1954 Isle of Man TT

The 1954 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the second race in the 1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season and proved highly controversial for TT Course and race changes.[1] The 1954 Junior TT was the first race where the official race distance was reduced from 7 laps to 5 laps. The 1954 Senior TT Race was stopped at half distance due to the weather conditions on the Mountain Section of the course.

  1954 Isle of Man TT

Race details
Race 2 of 9 races in the 1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	14–19 June 1954
Official name	Isle of Man Tourist Trophy
Location	Isle of Man TT Mountain Circuit Clypse Course (Ultra Lightweight and Sidecars)
Course	Public roads; TT Course 60.72 km (37.73 mi); Clypse Course 17.63 km (10.95 mi)
500 cc
Rider Fastest lap Rider Ray Amm Norton Podium First Ray Amm Norton Second Geoff Duke Gilera Third Jack Brett Norton
350 cc
Rider Fastest lap Rider Ray Amm Norton Podium First Rod Coleman AJS Second Derek Farrant AJS Third Bob Keeler Norton
250 cc
Rider Fastest lap Rider Werner Haas NSU Podium First Werner Haas NSU Second Rupert Hollaus NSU Third Reg Armstrong NSU
125 cc
Rider Fastest lap Rider Rupert Hollaus NSU Podium First Rupert Hollaus NSU Second Carlo Ubbiali MV Agusta Third Cecil Sandford MV Agusta
Sidecar (B2A)
Rider Fastest lap Rider Eric Oliver Norton Podium First Eric Oliver Norton Second Fritz Hillebrand BMW Third Willi Noll BMW

The first world championship event for the 1954 Isle of Man TT Races was the 350cc Junior TT Race. The race was led on lap 1 by Fergus Anderson from Gilera team-mate Ken Kavanagh by 10 seconds and Ray Amm riding for Norton a further 6 seconds adrift in 3rd place. On lap 2, Fergus Anderson retired at Kirk Michael with an engine problem and Ken Kavanagh retired at the pits with an engine mis-fire on lap 3. The race was then led by Ray Amm by 24 seconds from Rod Coleman riding for AJS motor-cycles. However, Ray Amm retired at Barregarrow on lap 5 allowing Rod Coleman to become the first New Zealander to win an Isle of Man TT Race at an average race speed of 91.54 mph.[2]

The new 10 lap (107.90 miles) Sidecar TT held on the Clypse Course was led from start to finish by Eric Oliver and passenger Les Nutt riding a Norton outfit with a "dust-bin"[3] fairing at an average speed of 68.87 mph. The Norton outfit of Bill Boddice/J.Pirie hit a bank at Creg-ny-Baa and flipped over on lap 7, but continued on to finish the race in 6th place.[4] The winner of the 1954 Lightweight TT race, Werner Haas crashed at Governor's Bridge on lap 1 of the 1954 Ultra-Lightweight TT Race, also held on the Clypse Course.[4] This allowed Rupert Hollaus to win the race in 1 hour, 33 minutes and 3.4 seconds at an average race speed of 69.57 mph. His victory was notable because he was one of only seven riders to have won an Isle of Man TT race in their first attempt.[5]

In deteriorating weather conditions and with reduced visibility on the Mountain Section of the course the 1954 Senior TT Race was held after a short delay and started at midday. Despite the conditions, Geoff Duke riding the works Gilera set a time of 25 minutes and 41.0 seconds an average speed of 88.18 mph and led Ray Amm riding for Norton by 14 seconds on lap 1.[6] On the second lap, Geoff Duke lapped in 26 minutes and 23 seconds at an average speed of 85.84 mph and Ray Amm lapped at an average speed of 86.49 to reduce the lead to just 2 seconds.[7] Further heavy rain and low cloud on the Mountain Section reduced speed further and the conditions caused John Grace and Ted Frend to retire at the TT Grandstand on lap 2 and Ray Amm used "feet-down"[4] tactics on the slower corners. The leader, Geoff Duke, decided to refuel on lap 3. Ray Amm in second place went straight through without stopping and lapped in 25 minutes and 28 seconds at an average speed of 88.93 mph and now led Geoff Duke by 32 seconds.[7] At the Windy Corner on lap 4, the visibility was down to 20 yards and a decision was made to stop the race because of the conditions. This allowed Ray Amm, due to refueling at the TT Grandstand on lap 4, to win the 1954 Senior TT Race in 1 hour, 42 minutes and 46.8 seconds at an average race speed of 88.12 mph. The controversial decision by race organisers to stop the 1954 Senior TT Race on lap 4, just as the weather started to improve, was protested by the Gilera management.[7] This was on the grounds that the works Norton team were told of the decision allowing Ray Amm to lead the race on lap 3, but the official protest was rejected by the race organisers.[8] During lap 1 of the 1954 Senior TT Race, Simon Sandys-Winsch riding a Junior Velocette crashed at the Highlander and died in hospital a few days later.[4]