1958 Senior TT

Course name: Mountain (post 1914)

Course length: 264.25 miles (7 laps)

Description: 1958 Senior TT
Race report from the TT Special 6 June 1958 (pp. 1, 16)) below which is a full list of competitors:

Surtees Does The Double

Wins Senior Race at 98.63 m.p.h., with fastest lap at 100.58.

R. Anderson and R. N. Brown (Norton) Second and Third
By G.S. Davison

By winning to-day’s Senior T.T. John Surtees became the seventh man to do the Junior – Senior “double.” He led the race from start to finish and was never pressed. Bob McIntyre’s 1957 race and lap speeds were therefore not beaten.

John Hartle was second early on, but then his machine got on fire and he retired. Alastair King took his place, only to crash at Kirk Michael on the last lap, not badly hurt; and on the last lap, too, Bob Anderson got past Bob Brown into second place.

The Start, Friday a.m.
The 1958 Senior T.T. race is due to start at 11 a.m. – last of the five races of T.T. week and the greatest of them all.

The first T.T. of all was held in 1907 – 51 years ago. There was only one Trophy awarded for it, but it was divided into two classes – single-cylinders and twins. Charlie Collier (Matchless) won the single – cylinder class at 38.23 m.p.h., and Rem Fowler (Norton) – who is with us in the Island today – won the twin-cylinder class at 36.22; as Charlie’s speed was the higher, he won the 1907 Tourist Trophy.

The first four T.T.’s – 1907 to 1910 – were held over the old “Short Course,” which started at St. John’s. It then went to Ballacraine, where riders turned sharp left, after which it followed the present course to Kirk Michael. Here, instead of switching right towards Ballaugh and Ramsey, it turned left to Peel, and so back to St. John’s. They had to do ten laps of this 15.8mile circuit – quite a long way, in those days, and half as long again as the Lightweights and Sidecars did over the Clypse Circuit on Wednesday! Variable gears were invented in the years that followed, and in 1911 the present Mountain Course was adopted - the same as it is today except that there was a variation in Ramsey and the Governor’s Bridge section was not included – they bore right at Cronk-ny-Mona, and so, in the reverse direction of Wednesday’s Clypse Course, to St. Ninian’s. The War came along – the T.T. died…. In 1920, when it came to life again, the present Governor’s Bridge section was included: and the course is the same today.
Here are the winning Senior speeds for (as nearly as possible) the four decades 1920 – 1950: - 1920, 51.79 m.p.h.; 1930, 74.24 m.p.h.; 1939 (there was no race in 1940), 89.38 m.p.h.; 1950, 92.27 m.p.h.; and last year it was won by Bob McIntyre (Gilera) at 98.99 m.p.h., with the record lap at 101.12.
So those are today’s Targets, and the riders will have a job to hit the bulls! There are 81 entries, comprising six different makes of machine, as follows: - B.M.W. and B.S.A. (2 each), M.V. (3), A.J.S. (4 – all 350’s) Matchless (8) and Norton (62).

The fastest lap in Practice was put up by John Surtees (M.V.) in 22 mins, 43.2 secs., at 99.62 m.p.h., and he would have touched the “ton” on that lap if he had not closed down early to draw into the paddock. John Hartle, on another M.V., made second fastest practice lap, and then there were some Nortons….. The Practice Leader Board stands as follows:
1. J. Surtees (M.V.) …22 43.2 (99.62 m.p.h.)
2. J. Hartle (M.V.) … 22.59 (98.5 m.p.h.)
3. E. Hinton (Norton) … 23 23.2 (96.80 m.p.h.)
4. A. Trow (Norton) … 23.48 (95.12 m.p.h.)
5. J.Brett (Norton) …23.49 (95.05 m.p.h.)
6. R. Brown (Norton) … 23 56.6 (94.54 m.p.h.)
The winner should obviously be found from one of the above, but there are several more who may well come into the picture if troubles beat the “obvious winners” – Geoff Duke and Dickie Dale (B.M.W,’s) and Bob McIntyre, Terry Shepherd, Dave Chadwick, Geoff Tanner, Keith Campbell and Alastair King, all on Nortons.

