MADE AT THE MANX: 30s AND 40s
As part of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Manx Grand Prix, a special ‘Made at the Manx Grand Prix’ lap will tell the story of the most successful racers to have graced the ‘Manx’ and who went on to reach great heights in the world of motorcycle racing.
World Champions and road racing greats who all made their mark at the Manx Grand Prix will take part or be represented in a spectacular story-telling parade scheduled to take place at 15:00 on Saturday 26 August.
Representing the early years of the event will be four riders who have a combined total of 4 Manx Grand Prix victories, 15 TT race wins, and 9 World Championships.
HAROLD DANIELL
Harold Daniell took Senior victory on his norton in the 1933 Manx Grand Prix
Born in 1909, Harold Daniell made his Manx Grand Prix debut in 1930 and, after retiring from his first two races, 1932 saw him take an excellent second in the Senior Race as well as ninth in the Junior. Just a year later, he added his name to the winner’s list with victory on his Norton in the Senior.
Immediately moving on to the TT, he scored top ten finishes in each of his first four years at the event and then put his name in the record books when he won the 1938 Senior, becoming the first rider to lap the Mountain Course in less than 25 minutes with a speed of exactly 91mph.
Daniell was then famously turned down by the Army for a role in the Second World War due to his poor eyesight, but it didn’t stop winning more TT’s – victory over fellow Norton rider Artin Bell coming in the 1947 Senior. He then won a third Senior in 1949 making him the first ever winner of a 500cc World Championship race, declaring the new Manx Norton was like ‘riding on a featherbed’ compared to the old ‘garden gate’ version; the name sticking ever since.
An icon of the early years of road racing, Daniell will be represented in the parade lap by local rider and three-time Manx GP winner Michael Evans on a 500cc Norton, the manufacturer who Daniell rode for throughout his 20-year career on the Mountain Course.
FREDDIE FRITH
Freddie Frith took a 3rd place at his first Manx Grand Prix riding his Velocette in the Junior Race
Like Daniell, Freddie Frith was also born in 1909 and made his Manx Grand Prix debut in 1930. Unlike Daniell though, he was immediately successful finishing third on his Velocette in the Junior Race. Further podiums followed before his maiden win in the 1935 Junior Race by a commanding two and a half minutes.
Frith then became one of the few riders to win the TT at his very first attempt, victory coming in the 1936 Junior Race whilst he also stood on the podium in the Senior. Continuing with Norton, the following year saw him finish second in the Junior but win the Senior with the first ever 90mph lap of the Mountain Course.
Victory in the 1948 Junior Race saw Frith become one of the few riders to win TT races before and after the Second World War, and he won the same race in 1949 on his way to win the inaugural 350cc World Championship.
TT and Manx Grand Prix winner Nick Jefferies will represent the stonemason-turned-motorcycle champion, riding a 350cc Velocette, the manufacturer that Frith enjoyed much of his success with.
CECIL SANDFORD
Sandford did only one Manx Grand Prix but it was enough to prove his worth.
Born in Gloucestershire in 1928, Sandford only competed at the Manx Grand Prix on one occasion, with fifth in the Junior Race his best result at the 1949 event. His talent was clear though, joining the AJS factory team for 1950 and then the MV Agusta team for 1952 where he took his first TT victory in the 1952 125cc race and the World Championship that year.
Sandford went on to take more TT podiums in the 125cc and 250cc classes with Moto Guzzi and Mondial, including victory in the 1957 250cc race as part of another championship-winning season.
With the Italian manufacturers of Moto Guzzi, Mondial and Gilera withdrawing from racing at the end of the 1957 season, the 2-time TT winner and 2-time World Champion decided to retire at the age of just 29. Now aged 95, Sandford is the last surviving motorcycle world champion from the 1950s and double Manx Grand Prix winner Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle will represent him in the parade on board one of the rare Mondial machines.
GEOFF DUKE
Born in St Helens, Lancashire in 1923, Duke made his Manx GP debut in 1948 and although he retired from the Junior Race, he came to prominence a year later when he won both the Senior Clubmans Race and the Senior Manx Grand Prix at speeds that would have seen him on the podium at that year’s TT.
His performances caught the eye of the factory Norton team for the 1950 and he duly went on to win that year’s Senior TT, breaking lap and race records in the process.
A Senior-Junior TT double was taken in 1951 with a fourth win for Norton notched up in the 1952 Junior Race. Three World Championships came Duke’s way in that period but recognising the rise of the Italian manufacturers and their four-cylinder machines, he moved to Gilera in 1953, promptly winning three successive 500cc World Championships.
After disappointment in 1953 and 1954, he finally gave Gilera their first TT win in 1955 when he won the Senior TT once again, just missing out on the first ever 100mph lap of the Mountain Course with a speed of 99.97mph.
Duke retired at the end of the 1959 season with six World Championships, 33 Grand Prix wins and six TT victories to his name. Geoff’s son Peter will ride a 500cc Manx Norton in the parade, similar to the one his illustrious father rode in the early 1950’s.
