1922 Isle of Man TT

The 1922 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy introduced a new race, within a race, for 250 cc motorcycles called the Lightweight TT, to be run concurrently with the already-established Junior 350 cc that took place on Tuesday 30 May, and Senior 500 cc race on Thursday 1 June.

The new third race was achieved by splitting the 250 cc machines away from, but run simultaneously with, the 350 cc machines that had previously been racing together in the up-to-350 cc engine-capacity limit. Thirty three lightweights started first before the 350 cc machines,^[1] and the fastest lap was achieved by Wal Handley on an OK-Supreme at 51 mph (82 km/h). The win by Geoff S Davison on a Levis was the last TT win for a British two-stroke motorcycle.^[2]

By winning the 350 cc race, Tom Sheard became the first Manxman to win a Tourist Trophy race, with an average speed of 54.75 mph (88.11 km/h), covering 188.75 miles (303.76 km).^[3] Seventeen-year-old Stanley Woods attained fifth position on a Cotton with a time of 3hrs 50min 33secs, despite having to contend with a broken exhaust pipe and a pit-fire that set both man and machine ablaze.^[4]

Walter Brandish, placed second in the 500 cc race would become, in 1923, the first rider to have a bend on the course named after him (Brandish Corner). He just failed – by 22 seconds – to break the four-hour time that the winner Alec Bennett achieved for the first time in a six-lap race that he led from start to finish, with a new lap record of 59.99 mph (96.54 km/h).^[5] This was the last TT win by a side-valve machine.^[6]

It was held on Tuesday, May 30, 1922 at 10:00 am over a distance of 188.75  miles, 5 laps of 37.75 miles each. Lightweight machines were limited of cylinder capacity not exceeding 250cc., they ran concurrently with Junior TT machines of 350cc. Riders started off at intervals of half-a-minute. All 32 entries started the race in Lightweight class and 14 finished. Out of 37 entries in Junior, 35 started and 16 finished.^[7]

The 11th International Isle of Man Tourist Trophy[8]
Pos # Rider Bike Cyl. Lightweight TT race classification Laps Time Speed Prizes & Remarks 1 11 Geoff S. Davison 247cc Levis 1 5 3:46.56.8 49.89 mph 1st Prize - Winner of Lightweight Tourist Trophy, £30 and special gold medal. 2 31 Dan Young 249cc Rex-Acme 1 5 4:00.17.6 47.12 mph 2nd Prize - £20 and replica 1st Private entry. 3 9 Stanley J. Jones 249cc Velocette 1 5 4:01.31.6 46.90 mph 3rd Prize - £10 and replica. 4 32 L. Padley 249cc Sheffield-Henderson 1 5 4:04.41.0 46.29 mph Replica. 5 1 Doug Prentice 249cc New Imperial 1 5 4:11.09.0 45.10 mph Replica. 6 30 Lieut. Charlie North 249cc OK Junior 1 5 4:16.15.2 44.28 mph Replica. 7 4 Neville Hall 249cc OK Junior 1 5 4:19.07.4 43.68 mph 8 4 C.H. Hopwood 247cc Levis 1 5 4:30.03.2 41.83 mph 9 25 L. Nicholson 248cc Coulson 1 5 4:31.17.6 41.83 mph 10 16 R.W. Loughton 249cc Francis-Barnett 1 5 4:39.28.0 40.56 mph Fastest lap: Wal Handley, 44min. 24sec. 51.00 mph (New record)[9]
Pos # Rider Bike Cyl. Junior TT race classification Laps Time Speed Prizes & Remarks 1 44 Tom Sheard 348cc AJS 1 5 3:26.48.2 54.75 mph 1st Prize - Winner of Junior Trophy, £30 and a special gold medal. 2 53 George Grinton 348cc AJS 1 5 3:37.17.8 52.10 mph 2nd Prize - £20 and replica. 3 50 Jack Thomas 348cc Sheffield-Henderson 1 5 3:47.28.6 49.79 mph 3rd Prize - £10 and replica. 4 65 Reg. Lucas 348cc Coulson 1 5 3:50.10.0 49.19 mph Replica. 1st Private entry. 5 40 Stanley Woods 348cc Cotton 1 5 3:50.32.2 49.13 mph Replica. 2nd Private entry. 6 69 Jack Haslam 346cc Douglas 2 5 4:05.22.0 46.16 mph 3rd Private entry. 7 63 Percy A. Newman 349cc Ivy 1 5 4:05.46.2 46.16 mph 8 56 George Shepherd 348cc Edmund 1 5 4:07.26.0 45.79 mph 9 37 John Bance 348cc OEC Blackburne 1 5 4:08.12.6 45.63 mph 10 54 T.A. Jones 349cc Ivy 1 5 4:10.38.0 45.19 mph 11 66 Harry Brockbank 348cc Cotton 1 5 4:12.27.8 44.85 mph 12 67 Roland Flint 349cc Ivy 1 5 4:13.38.8 44.64 mph 13 39 A.W. Muirhead 346cc DOT 1 5 4:17.15.2 44.01 mph 14 68 Herbert Chambers 348cc AJS 1 5 4:42.05.6 40.14 mph 15 41 Freddy Morgan 348cc Cotton 1 5 4:58.10.0 37.98 mph 16 59 Sammy A. Dale 348cc New Scale 1 5 5:16.53.0 35.72 mph Fastest lap: Bert le Vack, 40min. 7sec. 56.46 mph (New record)[10]

