Isle of Man Tt

Isle Of Man TT

Despite Protests And Boycotts, The Race Goes On

B. R. Nicholls

THE ISLE OF MAN TT races, long hailed as the greatest test of man and machine in the world, have been under fire for some time but never has the criticism been so sustained as it has over the past 12 months.

Despite improvements to the course which have included much resurfacing, the entry for 1973 was notable for the absence of virtually all the Continental circus aces with the exception of Jack Findlay and the sidecar contenders. Prize money, too, was altered so that the Senior winner now gets $2500 for hurtling around six laps of the 37.75mile course and there is no contingency money for lap leaders!

As a result of course improvements, which in the dry probably meant around 10 sec. off lap times, and better weather than for some years, speeds were much higher and 100 mph laps have now become the accepted thing from the 250 class up. Indeed, some are even thinking in terms of it happening in the sidecar classes, though that must surely be a while yet, depending on how much more resurfacing gets done.

With practice held in mainly poor weather there was little to indicate just what a feast of speed would take place in race week. Not only was 1973 notable for the high speeds, but also for the success of the elder statesmen of racing Tommy Robb and Jack Findlay.

Another feature was the dominance of the name Williams. Totally unrelated, Peter, John and Charlie headed five out of eight solo leaderboards at the end of practice and had to be considered likely winners in every race in which they started. Between them they collected three lsts, three 2nds, a 3rd and a 4th place.

The 1973 race program opened on the Saturday evening preceding race week with the three classes in one production race and the 750cc sidecar event. The production race consisted of 750, 500 and 250cc machines. The 750s left first, followed two minutes later by the 500s and 250s. Each group had a LeMans type start. Weather conditions were dull and cold.

The 750 class was obviously going to be a battle between Norton mounted Peter Williams and Tony Jefferies on a Trident. Just IVi miles out on the first lap Williams nipped in front on the right hander at Ballacraine and slowly but surely built up a commanding lead. Teammate Dave Croxford, however, failed to complete a lap as he crashed at Bungalow bridge on the mountain section without injury.

Williams was almost half a minute ahead on the third lap when the all too familiar Norton gearbox problem struck again. He was sidelined at Ramsey. That let in Jefferies, who went on to win by over half a minute from John Williams (Trident) with similarly mounted Dave Nixon 3rd.

It was no easy race, as toward the end of the third lap it poured with rain and some parts of the course had hail, numbing hands and soaking riders to the skin. Such was its ferocity that the speed trap organized by the Motor Cycle Weekly was being triggered off and that utilized an inch beam.

It was probably the rain that robbed Stan Woods (Suzuki) of victory in the 500 class, for he led that by half a minute despite a pit stop for fuel, when on the last lap the Twin went Single after a bout of misfiring. He stopped, but could find nothing wrong. That let in veteran Bill Smith (Honda) who went on to win from Woods with Keith Martin (Suzuki) 3rd.

The most interesting race was in 250 class, as the two favorites were left on the line kicking furiously as the pack tore off down the road toward Bray Hill with Tommy Robb (Honda) in the lead. Once the Yamahas of Charlie Williams and Eddie Roberts fired they set off in pursuit and by the end of the lap Williams led by eight seconds from Robb with Roberts 4th behind Peter Courtney (Kawasaki).

By the end of the second lap Roberts was up to 2nd and snatched a halfsecond lead by the end of the third, by which time it was raining and Williams was misfiring.

Just when it looked like a grandstand finish Roberts machine started misfiring in Ramsey and in the rush over the mountain Williams pulled out almost 20 seconds to win from Roberts, with Robb 3rd. The sun came out then, much to the relief of the sidecar men who were warming up for their event. The 250 class had been marred by a fatal crash at Union Mills when John Clarke (Suzuki) crashed on the first lap after a bad start.

With three world championship sidecar grand prix wins to his name so far this season, Klaus Enders was everybody's tip for both the sidecar races. He was riding in superb form-extremely fast, very safe and never using all the road as so many others were. His works prepared outfit traveled as if on rails and from the moment he started practice the question was "Who would finish 2nd?" to which the answer was equally certain—Siegfried Schauzu also on a B-M. John Brandon (Honda) was 3rd. Monday saw the start of race week proper, beginning with the 350, or Junior race as it is always called. Incredibly, there was not a works entry in the race, so it was all set to be a Yamaha private owners benefit.

With weather conditions perfect, the riders were sent off in the traditional TT manner, push starting in pairs at 10-sec. intervals for the simple reason that a mass start down Bray Hill could provide the biggest pile-up in racing history.

Mick Grant took full advantage of being number one and hurtled off, making sure by putting in a standing start lap at 103.52 mph, but causing consternation by coasting in at the end of the lap to fix the clutch linkage at the gearbox. Repairs took over 12 minutes. He set off in pursuit of the field but to no avail. The engine seized two laps later.

