Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event traditionally held over the last week in May and the first week in June. The Senior TT is the Blue Riband event of the festival that takes place on the Friday of race week with ‘The Marquis de Mouzilly St. Mars trophy’ awarded to the winner.

The event was part of the FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship during the period 1949–1976, before being transferred to the United Kingdom after safety concerns, becoming the British Grand Prix under the FIM from the 1977 GP season.

Until 2012, the Senior TT had never been cancelled except during the two World Wars and during travel restrictions associated with the animal foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. However, during the 2012 TT Races, with inclement weather on the day prior to its traditional Friday race day (8 June), the decision was taken to postpone racing until the following day, Saturday, 9 June. Consequently, a course inspection was made, and following a meeting between riders and officials, the decision was made to cancel the running of the Senior race for safety reasons.

Engine Capacity

The 1911 TT races was the first time the Senior TT race took place and was open to 500 cc single-cylinder and 585 cc twin-cylinder motorcycles. It was won by Oliver Godfrey riding an Indian, at an average speed of 47.63 mph over five laps of the Snaefell Mountain Coursethat was in use for the first time that year. The 1912 event was the first to limit the Senior TT to 500 cc machines and this engine capacity prevailed until 1984.

The engine capacity was modified from the traditional (up to) 500 cc for two-strokes and is now (up to) 1,000 cc for four-strokes, although 1,000 cc machines were permitted in 1985 and 1986, 1,300 cc in 1987, 1988 and 1989, and 750 cc in 1990–1998.

Machines

The 2012 specification for entries into the Senior TT race are defined as:

• Any machine complying with the following specifications:
  • TT Superbike: (Machines complying with the 2012 FIM Superbike and Supersport Championships specifications)
    • (Over 750cc up to 1000cc 4 cylinders 4-stroke)
    • (Over 750cc up to 1000cc 3 cylinders 4-stroke)
    • (Over 850cc up to 1200cc 2 cylinders 4-stroke)
  • Supersport Junior TT (without limitation of tyre choice)
    • TT Superstock (without limitation of tyre choice)
    • Other machines admitted at the discretion of the Organisers

Speed and Lap Records

The lap record for the Senior TT class is 16 minutes and 42.778 seconds at an average speed of 135.452 mph (217.989 km/h) set by Peter Hickman during the 2018 Senior TT Race. The race record is also held by Hickman in 1 hour, 43 minutes and 08.065 seconds; an average race speed of 131.700 mph (211.951 km/h) achieved during the same 6 lap race.

The longest race distance for a FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship event was the 500 cc 1957 TT race, over 8 laps (302.00 Miles), won by Bob McIntyre riding a 500cc Gilera, in 3 hours, 2 minutes and 57.0 seconds at an average race speed of 98.99 mph.

