1950 Isle of Man TT

The 1950 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy festival was the second year the Isle of Man TT races were part of the Grand Prix World Championship.[1]

After his win in the 1949 Isle of Man Clubman event, Geoff Duke entered the 1950 Isle of Man TT only to find himself racing against formidable opposition in his first Senior TT, not only from his experienced Norton team mates, Artie Bell, Harold Daniell and Johnny Lockett, but also Les Graham on an AJS Porcupine, Reg Armstrong and Bob Foster on Velocettes. Geoff was wearing a new set of one-piece leathers and he beat them all, breaking both lap and race records in the Senior, and finishing second in the Junior TT. It was the beginning of a spectacular racing career for Geoff Duke.[2]

The Norton team had the new Featherbed frame on their racing bikes that had excellent handing characteristics. It was another Norton ridden by Artie Bell that won the Junior, with Norton occupying the first three places of the Senior and Junior races. The Lightweight TT went to the Italian bikes, with first and second being Dario Ambrosini on a Benelli, and Maurice Cann on a Moto Guzzi, respectively.

As in 1949, four Clubman races were included in this year's festival; Clubman 1,000 cc, Clubman Senior, Clubman Junior and Clubman Lightweight.[3]

1950 Isle of Man Senior TT 500cc final standings

1950 – 6 Laps (236.38 Miles) Mountain Course.

Place Rider Number Machine Speed Time Points
1 United Kingdom Geoff Duke Norton 92.37 mph 2:51.45.60 8
2 United Kingdom Artie Bell Norton 90.86 mph 2:54.25.6 6
3 United Kingdom Jonny Lockett Norton 90.37 mph 2:55.22.40 4
4 United Kingdom Les Graham AJS 90.11 mph 2:55.52.0 3
5 United Kingdom Harold Daniell Norton 89.78 mph 2:56.31.0 2
6 Republic of Ireland Reg Armstrong Norton 86.83 mph 3:02.31.40 1

Sources

  1. Motorcycle GP History (Retrieved 30 October 2006)
  2. IOMTT.com Geoff Duke Isle of Man career database (retrieved 5 November 2006)
  3. IOMTT.com results database (retrieved 5 November 2006)

External links

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1949 Nations Grand Prix
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1950 Belgian Grand Prix
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1951 Isle of Man TT