There are seven non-starters, one M.V. and six Nortons, so the field is reduced to 74 – quite enough to provide one of the most exciting Seniors ever.
Early this morning seven boats arrived from the Mainland, most of them packed to capacity, and local opinion is to the effect that there are as many mid-night visitors as there were for the Golden Jubilee T.T. last year. The Promenade at 5 a.m. today, was like Piccadilly Circus on a Saturday evening!
After a brilliant day yesterday, it is now overcast, but the clouds are high and conditions (at the moment) are perfect. The 7.55 a.m. weather forecast spoke of bright and sunny periods with cloud and perhaps rain later in the day. Let’s hope it keeps off until the last man is in.

As in Monday’s Junior race there are no Manufacturers teams, but there are a round dozen club teams, four of them overseas. The Southern (I.o.M.) team is appropriately composed of the Manx residents, all of whom have won T.T. and Manx Grand Prix races – Duke, Costain and Holmes.

10.30 a.m. – the warming up period starts. The weather is still O.K. but there is rather more wind than there was on Monday. The possible winners are well spaced out in the field – they range from No. 20, Geoff Duke, to No. 78, Alastair King. There should be some good “dices” between Terry Shepherd and Dave Chadwick – 20 seconds apart – and between Geoff Tanner and Alan Trow who is 10 seconds behind him. The weather report from Ronaldsway reads: “Cloud with rain at times. Clouds should be above the level of the course throughout the race, and visibility should be good to moderate. Wind, east, 15 knots.”

10.45 – All quiet on the Glencrutchery road, as the 74 starters take up their positions on the grid.
Announcement of interest to those who will be near a radio set at 7.p.m. today – listen in to T.T. Review on the Home Service; I believe that the speakers will be Graham Walker, Norman Dixon and Hugh Palin.

Two minutes to go – one minute – Bang! – No.1. W. Roberton, is away.
No.2, Derek Powell is leading the field at Ballacraine; he is recorded there just as Harry Plews (No.33) pushes off. W. Roberton (No.1) is next along. So far all of them have got away easily, but Bob McIntyre’s engine cuts out just before Parkfield then it cuts in again, and all is well. R. Thomson (No. 41) is the first slow start, and is overtaken by both 42 and 43 (Hartle and R.J. Webster) before he gets going. John Surtees is very quick off the mark and leaves a trail of blue smoke behind him.
Geoff Duke has overtaken the two men in front of him by Ballacraine. Twenty-three riders have reached Kirk Michael by the time the last man, J.L. Tompsett, gets away.

An additional non-starter is announced – F. Higgins (Matchless) – who has had gear-box trouble during the warm-up period.

Bob McIntyre is picking up on Geoff Duke, according to the Scoreboard and the announcer at Ginger Hall. Surtees has also overtaken several riders in front of him by Kirk Michael. It will be interesting to see what John’s first standing start lap time is – Bob McIntyre’s last year was 22 mins 38.4 secs., at 99.99 m.p.h.!

Bob McIntyre (No.24) has overtaken Geoff Duke (No.20) by the Bungalow- that-was, so has gained over 40 seconds on him in the first 30-odd miles.

First retirement – R.J. Webster (Norton) at Crosby, rider O.K. Crosby also reports that Dickie Dale passed through slowly, and appears to have engine trouble. E.G. Driver has retired at Ramsey and Jack Brett at the Hawthorns – so it’s a case of “Bad Luck, again, Jack” – and “Paddy,” too, of course.

Derek Powell (No.2) is still leading the field at the end of the first lap with No. 4 (Redman) second, No.7 (McCutcheon) third, No.3 (Wood) fourth and No.15 (Anderson) fifth. Bob Anderson is certainly going some!

Correction about Jack Brett – it is now announced that he has made adjustments and has proceeded.

Bob McIntyre’s first lap was done in 22 mins 59 secs – 20.4 secs, outside his own similar lap last year – at 98.50 m.p.h. John Surtees (No. 65) has overtaken everyone in front of him up to No. 53, Keith Campbell, as he tears past to complete his lap. Wait for his time…

Meanwhile John Hartle’s time is announced – 23 mins. 6.4 secs; quite a bit slower than McIntyre’s.
Here’s Surtees’ time – 22 mins. 54.8 secs., which is 4.2 seconds faster than McIntyre’s. What a race – and only the first lap, so far.

Something must have happened to Terry Shepherd for he is still shown on the Ballacraine – Kirk Michael stretch, but there is no news of him.

L. Flury, R. Thomson and Jack Brett all pull into their pits, and there are sounds of heavy hammer work from Jack’s. Then he retires – so it is a case of “Bad Luck Again.” Jack. Flury has also retired, as has Thomson.McGuffie has been making adjustments at Kirk Michael and has now proceeded.