List of Senior TT Winners

YearRiderManufacturerAverage Race Speed1911

Oliver GodfreyIndian47.63 mph1912

Frank A. ApplebeeScott48.69 mph1913

Tim WoodScott48.28 mph1914

Cyril PullinRudge49.49 mph1915-1919Not held1920

Tommy de la HaySunbeam51.79 mph1921

Howard R. DaviesAJS54.49 mph1922

Alec BennettSunbeam58.31 mph1923

Tom SheardDouglas55.55 mph1924

Alec BennettNorton61.64 mph1925

Howard R. DaviesHRD66.13 mph1926

Stanley WoodsNorton67.54 mph1927

Alec BennettNorton68.41 mph1928

Charlie DodsonSunbeam62.98 mph1929

Charlie DodsonSunbeam72.05 mph1930

Wal HandleyRudge74.24 mph1931

Tim HuntNorton77.90 mph1932

Stanley WoodsNorton79.38 mph1933

Stanley WoodsNorton81.04 mph1934

Jimmie GuthrieNorton78.01 mph1935

Stanley WoodsMoto Guzzi84.68 mph1936

Jimmie GuthrieNorton85.80 mph1937

Freddie FrithNorton88.21 mph1938

Harold DaniellNorton89.11 mph1939

Georg MeierBMW89.38 mph1940-1946Not held1947

Harold DaniellNorton82.813 mph1948

Artie BellNorton84.969 mph1949

Harold DaniellNorton86.93 mph1950

Geoff DukeNorton92.37 mph1951

Geoff DukeNorton89.90 mph1952

Reg ArmstrongNorton92.97 mph1953

Ray AmmNorton93.85 mph1954

Ray AmmNorton88.12 mph1955

Geoff DukeGilera97.93 mph1956

John SurteesMV Agusta96.57 mph1957

Bob McIntyreGilera98.99 mph1958

John SurteesMV Agusta98.63 mph1959

John SurteesMV Agusta87.94 mph1960

John SurteesMV Agusta102.44 mph1961

Mike HailwoodNorton100.61 mph1962

Gary HockingMV Agusta103.51 mph1963

Mike HailwoodMV Agusta104.64 mph1964

Mike HailwoodMV Agusta100.95 mph1965

Mike HailwoodMV Agusta91.69 mph1966

Mike HailwoodHonda103.11 mph1967

Mike HailwoodHonda105.62 mph1968

Giacomo AgostiniMV Agusta101.63 mph1969

Giacomo AgostiniMV Agusta104.75 mph1970

Giacomo AgostiniMV Agusta101.52 mph1971

Giacomo AgostiniMV Agusta102.59 mph1972

Giacomo AgostiniMV Agusta104.02 mph1973

Jack FindlaySuzuki101.55 mph1974

Phil CarpenterYamaha96.99 mph1975

Mick GrantKawasaki100.27 mph1976

Tom HerronYamaha105.15 mph1977

Phil ReadSuzuki106.97 mph1978

Tom HerronSuzuki111.74 mph1979

Mike HailwoodSuzuki111.75 mph1980

Graeme CrosbySuzuki109.65 mph1981

Mick GrantSuzuki106.14 mph1982

Norman BrownSuzuki110.98 mph1983

Rob McElneaSuzuki114.81 mph1984

Rob McElneaSuzuki115.66 mph1985

Joey DunlopHonda113.69 mph1986

Roger BurnettHonda113.98 mph1987

Joey DunlopHonda99.85 mph1988

Joey DunlopHonda117.38 mph1989

Steve HislopHonda118.23 mph1990

Carl FogartyHonda110.95 mph1991

Steve HislopHonda121.09 mph1992

Steve HislopNorton121.28 mph1993

Phillip McCallenHonda118.32 mph1994

Steve HislopHonda119.25 mph1995

Joey DunlopHonda119.11 mph1996

Phillip McCallenHonda119.76 mph1997

Phillip McCallenHonda119.45 mph1998

Ian SimpsonHonda119.79 mph1999

David JefferiesYamaha121.27 mph2000

David JefferiesYamaha121.95 mph2001Not held2002

David JefferiesSuzuki124.74 mph2003

Adrian ArchibaldSuzuki124.53 mph2004

Adrian ArchibaldSuzuki123.81 mph2005

John McGuinnessYamaha124.324 mph2006

John McGuinnessHonda126.178 mph2007

John McGuinnessHonda127.255 mph2008

John McGuinnessHonda127.186 mph2009

Steve PlaterHonda128.278 mph2010

Ian HutchinsonHonda128.607 mph2011

John McGuinnessHonda128.426 mph2012Senior TT Cancelled due to weather conditions2013

John McGuinnessHonda128.943 mph2014

Michael DunlopBMW128.680 mph2015

John McGuinnessHonda130.481 mph2016

Michael DunlopBMW130.685 mph2017

Michael DunlopSuzuki130.456 mph2018

Peter HickmanBMW131.700 mph2019

Dean HarrisonKawasaki130.824 mph

U

The 1922 event was the first time the Lightweight TT race took place, won by a motorcycle-journalist Geoff S. Davison, riding a Levis at an average speed of 49.89 mph (80.29 km/h) for seven laps of the Snaefell Mountain Course. In the changes following the loss of FIM World Championship status after the 1976 event, the Lightweight TT event was dropped with the 250 cc machines running for the Junior TT in place of the now defunct 350 cc formula. The Lightweight TT returned in 1995 before being split into two distinct events from 1999, dropping from the schedule again after 2003. As with the Ultra-Lightweight TT Race, it was reintroduced 2008–2009 when held on the Billown short road circuit; and then dropped again from the race schedule on cost grounds.

• 1924–1948 For motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity.
• 1949–1953 FIM World Championship event for motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Snaefell mountain course.
• 1954–1959 FIM World Championship event for motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Clypse Course.
• 1960–1976 FIM World Championship event for motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Mountain Course.
• 1977–1994 event not run (250 cc formula run as Junior TT).
• 1995–1998 for 2-stroke motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, and 4-stroke motorcycles not exceeding 400 cc, held on the Mountain Course.
• 1999–2003 Lightweight 400 TT for 4-stroke motorcycles not exceeding 400 cc engine capacity, held on the Mountain Course.
• 1999–2002 Lightweight 250 TT for 2-stroke motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Mountain Course (the category running within Junior TT in 2003).
• 2008–2009 for motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Billown Circuit.
• 2012– The event was re-introduced from the 2012 event for water-cooled four-stroke twin cylinder not exceeding an engine capacity of 650 cc and complying with the ACU Standing Regulations.

