisher by the ACU race committee in the Junior TT race won by Eric Williams.

Sources
  1. TT Guide 2003 - Motor-Cycle News EMAP Publication pp19
  2. pp208 The Magic of The TT. A Century of Racing over The Mountain by Mac McDiarmid.(2004)(1st Ed). Haynes Publishing. ISBN 1-84425-002-4
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