1938 Isle of Man TT

The 1938 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw the Senior TT lap record of 90.27 mph set by Freddie Frith the previous year broken in 1938 when Harold Daniell completed a lap at 91.00 mph on his Norton, a record which would stand for 12 years.[1] He won, beating Stanley Woods by only 14.4 seconds. Stanley Woods won the Junior, with Harold Daniell coming fifth, while Ewald Kluge on a DKW won the Lightweight. Kluge was the second Lightweight TT winning non-British rider in a row, Omobono Tenni having won the previous year.

Between 1931 and 1937 Norton had six Senior-TT wins with the long-stroke CamShaft One (CS1) engine. Norton entered the 1938 Senior TT with a new short-stroke engine, new telescopic front forks, and won for the 7th time, with rider Harold Daniell.[2]

Eric Oliver, who later won 4 sidecar World Championships, was entered this year, but retired his Norton from the Junior TT with a broken chain.[3]

Senior TT (500cc)

Rank Rider Team Speed Time
1 Harold Daniell Norton 89.11 2.57.50.6
2 Stanley Woods Velocette 88.99 2:58.05.8
3 Freddie Frith Norton 88.98 2:58.07.4
4 John H. White Norton 87.14 3:01.52.0
5 Jock West BMW 85.92 3:04.27.0
6 Ted Mellors Velocette 84.67 3:07.10.0
7 Les Archer Velocette 81.39 3:14.43.0
8 Johnny Galway Norton 81.23 3:15.36.0
9 Jock Weddell Norton 78.31 3:22.22.0
10 Ken Boardman Norton 78.28 3:22.28.0

Junior TT (350cc)

Rank Rider Team Speed Time
1 Stanley Woods Velocette 84.08 mph 3.08.30.0
2 Ted Mellors Velocette 82.4 3:12.20.0
3 Freddie Frith Norton 82.35 3:12.27.0
4 John H. White Norton 82.14 3:12.56.0
5 Harold Daniell Norton 80.54 3:16.32.0
6 David Whitworth Velocette 78.49 3:21.54.0
7 Norman Croft Norton 76.45 3:27.16.0
8 Jack Williams Norton 76.23 3:27.39.0
9 Roger Loyer Velocette 76.1 3:28.15.0
10 Harry Craine Norton 75.58 3:29.42.0

Lightweight TT (250cc)

Rank Rider Team Speed Time
1 Ewald Kluge DKW 78.48 mph 3.21.56.0
2 Ginger Wood Excelsior 74.38 3:33.06.0
3 Henry Tyrell-Smith Excelsior 73.62 3:35.16.0
4 Maurice Cann Excelsior 72.07 3:39.54.0
5 Charlie Manders Excelsior 71.68 3:41.06.0
6 Jack Forbes Excelsior 70.98 3:43.16.0
7 Les G. Martin Excelsior 70.77 3:43.56.0
8 George Paterson New Imperial 69.62 3:47.39.0
9 Johnny Galway Excelsior 68.87 3:50.07.0
10 Stan Miller OK-Supreme 68.65 3:50.51.0

Notes

  • Improvements to the course include road-widening and resurfacing work at Greeba Bridge, Sulby Straight and the 26th Milestone.

Sources

  1. ^ "Isle of Man TT Circuit". Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2006. MCB TTraces (Retrieved 1 November 2006)
  2. ^ "Short descriptions of legendary motorcycles of the 20th century from Matchless to Rudge". Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2006.Krackowizer Motorcycles M – R (Retrieved 18 November 2006)
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 September 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) MCB FoTTofinders (Retrieved 1 November 2006)