1939 Isle of Man TT

The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last race festival until 1947 due to the interruption of World War II. It was the last of ten TT victories for the 34-year-old Stanley Woods^[1] in which he won the Junior TT on a Velocette at 83.19 mph and came 4th in the Senior TT race. The Senior race was won by Georg Meier on a supercharged BMW.

Senior TT (500cc)

16 June 1939 – 7 laps (264.11 miles) Mountain Course

Rank	Rider	Team	Speed	Time
1	Georg Meier	BMW	89.38 mph	2:57:19.0
2	Jock West	BMW	88.22	2:59:39.0
3	Freddie Frith	Norton	87.96	3:00:11.0
4	Stanley Woods	Velocette	87.91	3:00:17.0
5	John H. White	Norton	85.92	3:04:27.0
6	Les Archer	Velocette	84.31	3:07:58.0
7	Ted Mellors	Velocette	83.76	3:09:12.0
8	S Wood	Norton	82.43	3:12:16.0
9	Maurice Cann	Moto Guzzi	81.96	3:13:22.0
10	Jack Galway	Norton	81.37	3:15:00.0

Junior TT (350cc)

12 June 1939 – 7 laps (264.11 miles) Mountain Course

Rank	Rider	Team	Speed	Time
1	Stanley Woods	Velocette	83.19 mph	3:10:30.0
2	Harold Daniell	Norton	83.13	3:10:38.0
3	Heiner Fleischmann	DKW	82.51	3:12:05.0
4	Ted Mellors	Velocette	82.34	3:12:28.0
5	David Whitworth	Velocette	79.58	3:19:09.0
6	Siegfried Wünsche	DKW	78.87	3:20:57.0
7	Maurice Cann	Norton	78.78	3:21:10.0
8	S. (Ginger) Wood	Velocette	78.55	3:21:45.0
9	Jimmy E. Little	Velocette	78.22	3:22:36.0
10	Frank Mussett	Velocette	77.60	3:24:14.0

Lightweight TT (250cc)

14 June 1939 – 7 laps (264.11 miles) Mountain Course

Rank	Rider	Team	Speed	Time
1	Ted Mellors	Benelli	74.26 mph	3:33:26.0
2	Ewald Kluge	DKW	72.97	3:37:11.0
3	H. G. Tyrell Smith	Excelsior	71.91	3:40:23.0
4	Les G. Martin	Excelsior	68.87	3:50:08:0
5	Siegfried Wünsche	DKW	68.78	3:50:25.0
6	Charlie Manders	Excelsior	66.93	3:56:48.0
7	Harold Hartley	Excelsior	66.19	3:59:27.0
8	Ernie Thomas	DKW	65.81	4:00:48.0
9	S. (Ginger) Wood	Rudge	65.04	4:03:41.0
10	Chris Tattersall	CTS	63.95	4:07:50.0

Notes

• Improvements to the course include road-widening and landscaping at the Water Works Corner.^[2]
• At Sulby during practice, Georg Meier riding for BMW is timed at 111 mph.^[3]
• Karl Gall riding for BMW crashes at Ballaugh Bridge during practice and later dies of his injuries and the effects of pneumonia in hospital.^[4]
• A collision occurs on Bray Hill during lap 2 of the 1939 Junior TT Races when Sven A. Sorenson riding an Excelsior collides with H. B. Waddington and David Whitworth both riding Norton motor-cycles.^[4]
• On lap 1 of the 1939 Junior TT Race, Bob Foster riding an AJS stops at the Quarterbridge to fix broken goggles. Also, Bill Beevers and H.B.Myers both riding Velocette motor-cycles crash at the Quarterbridge on the same lap.^[4]
• During lap 3 of the Junior Race, Tyrell Smith slips of his Excelsior motor-cycle at Parliament Square in Ramsey and then continues after straightening the foot-rest. At the East Mountain Gate during lap 5, Marcel Simo collides with a post and crashes his Terrot motor-cycle. He suffers head and chest injuries and is taken to hospital. Also during lap 5, Freddie Frith retires at Ballaugh after holding 2nd place in the 1939 Junior TT Race.^[4]
• The 1939 Lightweight Race is held in mixed weather conditions. On lap 2 of the Lightweight Race, Jock McCredie riding an Excelsior retires at Ballaugh with engine problems. Lap 3 and Omobono Tenni riding a Moto Guzzi stops at Ballaugh to change a spark-plug and retires and his team-mate Stanley Woods retires on lap 5 with engine problems at Crosby.^[4]

Sources

External links

• Detailed race results
• Isle of Man TT winners
• Ted Mellors winning the Lightweight TT on the Benelli image