Meetings 1907 - 1930

TT 1924

In 1924 the ACU introduced the Ultra-Lightweight class for 175cc machines to continue the tourist tradition and encourage machines that were used by the public.

They certainly did nothing to encourage safety when they allowed the 17 machines to start together rather than in pairs, but, luckily, everybody survived the trip down Bray Hill on the first lap. Jock Porter won his second TT after the unfortunate Handley had once again retired while leading.

In the Junior earlier in the week another milestone had been reached and another myth shattered when Jimmy Simpson, closely followed by Handley and Len Horton, achieved the 60 mph lap.

Freddie Dixon led the Senior for four laps before his Indian slowed, which allowed Norton-mounted Alec Bennett to take over, after trailing by over two minutes at one stage. Bennett went on to win and, together with second-placed Harry Langman (Scott) and third placed Dixon, he averaged over 60 mph for the six laps.

The race had been run in conjunction with the Lightweight class, which caused plenty of problems for the Senior competitors since the Lightweights started only five minutes earlier. On the bumpy, dusty Mountain track there was often only one rut to follow and consequently the 500s had to queue to go by.

Poor Walter Handley performed his usual trick: he led on his Rex-Acme in the Lightweight class before retiring. That let Jock Porter into the lead, but he failed to repeat his Ultra-Lightweight success when he crashed on the last lap, handing the race to Eddie Twemlow (the brother of Junior winner Kenneth) on a New Imperial.

Only ten outfits contested the four-lap Sidecar race, which was led by Dixon until he retired on the third lap. George Tucker inherited the lead and took victory on his Norton-powered outfit, with Harry Reed second on his 350cc DOT.