1939 Isle of Man TT

The 1939 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the last race festival until 1947 due to the interruption by 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

RankRiderTeamSpeedTime
1Nazi Germany Georg MeierBMW89.38 mph2:57:19.0
2United Kingdom Jock WestBMW88.222:59:39.0
3United Kingdom Freddie FrithNorton87.963:00:11.0
4Republic of Ireland Stanley WoodsVelocette87.913:00:17.0
5United Kingdom John H. WhiteNorton85.923:04:27.0
6United Kingdom Les ArcherVelocette84.313:07:58.0
7United Kingdom Ted MellorsVelocette83.763:09:12.0
8United Kingdom S WoodNorton82.433:12:16.0
9United Kingdom Maurice CannMoto Guzzi81.963:13:22.0
10South Africa Jack GalwayNorton81.373:15:00.0

Junior TT (350cc)

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

RankRiderTeamSpeedTime
1Republic of Ireland Stanley WoodsVelocette83.19 mph3:10:30.0
2United Kingdom Harold DaniellNorton83.133:10:38.0
3Nazi Germany Heiner FleischmannDKW82.513:12:05.0
4United Kingdom Ted MellorsVelocette82.343:12:28.0
5United Kingdom David WhitworthVelocette79.583:19:09.0
6Nazi Germany Siegfried WünscheDKW78.873:20:57.0
7United Kingdom Maurice CannNorton78.783:21:10.0
8United Kingdom S. (Ginger) WoodVelocette78.553:21:45.0
9United Kingdom Jimmy E. LittleVelocette78.223:22:36.0
10Australia Frank MussettVelocette77.603:24:14.0

Lightweight TT (250cc)

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

RankRiderTeamSpeedTime
1United Kingdom Ted MellorsBenelli74.26 mph3:33:26.0
2Nazi Germany Ewald KlugeDKW72.973:37:11.0
3Republic of Ireland H. G. Tyrell SmithExcelsior71.913:40:23.0
4United Kingdom Les G. MartinExcelsior68.873:50:08:0
5Nazi Germany Siegfried WünscheDKW68.783:50:25.0
6Republic of Ireland Charlie MandersExcelsior66.933:56:48.0
7United Kingdom Harold HartleyExcelsior66.193:59:27.0
8United Kingdom Ernie ThomasDKW65.814:00:48.0
9United Kingdom S. (Ginger) WoodRudge65.044:03:41.0
10United Kingdom Chris TattersallCTS63.954:07:50.0

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

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-31. MCB A Brief History of the TT Races (Retrieved 28 October 2006)
  2. Isle of Man Weekly Times dated 13 May 1939.
  3. TT Special 1939 edited by G.S.Davison
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Isle of Man Weekly Times dated 17 June 1939.
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