Meetings 1907 - 1930

TT 1929

Charlie Dodson proved he could win whatever the conditions when he repeated his performance in the sunny 1929 Senior.

The early leader was HG Tyrell-Smith, riding a Rudge. On the third lap he crashed within sight of the Glen Helen hotel, where he was duly patched up and sent back into the fray.

Local man Tim Hunt, who had joined the works Norton team, benefited from his misfortune, but Dodson’s Sunbeam was threatening. On the fifth lap Dodson charged into the lead, setting a new lap record of 73.55mph, and he emerged a comfortable winner from Alec Bennett on a similar machine and the brave Tyrell-Smith, who had sustained three cracked ribs in the crash.

Velocette continued their grip on the Junior, but with a new name springing to prominence. The previous year Freddie Hicks had finished fifth, but this time he was only interested in winning. He took the lead on the third lap and, despite the attentions of former winners Wal Handley (AJS) and Alec Bennett (Velocette), won the race, establishing new lap and race records in the process.

After all the publicity surrounding his 1926 disqualification, Italian Pietro Ghersi did not return to the Island until 1929, when he came within a lap and a half of victory in the Lightweight. Riding a Moto Guzzi, he led for five and a half laps before retiring with engine problems.

Syd Crabtree won the race, giving Excelsior their first ever TT victory, and Ghersi’s only consolation was a new lap record of 66.63mph.