The 1921 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Junior 350 cc race took place on Tuesday 14 June and the Senior 500 cc was on Thursday 16 June.

In this year AJS redeemed themselves by completing a hat trick, taking the first four places for a total of six of the top ten places in the Junior 350 cc race. Works teams boosted the entries to 133 riders and machines and amongst the thousands of spectators was Stanley Woods, making his first visit to the island as a young man, who would later return to make TT history by winning 10 times. ^[1]

The Junior race speeds also rose considerably over the previous year with a lap speed of more than 50 mph (80 km/h). It had been suggested that sidecar racing could start in 1921 but this idea was not well received and not implemented until 1923. ^[1] It was announced there was a possibility of moving the TT races to Belgium for 1922 but the Auto-Cycle Union never made the switch. ^[2]

Despite AJS motorcycles filling the first five places of the Junior race, it was punctures that decided the race outcome. The eventual winner of the 1921 Junior TT Race was Eric Williams riding an AJS in 3 hours, 37 minutes and 23 seconds, an average race speed of 52.10 mph (83.85 km/h). The race was initially led by Howard R Davies also riding for AJS who set a new lap record for the Junior race of 41 minutes and 4 seconds, an average speed of 55.15 mph (88.76 km/h). Time lost by Howard Davies mending a puncture at Windy Corner gave the lead to Jim Whalley riding a Massey-Arran motorcycle. On the last lap Whalley also punctured at Windy Corner and finished the Junior race in fifth place. New Imperial made sales-boosting news with a win in the Lightweight 250 cc class by rider Doug Prentice, coming tenth overall in the 350 cc Junior race. ^{[1] [3]}

More drama was to follow in the Senior event as the race-lead changed every lap between Alec Bennett riding a Sunbeam, Freddie W.Dixon riding an Indian, and Freddie Edmond riding a Triumph who set a new lap record of 40 minutes and 8 seconds, an average speed of 56.40 mph (90.77 km/h). The Senior race was eventually won by Howard Davies riding a 350 cc Junior race motorcycle, by a margin of 2 minutes and 3 seconds from Freddie Dixon and Bert Le Vack in 4 hours, 9 minutes and 22 seconds, at an average race speed of 54.49 mph (87.69 km/h).

Race results

Junior TT 350cc

Held on Tuesday, June 14, at 9:30 am over a distance of 188.75  miles (5 laps of 37.75 miles each), limited to machines of cylinder capacity not exceeding 350cc., with a class for 250 cc. engines run concurrently for The Motor Cycle cup. ^[4] All 65 entries started the race (43 in 350cc class, 22 in 250cc class), comprising 33 four-stroke singles, 22 two-stroke singles, 7 Flat Twins and 3 V Twin, thirty-eight finished (25 in 350cc class, 13 in 250cc class).

The 10th International Isle of Man Tourist Trophy [5]

Pos # Rider Bike Cyl. Junior TT and Lightweight class race classification Laps Time Speed Prizes & Remarks 1 52 Eric Williams 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 5 3.37.23 52.21 mph 1st Prize - Winner of Junior Tourist Trophy, £40 and gold medal. 2 59 Howard R Davies 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 5 3.41.10 51.15 mph 2nd Prize - £20 and gold medal. 3 59 Tom Sheard 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 5 3.49.09 49.45 mph 3rd Prize - £10 and gold medal. 4 32 George Kelly 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 5 3.49.22 49.40 mph Gold medal. 5 23 Jim Whalley 2¾ hp Massey-Arran 348cc 1 5 3.52.39 48.70 mph Gold medal. 6 57 Ossie Wade 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 5 3.59.02 47.40 mph Gold medal. 7 48 W. Howarth 2¾ hp DOT 346cc 1 5 4.05.14 46.25 mph Gold medal. 8 38 Harry Harris 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 5 4.10.09 45.30 mph 9 39 R. Carey 2¾ hp Blackburne 348cc 1 5 4.12.14 44.90 mph 10 24 Doug Prentice 2¼ hp New Imperial (249 cc JAP) 1 5 4.12.37 44.80 mph 1st in Lightweight class - Winner of The Motor Cycle Trophy and a gold medal. Fastest lap: Howard Davies, 41min. 4sec. 55.15 mph (New record) [5]

Senior TT

Held on Thursday, June 16, at 9:30 am over a distance of 226.50  miles (6 laps of 37.75 miles each), limited to machines of cylinder capacity not exceeding 500cc. ^[5] Out of 68 entries, comprising 52 four-stroke singles, 9 four-stroke twins, 6 two-stroke twins and 1 two-stroke single, sixty-four started the race and twenty-four finished.

The 10th International Isle of Man Tourist Trophy [5]

Pos # Rider Bike Cyl. Senior TT race classification Laps Time Speed Prizes & Remarks 1 2 Howard R. Davies 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 6 4.09.22 54.49 mph 1st Prize - Winner of Senior Tourist Trophy, £50 and gold medal. 2 65 Freddie Dixon 3½ hp Indian 498.8cc 1 6 4.11.35 54.02 mph 2nd Prize - £25 and gold medal. 3 32 Bert le Vack 3½ hp Indian 498.8cc 1 6 4.12.06 53.91 mph 3rd Prize - £15 and gold medal. 4 9 Alec Bennett 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 6 4.14.11 53.47 mph Gold medal. 5 60 Jack Watson-Bourne 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 6 4.18.55 52.49 mph Gold medal. 6 62 Leslie Mitchell 3½ hp Norton 490cc 1 6 4.24.04 51.46 mph Gold medal. 7 48 Freddie Edmond 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 6 4.24.06 51.46 mph Gold medal. 8 67 George Dance 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 6 4.24.25 Gold medal. Rode last 4 laps on top gear with a broken gearbox [6] 9 61 Tom Sheard 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 6 4.26.42 Gold medal. 10 14 Frank Townshend 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 6 4.27.51 Gold medal. 11 34 Douggie Alexander 3½ hp Norton 490cc 1 6 4.29.30 Gold medal. 12 44 Billie Hollowell 3½ hp Norton 490cc 1 6 4.30.18 Gold medal. 1st Private entry. 13 52 Walter Brandish, Junr. 3½ hp Rover 499cc 1 6 4.30.36 Gold medal. 14 59 Harry Harris 2¾ hp AJS 349cc 1 6 4.30.53 Gold medal. 15 51 Noel Brown 3½ hp Indian 498.8cc 1 6 4.34.00 Gold medal. 16 29 George Shemans 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 6 4.34.14 Gold medal. 17 28 R.W. Stanfield 3½ hp Scott 486cc 2 6 4.39.04 1st Twin-cylinder. 18 54 Ray Braid 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 6 4.43.44 19 27 M.H. Edmunds 3½ hp Triumph 498.78cc 1 6 4.50.15 20 45 Norman Black 3½ hp Douglas 494cc 2 6 4.52.21 21 21 George Strange 3½ hp James 496cc 2 6 5.00.20 22 15 J.W. Moffat 3½ hp Scott 486cc 2 6 5.04.41 23 17 Vivian Olsson 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 6 5.21.33 24 6 Albert Milner 3½ hp Sunbeam 499cc 1 6 5.27.08 Fastest lap: Freddie Edmond, 40min. 8sec. 56.40 mph (New record) [5]

References

External links

• Detailed race results
• Isle of Man TT winners