Thursday, November 9, 2006

1933 IOM JUNIOR TT


This is 'Cec' Weatherby, from Australia, about to start in the 1933 Junior TT, on his '33 Velocette mkIV KTT, sister bike of 'the Mule'. Dennis Quinlan sent this pic from his archives in Sydney; clear photos of rigid Velos in the IOM are rare, even though they figured highly in the results. The other visible makes are Norton and Rudge; Rudge had won its last TT in 1930, and a pushrod-engine machine would never win again. Nortons, though, won this and many others!
Visible on top of the scoreboard are the Boy Scouts who updated the rider positions during the race. One 'bobby' (a sergeant by the looks of it) stands by to keep order, the sponsors/owners are wearing their tweed suits and ties, the riders are wearing their baggy leather separates (one-piece suits weren't common until the early 50's); double-breasted button-up short jacket, high-waisted jodhpurs with suspenders underneath. Some of the riders wore shirts and ties, but Sartorialism was on the wane for motorcyclists by the mid-30's. Brooklands riders kept thier neckties until the war, with 'Barry' Baragwanath keeping his detachable collar and bowtie until the end of his career (must scan a photo!).