It was held on Thursday, June 1, 1922 at 10:00 am over a distance of 226.50  miles, 6 laps of 37.75 miles each. Senior TT machines were limited of cylinder capacity not exceeding 500cc. All 67 entries started the race, comprising 56 four-stroke Singles, 5 two-stroke Twins, 5 four-stroke Flat Twins and 1 four-stroke V Twin. Twenty-two riders finished the race.^[11]

The 11th International Isle of Man Tourist Trophy[12]

Pos # Rider Bike Cyl. Senior TT race classification Laps Time Speed Prizes & Remarks 1 44 Alec Bennett 492cc Sunbeam 1 6 3.53.00.2 58.33 mph 1st Prize - Winner of Senior Tourist Trophy, £50 and special gold medal. 2 4 Walter Brandish 499cc Triumph 1 6 4.00.22.6 56.52 mph 2nd Prize - £35 and replica. 3 66 Harry Langman 486cc Scott 2 6 4:02.14.8 56.09 mph 3rd Prize - £15 and replica. 4 5 Clarrie Wood 486cc Scott 2 6 4:06.10.0 55.20 mph Replica. 5 15 Graham Walker 490cc Norton 1 6 4:09.08.0 54.55 mph Replica. Entered as replacement rider of Victor Horsman entry. 6 2 Tommy de la Hay 492cc Sunbeam 1 6 4:14.05.0 53.48 mph Replica. 7 6 Alfie Alexander 496cc Douglas 2 6 4:15.56.0 53.30 mph Replica. 8 41 Vivan Olsson 492cc Sunbeam 1 6 4:16.27.0 52.99 mph Replica. 9 41 Geoff Clapham 486cc Scott Squirrel 2 6 4:18.03.4 52.67 mph Replica. 10 59 Jimmy Adamson 490cc Norton 1 6 4:19.13.6 52.41 mph Replica. 11 42 Douglas Davidson 498.8cc Indian 1 6 4:28.37.0 50.60 mph 12 52 Ossie Wade 348cc AJS 1 6 4:32.51.0 49.80 mph 13 47 Frank Halford 499cc Triumph 1 6 4:33.28.0 49.70 mph 14 8 Oliver Baldwin 499cc Rudge 1 6 4:33.37.0 49.67 mph 15 36 R.M. Knowles 490cc Norton 1 6 4:35.31.0 49.41 mph 16 25 George Strange 490cc Sheffield-Henderson 1 6 4:37.15.0 49.01 mph 17 26 Geoff S. Davison 492cc Sunbeam 1 6 4:51.25.0 46.63 mph 18 60 Edward Mundey 496.5cc New Hudson 1 6 4:58.10.0 45.58 mph 19 57 George Cowley, Sr. 492cc Sunbeam 1 6 5:03.19.0 44.80 mph 20 19 Charlie Waterhouse, jun. 499cc Sunbeam 1 6 5:12.58.0 43.40 mph 21 18 Graham Black 490cc Norton 1 6 5:16.48.0 42.90 mph 22 7 George H. Tucker 490cc Norton 1 6 5:42.43.0 39.61 mph Fastest lap: Alec Bennett, 37min. 46sec. 59.99 mph (New record)

• Detailed race results