TT 1963
Interest in 1963 focused on the return of Gilera - with a team managed by Geoff Duke.
The former world champion and TT winner had persuaded the factory to take their 1957 350 and 500cc four-cylinder machines out of mothballs and contracted John Hartle and Derek Minter to ride them. Phil Read eventually replaced the injured Minter and the team put up a creditable performance again both MV and Honda.
John Hartle and Phil Read found the combination of Mike Hailwood and the MV too powerful in the six-lap Senior. Mike dominated throughout, establishing a new lap record of 106.41mph and won easily from the Gilera teammates on their howling Gileras.
Hailwood had experienced contrasting fortunes in the Junior race, when Jim Redman really gave the 350cc four-cylinder Honda its head to see off the ageing Italian challenge. He led from the start of the six-lap race, with Hailwood, Hartle and Read straining to keep him in sight.
Read's Gilera was the first to break on the second lap and, two laps later Hailwood was forced to give up the chase when his MV expired. The retirements left Redman a comfortable winner from Hartle, with Stastny third on the works Jawa.
It was quite a week for Southern Rhodesian Jim Redman, who started by winning the 250cc TT despite the challenge of the Yamaha rotary disc-valve twins, ridden by Japanese rider Fumio Ito.
Suzuki were comfortable winners of the two-stroke/four-stroke confrontation in the three-lap 125cc TT. New Zealander Hugh Anderson led the Suzuki two-stroke challenge, and there was nothing the four-stroke Hondas could do about it. In fact, Anderson led a Suzuki clean sweep, winning the race in front of teammates Frank Perris and Ernst Degner.
History was made in the 50cc race, which was increased to three laps after the previous year's success. Mitsuo Itoh became the first Japanese rider to win a TT when he grabbed the lead on the last lap after Suzuki teammate Degner had broken down. Anderson was second, after fighting off a late challenge from Kreidler-mounted Hans-Georg Anscheidt.
BMW once again dominated the three-lap Sidecar race, with Florian Camathias taking the lead from team mate Fritz Scheidegger on the second lap and eventually winning by 38-seconds, with Allan Birch third.