The 2019 specifications for entries into the Lightweight TT race are:

• Machines must comply with general technical rules as per ACU Standing Regulations and 2019 Isle of Man TT race regulations.
  • Any four-stroke twin cylinder motorcycle originally sold for road use with a water-cooled engine of up to 650 cc engine capacity.
  • Eligible machines must be from models homologated for UK road use 2009 or later.

Mininium weight for the Lightweight TT class is 161 kilograms (355 lb).

The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle sport event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907, and is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world.

The Isle of Man TT is run in a time-trial format on public roads closed to the public by an Act of Tynwald (the parliament of the Isle of Man). The event consists of one week of practice sessions followed by one week of racing. It has been a tradition, perhaps started by racing competitors in the early 1920s, for spectators to tour the Snaefell Mountain Course on motorcycles during the Isle of Man TT on “Mad Sunday“, an informal and unofficial sanctioned event held on the Sunday between ‘Practice Week’ and ‘Race Week’.

The first Isle of Man TT race was held on Tuesday 28 May 1907 and was called the International Auto-Cycle Tourist Trophy.^[5] The event was organised by the Auto-Cycle Club over 10 laps of the Isle of Man St John’s Short Course of 15 miles 1,470 yards for road-legal ‘touring’ motorcycles with exhaust silencers, saddles, pedals and mudguards.

From 1911 the Isle of Man TT transferred to the much longer Snaefell Mountain Course of 37.40 miles (current length 37.73 miles). The race programme developed from a single race with two classes for the 1907 Isle of Man TT, expanding in 1911 to two individual races for the 350cc Junior TT motor-cycles and the Blue Riband event the 500cc Senior TT race. The race did not take place from 1915 to 1919 due to the First World War. It resumed in 1920. A 250cc Lightweight TT race was added to the Isle of Man TT programme in 1922 followed by a Sidecar TTrace in 1923.

There was no racing on the Isle of Man between 1940 and 1945 due to the Second World War. It recommenced with the Manx Grand Prix in 1946 and the Isle of Man TT in 1947, with a greatly expanded format that included the new Clubman’s TT races. The Isle of Man TT became part of the FIM Motor-cycle Grand Prix World Championship (now MotoGP) as the British round of the World Motor-Cycling Championship during the period 1949–1976. Following safety concerns with the Snaefell Mountain Course and problems over inadequate ‘start-money’ for competitors, there was a boycott of the Isle of Man TT races from the early 1970s by many of the leading competitors, motorcycle manufacturers and national motorcycle sporting federations.

It is still billed in popular culture as the most dangerous motorsport event in the world, with the New York Times stating the number of deaths “to 146 since it was first run in 1907; if one includes fatal accidents occurring during the Manx Grand Prix, the amateur races held later in the summer on the same Snaefell Mountain Course, the figure rises above 250”^[7][8] fatalities in its history. An on-site account of the 2003 race by Sports Illustrated writer Franz Lidz called the spectacle “38 Miles of Terror… a test of nerves and speed that may be sport’s most dangerous event.”  In 1976, the Isle of Man TT lost its world championship status; this was transferred to the United Kingdom by the FIM and run as the British Grand Motor-Cycle Grand Prix for the 1977 season. The Isle of Man TT Races then became an integral part of the new style TT Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 World Championships between 1977 and 1990 to develop and maintain the international racing status of the Isle of Man TT races. The event was redeveloped by the Isle of Man Department of Tourism as the Isle of Man TT Festival from 1989 onwards. This included new racing events for the new Isle of Man TT Festival programme, including the Isle of Man Pre-TT Classic Races in 1989 followed by the Isle of Man Post-TT Races from 1991 and both held on the Billown Circuit. In 2013, the Isle of Man Classic TT was developed by the Isle of Man Department of Economic Development and the Auto-Cycle Union for historic racing motorcycles, and along with the Manx Grand Prix now forms part of the ‘Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling’ held in late August of each year.

The event has not been without criticism. In 2007 an incident during the ‘senior race’ resulted in the death of a rider and two spectators. The resultant inquest made several recommendations and included several comments, such as: ‘Senior Marshals may well have been elevated beyond the sphere of their competence’. It also noted that “I am more than aware of the fact that the witnesses from the Manx Motor Cycle Club and the marshals are all volunteers. They give their time freely and without paid reward. Having said that however, if it were suggested because they were volunteers there should be some allowance in the standards expected of them, then I regret I cannot agree’ on the subject of competency.” 

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