1977 Formula TT Season

The 1977 Formula TT Season was the first event in the history of Formula TT and was announced by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme as the official world championship in those categories.

The Formula TT was founded in 1977 by the Isle of Man government and the Auto-Cycle Union to compensate for the FIM's withdrawal of the Tourist Trophy's world championship status and at the same time to popularize racing with production-based machines.

The winner of each class's race at the 59th Isle of Man TT also became the TT World Champion in that category.

Class-System

  • The Formula TT was divided into three classes in 1977.
    • The TT-F1 class allowed four-stroke engines with engine displacements of 600 to 1000 cc and two-stroke engines with displacements of 350 to 500 cc.
    • The TT-F2 class allowed four-stroke engines with displacements of 400 to 600 cc and two-stroke engines with displacements of 250 to 350 cc.
    • The TT-F3 class allowed four-stroke engines with displacements of 200 to 400 cc and two-stroke engines with displacements of 125 to 250 cc.

TT-F1 Class

The TT-F1 race was ironically won by Phil Read, one of the riders who had campaigned most heavily for the TT to lose its World Championship status. Read had vowed in 1972 never to return to the island. However, he did so in 1977, having been signed by Honda Britain for the Tourist Trophy.

The race itself caused controversy. It was stopped after four laps due to deteriorating weather conditions. After three laps, Ducati rider Roger Nicholls led by 22 seconds. After the fourth lap, he pitted for refueling, while Read crossed the finish line and was declared the winner.

(Snaefell Mountain Course; 4 laps = 242.8 km, the top-ten finishing riders)

Pos. Rider Machine Time Avg. Speed
1 Phil Read  Honda 1 h 33 min 19.3 s 97.02 mph
2 Roger Nicholls  Ducati + 38.7 s 96.36
3 Ian Richards  Honda + 1 min 26.7 s 95.55
4 Stan Woods  Honda + 3 min 49.7 s 93.20
5 Malcolm Lucas  BSA + 5 min 02.1 s 92.06
6 Michael Hunt  Laverda + 5 min 49.7 s 91.32
7 Roger Corbett  Triumph + 6 min 32.9 s 102.89
8 Ian Tomkinson BSA + 8 min 21.9 s 89.05
9 John Kirkby Laverda + 9 min 53.9 s 87.72
10 John Wilkinson Suzuki + 9 min 59.9 s 87.64

TT-F2 Class

The TT-F2 race was won by Honda rider Alan Jackson sr. after the leader Bill Smith retired on the last lap.

(Snaefell Mountain Course; 4 laps= 242.8 km, only eight riders reached the finish)

Pos. Rider Machine Time Avg. Speed
1 Alan Jackson sr. Honda 1 h 31 min 08.0 s 99.36 mph
2 Neil Tuxworth Honda + 1 min 24.6 s 97.84
3 Denis Casement  Honda + 3 min 50.4 s 95.34
4 John Crick  Honda + 11 min 23.2 s 88.32
5 Dennis McMillan  Triumph + 12 min 5*.4 s 87.38
6 Terry McKane  Honda + 15 min 45.0 s 84.72
7 Alistair Copeland  Benelli + 16 min 44.8 s 83.93
8 Richard Arain  Honda + 22 min 41.0 s 79.56

TT-F3 Class

(Snaefell Mountain Course; 4 laps = 242.8 km, the top-ten classified riders)

Pos. Rider Machine Time Avg. Speed
1 John Kidson Honda 1 h 37 min 04.4 s 93.28 mph
2 Brian Peters Suzuki + 5 min 15.0 s 88.49
3 Abe Walsh Honda + 5 min 23.6 s 88.37
4 Graham Bentman Honda + 6 min 04.8 s 87.78
5 Fred Launchbury Maico + 7 min 14.2 s 86.83
6 Mal Kirwan Honda + 7 min 53.0 s 86.27
7 Nev Watts Honda + 10 min 34.6 s 84.11
8 Richard Stevens Yamaha + 11 min 27.6 s 84.43
9 John Riley Yamaha + 12 min 06.6 s 82.98
10 Paul Feist Yamaha + 12 min 26.6 s 82.68

See also

  • Vincent Glon. "FIM TT Formula Cup 1977" (in French). racingmemo.free.fr. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  • "Isle of Man TT 1977". www.iomtt.com. Retrieved 5 April 2022. 
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