Grant's misfortune let in Tony Rutter, who had finished 2nd to Agostini last year. Rutter's standing start lap was 101.53 and another ton-up man was John Williams, 100.36. They led at the end of the second lap with Barry Randle 3rd, but the surprise was Ken Huggett in 4th place.

He won the 1972 Junior Manx Grand Prix and experience of the course so gained was obviously standing him in good stead. A couple of decades ago a win in the Manx often meant a works contract with an Italian factory for the next season. He turned the taps full on during the next lap to take 3rd from Randle, who was still not 100 percent fit after a couple of early season spills.

On the fifth and final circuit, Rutter with a clear lead had a heart stopping moment when his engine went dead five miles out. He waggled and shook the machine and just as suddenly it came in again.

Any hope Williams may have had of catching Rutter disappeared on the fourth lap when he lost his rear brake. What was worse, Huggett was really motoring for that 2nd spot. Despite the anxiety of that last lap lapse by his engine, Rutter went on to win with an average for the five laps of 101.99 and the fastest lap of the race at 104.22. His race average was just two seconds slower than Agostini put up last year—he might well have beaten it had the engine not cut out for those vital few seconds.

Huggett beat Williams by some 18 seconds with Randle 4th. The first four home all beat the 100 mph average for the 5-lap race.

With conditions ideal for racing the 500cc chairs lined up for their race with the crews wondering who would be 3rd. Enders and Schauzu had already proved in the 750 race that nobody could catch them and the 500 B-M has always proved faster in the Island than the overbored versions. Providing Enders had a measure of luck, there was no doubt the lap record would get broken as Enders had shattered it in practice by adding 2 mph, though practice times do not count.

It is doubtful if even Enders thought that at the end of the first lap he would be leading Schauzu by some 54 seconds and in so doing lap at 94.95, breaking his 94.32 mph lap set in 1968. He extended his lead on the second lap and set the final lap record speed of 94.93, which was faster than the old lap record.

It was hardly surprising that Schauzu was 2% minutes behind at the end, with König mounted Ralf Steinhausen 3rd, a superb performance on his first visit to the TT. Another fine first timer was Belgium's Michel Vanneste (BMW) who took 4th.

All sidecar competitors no doubt welcomed the news that Enders says he will retire at the end of the season, as his phenomenally high speed meant only six silver replicas being awarded and no bronze at all.

For the U.S. team of Candy and Fletcher it meant no replica for their 10th place, whereas they got a bronze for 13th in the 750 race. It must have been all the more galling for Candy, as 10th is his best placing ever. >

The Wednesday program was for a 250 race in the morning over four laps and the Formula 750 over five in the afternoon. It was the hardest day of the week for a rider entered in both races, particularly as competition was so keen with both men and machines very evenly matched.

The practice leaderboard had been dominated by the Williams boys John and Charlie, and it certainly seemed that they would be the main contenders for the winner's laurels, with junior race winner Tony Rutter also to be reckoned with.

That was almost how it worked out but it was not to be Rutter's day, as he struck trouble and was in 5th place at the end of the first lap. Charlie Williams was in the lead, having lapped from a standing start at 100.58 mph with namesake John 2nd at 100.05. Scots rider Bill Rae was 3rd.

That opening lap had set the pattern for the whole four laps as Charlie upped his average to 101.41 after the second lap and went on to win from John with an average of 100.05. Rae also got a ton-up lap on the final tour at 100.22. Rutter fought back to 6th place behind Alex George, with quietly consistent Derek Chatterton 4th. Yams took the first 29 places. Indeed, of the 38 finishers 33 were so mounted.

From the victory rostrum Charlie Williams went to warm up his 350 Yamaha to do battle with the big boys in the Formula 750. It was less than half the size of the 748cc John Player Nortons of Peter Williams and Mick Grant, the 746cc Honda of John Williams, the Tridents of Tony Jefferies and Selwyn Griffiths and the big Suzukis of Jack Findlay and Stan Woods, but he was an obvious candidate for a leaderboard position.

Main interest was focused on those men out of the 83 entries, for there was no doubt one of them would win. Jefferies won last year so the crowd was rooting mainly for Peter Williams, in the hope that he would at last gain his first TT victory.

From the drop of the flag Peter Williams was obviously intent on showing who was boss man as commentators around the course reported on his stylish, meteoric progress which was reflected in a first lap at 106.58 mph, handsomely beating the old lap record of 105.68 from a standing start. Behind him came the Suzukis of Findlay and Woods, then Jefferies and Grant. The first seven all lapped at over 100 mph, the other two being Geoff Barry, Oakley Seeley and Darryl Pendlebury (Trident).

