1907 Isle of Man TT

The 1907 Isle of Man TT races were the inaugural International Tourist Trophy for motor-cycles held on the Isle of Man. The event was held on Tuesday 28 May 1907 over the St John's Short Course consisting of a Single Cylinder and a Twin-Cylinder class. The race was ten laps of the 15 mile 1,430 yards course, a total race distance of 158 miles 220 yards (226.071 km).[1][2]

1907 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy
Date 28 May 1907
Location St John's, Isle of Man
Course St John's Short Course
15 miles, 1,470 yards (25.49 km)
Organiser The Auto-Cycle Club
Secretary F. Straight esq.
Single Cylinder class
First Charlie Collier, Matchless-JAP
Second Jack Marshall, Triumph
Third Frank Hulbert, Triumph
Fastest lap
Harry Collier
23min. 5 2/5sec. 41.81 mph
Twin Cylinder class
First Rem Fowler, Norton-Peugeot
Second Billy Wells, Vindec Special-Peugeot
Third Billy Heaton, Rex
Fastest lap
Rem Fowler
22min. 6 2/5sec. 42.91 mph (New record)
1907 Norton

At 10am on the Tuesday 28 May 1907, 25 riders started in pairs in a time-trial format for the road-legal touring motorcycles with exhaust silencers, saddles, pedals and mud-guards.[3] On lap 1, Jack Marshall riding a Triumph suffered a fall and Frank Applebee Junior a puncture to his 5 hp Rex machine. By lap 2, Stanley Webb riding a 5 hp Triumph had to stop at St. Johns to adjust a drive-belt and retired on lap 3 with an engine exhaust-valve problem.[4] At the compulsory 10‑minute replenishment stop, Oliver Godfrey had to retire when his 5 hp Rex motorcycle caught fire.[5]

The Single Cylinder class race was won by Charles R. Collier riding a Matchless in 4 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds at an average race speed of 38.21 mph. His brother Harry Collier, also riding a Matchless, had problems with an engine seizure on lap 2 and eventually retired on lap 9.[5]

The Twin-Cylinder class and overall race was initially led by Rem Fowler riding a Norton. On lap 1, Fowler completed the course in 23 minutes and 19 seconds, in second place was Billy Wells in a time of 23 minutes and 21 seconds and Charlie Collier in the single-cylinder class with a time of 23 minutes and 45 seconds. The overall lead fell away as Fowler suffered a number of problems with drive-belts and spark-plugs, and on lap 7 crashed at nearly 60 mph due to a burst tyre at the "Devils Elbow" on the Kirk Michael to Peel section of the course.[6] Fowler nearly gave up, but was told by a spectator that he led the twin-cylinder class by 30 minutes from Billy Wells and went on to win at an average race speed of 36.22 mph and set the fastest lap of the race at 42.91 mph.

1907 International Auto-Cycle Tourist Trophy

Tuesday 28 May 1907 – 10 laps (158 miles 220 yards) St. John's Short Course.

International Auto-Cycle Tourist Trophy
Pos No. Entrant Machine Single Cylinder race classification
Laps Time Speed Prizes
1 4 C.R. Collier 3½ hp Matchless-JAP 431cc 10 4:08.08.2 38.21 mph 1st Prize – Trophy, £25 and S.F. Edge's prize for best British-made machine.
2 2 J. Marshal 3½hp Triumph 475cc 10 4:19.47.3 36.60 mph 2nd Prize – £15 and G.F. Spicer's prize.
3 1 F. Hulbert 3½hp Triumph 475cc 10 4:27.49.4 35.50 mph 3rd Prize – £10
4 5 R. M. Brice 3½hp Brown 475cc 10 5:03.55.2 31.40 mph
5 14 M. Geiger 3hp NSU 331cc 10 5:10.26.0 30.60 mph Marquis de St. Mars Prize for the best Foreign-made machine.
6 8 J. C. Smythe 3hp Rex 331cc 10 5:23.40.3 29.40 mph
7 11 R. W. Ayton 3½hp Ayton-Riley Special 464cc 10 5:30.26.0 29.10 mph £5 for the 1st Private owners' machine.
8 10 F. W. Applebee 3½hp Rex 475cc 10 5:46.31.0 27.40 mph
9 17 J. P. Le Grand 3hp Two-speed G.B. 6 Finished course outside of time.
DNF 3 H. A. Collier 3½hp Matchless-JAP 9 Retired on lap 9 due to broken exhaust valve, smashed piston.
DNF 18 R.W. Duke 3½hp Triumph 8 Retired on lap 9.
DNF 15 T. Silver 3¾hp Thomas Silver 6 Retired on lap 7.
DNF 19 G. Horner 4hp Royal Cavendish-JAP 4 Retired on lap 5.
DNF 15 Stanley Webb 3½ hp Triumph 2 Retired on lap 3 due to broken valve.
DNF 12 J. D. Hamilton 3hp NSU 1 Retired on lap 2.
DNF 6 F. Winter 4hp R.O.C. 1 Retired on lap 2.
DNF 9 W. A. Jacobs 3½hp Rex 0 Crashed on first lap.
DNS 7 Howard C. Newman 4hp R.O.C. Crashed in practice.
Charles Franklin 3½hp JAP Entry withdrawn.
H.G. Cove 3½hp Minerva Entry withdrawn due to illness.
W.D. Coplestone 3½hp Peugeot Entry withdrawn. Bike was not delivered in time for him to satisfactorily test the machine before the race.
The Isle of Man Motor Co. Entry withdrawn.
Fastest lap: H. A. Collier, 23min. 5 2/5sec. 41.81 mph on lap 4.
Pos No. Competitor Bike Twin-Cylinder race classification
Laps Time Speed Prizes
1 22 R. Rem Fowler 5hp Norton-Peugeot 671.4cc 10 4:21.52.8 36.21 mph 1st Prize – Trophy, £25 and Dr. Hele-Shaw's Prize.
2 21 W.H. Wells 5hp Vindec Special-Peugeot 671.4cc 10 4:53.44.5 32.30 mph 2nd Prize – £15
3 26 W.M. Heaton 5hp Rex 725.6cc 10 5:11.03.5 30.50 mph £5 for the 1st Private owners' machine.
4 25 J.A. Dent 5hp Vindec Special-Peugeot 671.4cc 10 The Schulte prize best performance with a two-speed gear.
DNF 24 T. H. Tessier 6hp BAT-JAP 4 Retired on lap 5.
DNF 23 Harry Martin 5hp Kerry 4 Retired on lap 5 due to engine trouble.
DNF 20 O.C. Godfrey 5hp Rex 4 Bike caught fire during refueling.
DNF 27 F. Applebee jun. 5hp Rex 3 Retired on lap 4.
Fastest lap: R Rem Fowler, 22min. 6 2/5sec. 42.91 mph on lap 6.

Sources
  1. International Auto-Cycle Tourist Trophy – OFFICIAL PROGRAMME Tuesday 28 May 1907 at 10 am page 4 COURSE The Auto-Cycle Club 18 Down Street Piccadilly London, W. ® Reproduction © Isle of Man Post Office (2007)
  2. Daily Express page 5 Wednesday 29 May 1907
  3. Isle of Man TT pages 11 & 12 Charles Deane (1975) Patrick Stephens Ltd ISBN 0850591724
  4. Isle of Man Weekly Times page 3 Isle of Man Times and General Advertiser 1 June 1907
  5. The Motor Cycle dated 5 June 1907 p.446
  6. Isle of Man TT pages 12 Charles Deane (1975) Patrick Stephens Ltd ISBN 0850591724
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