With a lead of 24 seconds one could be forgiven for thinking that Peter would have eased up but he only underlined his superiority on the second lap by doing 107.27 for his fastest ever lap of the TT circuit, which increased his lead over Findlay to 55.4 seconds. It is interesting to note that only Hailwood and Agostini have bettered 107.27 and that during the historic 1967 Diamond Jubilee races.

Behind Findlay less than four seconds separated Jefferies, Grant and Woods in the next three places, while Charlie Williams had moved up from 12th at the end of lap one to 6th on lap two.

On the third lap Grant took 3rd place from Jefferies and Charlie moved to 5th with a lap at 103.16 on the 350 Yam. The overall speeds eased slightly on the fourth lap as riders refueled at the end of their third lap and the leaderboard changed when Woods jumped to 4th.

As so often happens at the TT, drama struck on the last lap when Findlay went out with gearbox trouble, letting in Grant for a Norton 1-2. Charlie blotted his copy book with a trip down the slip road at Ballacraine, which proved expensive as he lost 3rd place to Jefferies by four-fifths of a second, reducing his prize money by $125. Woods came in 5th and Huggett who had ridden so brilliantly in the Junior took his 350 Yam into 6th place. There was a special cheer for the German rider Helmut Dahne, who took 9th place on a 750 BMW at 96.79 mph. He had already finished 4th in the 750 production race for the second year running.

Weather forecasts are usually ignored in the British Isles on the basis that if one waits for the weather nothing ever gets done. The forecast for Senior day was reasonable for everywhere except Manxland, where sea mist was forecast with the chance of it lasting all day in some places. Initially it was right and so the start of racing was put back one hour. "Not enough," said some but they were proved wrong, as the last of the mist cleared 40 minutes before the delayed start.

Charlie Williams was the obvious favorite for the 125 race, although Tommy Robb had the use of Charles Mortimer's water-cooled works Yamaha entry as Mortimer was still unfit after the Monza disaster. There was no previous winner competing so a new name was destined to appear on the 125 Trophy and possibly it would be the last, as it is doubtful if the class will be run next year. It is no longer the popular event it was when Honda "Fives" and Suzuki Twins fought it out seven years ago.

From the outset it was obvious that Williams machine was not running properly and before the halfway mark on the first lap Robb had taken the lead. Dutchman Jan Kosterwinder, also on a Yam, was in second place. Kosterwinder has ridden the TT since 1970, always on Yamaha machinery, but had never finished in the first dozen before, so it was something of a surprise to see him so highly placed, though at the end of the first lap he was half a minute down on Robb. Fred Launchbury (Maico) was 3rd.

Williams was down in 6th place and two miles out on the second lap he retired with engine trouble. Launchbury retired, also, letting in Neil Tuzworth, to make it Yams 1-2-3 at the end of the second lap. The order stayed the same to the finish. Robb took the winners flag at an average speed of 88.90 mph. He first rode in the TT in 1958 and his win came in his 43rd TT race he had contested.

(Continued on page 118)

Continued from page 86

The climax of the week was the Senior TT, the most open of them all for many years and had every prospect of a two-stroke winning for the first time, possibly on an overbored 350 Yamaha, for both Rutter and Grant were so mounted but the favorite was Findlay with the 498 Suzuki. And if the two-strokes were temperamental there was always Peter Williams on the faith ful old one-lunger Arter Matchless, tuned by Tom Arter, who was celebrat ing his 61st birthday that very day. Similar machines were ridden by John Williams and David Hughes.

From the start it was obvious that Grant had his sights set on victory as he searched round the opening lap, over hauling Findlay, who had started 20 seconds ahead of him, and opening up a 34 second lead at the end of the first lap with a speed of 104.33. Then came Findlay, 101.60, a mere one-fifth of a second ahead of Peter Williams, 101.68, with Rutter (Yamaha) at 101mph, 4th.

i~jrant ucla ills lead on tile secona lap, which he completed at 104.41, but Rutter dropped out of the fight literally in Ramsey Square without injury. There was still less than two seconds between Findlay and Williams, but John Williams was in trouble so Charlie Sanby (Hi-tac Suzuki) moved into 4th and then 3rd one lap later as they all moved up one place when Grant dropped it at the same spot as Rutter, complaining bit terly that no oil flag was being shown, though it went out for the rest of the race after his crash.

There was still only five seconds between Findlay and Williams at the end of the third lap when they refueled, but for Williams it was a case of riding on the limit the whole time and not really getting anywhere, so he eased off to ensure 2nd place.

Findaly went on to win at an average of 101.55, 1'/4 minutes ahead of Wil hams, whose average of 100.62 mph was 2.6 seconds quicker than Hailwood's winning speed in 1961 on a Norton. They are the only two men to have averaged over 100 mph on a single cylinder machine in the Senior TT. Sanby was 3rd at 100.27 and to Grant went the consolation of putting up the fastest lap at 104.41, but that does not win races. The Senior this year was worth $2500 to the winner. Out of 70 starters, only 26 finished.