At the end of Lap 2 the order of the first six past the pits is Nos. 7, 24, 15, 4, 2, 16. No. 24 is McIntyre – so Bob will soon have clear roads, whilst John still has 30 odd riders in front of him.

Geoff Duke draws into his pit, takes off his helmet, and retires. And there’s Terry Shepherd talking to him! Odd that we should have had no news of Terry, but he’s O.K., anyway.

Surtees yowls past at the end of his second lap, having apparently increased his lead on McIntyre. But Bob seems to be out of it now for he has not yet reached Ballacraine.

John Hartle’s second lap was done at 100.08 m.p.h. so he becomes the second man to do the “ton.” John Surtees becomes the third to do it with a speed of 100.58.

Here’s the tragic news – D.D. Wolff, of Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, has crashedat Baaregarroo, and has been killed. The news is passed quietly round the Press Box, and the packed crowds in the Grandstand know nothing of it, except that it is stated that “No.80 has retired.” The race goes on…….

Seventh to twelfth are Bob Brown, Alan Trow, J.D. Anderson, Derek Minter, Jimmy Buchan and Keith Campbell, all on Nortons.Bob McIntyre, though second after two laps, is now out of it – he has retired at Union Mills with engine trouble.

12.10 p.m. – No. 15, Bob Anderson is now leading on the roads with No. 42, John Hartle, shown at Creg-ny-Baa. John draws in soon after for a 40 second pit stop and at 12.19 p.m. Surtees does the same, but is rather quicker than Hartle. Alastair King is now leading the British contingent and only 25 seconds separate him from the sixth man. Seventh to twelfth are Trow, Hinton, Campbell, Anderson (J.D.) Buchan and Chadwick, all on Nortons – and there is less than a minute between 3rd and 12th. It’s a close race – except for the two M.V’s!

12.40 p.m. – approx. John Hartle (No 42) is shown at Signpost, but is a long time coming. Here’s the M.V. yowl at last – but it is John Surtees (No. 65) who tears past, running tenth on the roads.

L.S. Rutherford (Matchless) has followed the “Clypse route” at Governor’s Bridge and has retired; G.J. Turner (Norton) has retired at Sulby Bridge – O.K. – and K.H. Draper (Norton) is pushing his machine from Quarter Bridge towards Braddan.

Now here’s news of John Hartle. His machine caught fire in the Hollow at Governor’s Bridge and soon went up in clouds of black smoke! The First Brigade put it out, and John walked on to the pits, unhurt.

The M.V. leading by nearly three minutes. Nortons second to sixth, and in the next six places too, if it comes to that.

The leaders on the roads have finished their fifth laps before the 4th Lap Leaders are announced. Bob Anderson (No.15) is first along, followed by 16 and 17 – Minter and J.D. Anderson, No. 4, J.A. Redman is next and then comes No.65, Surtees, lying fifth on the roads. John’s speed for the five laps is 99.13 m.p.h., against Bob McIntyre’s 99.66 for the same distance last year. It doesn’t look as if Bob’s 1957 lap and race records would be beaten – why should John hurry, with nearly five minutes lead!

Another retirement is announced – Alan Trow at the pits – and Alan Holmes has stopped at the pits with carburetter trouble, has effected repairs and has proceeded; otherwise there is little news.

1.25 p.m., Bob Anderson (No.15) completes six laps, followed by Derek Minter (16) and J.D. Anderson (17), well-spaced out. And then comes Surtees (65) – now fourth on the road. He pulls into his pit, changes his goggles, has a quick re-fuel, and is away in 18 seconds.

1.32 p.m. – Surtees is at Ballacraine on his last lap – “the race is in the bag.” Alastair King, running second, is away on his last lap, as is Bob Brown, only a few seconds behind; but neither has a chance unless John strikes trouble.

Another retirement – Harry Hinton at the pits with engine trouble – and Keith Campbell has also retired at the pits.

No change since the last lap, except that Dave Chadwick has drawn up to sixth, in place of Alan Holmes who, as reported earlier, had a longish stop at the pits.

D.G. Chapman (Norton) has retired at the pits with engine trouble. Surtees has passed the Guthrie Memorial, the Bungalow…….

Number 15, Bob Anderson is the first to finish the race. Derek Minter (16) is next along, and then (17) J.D. Anderson. Surtees is at Signpost, and at 1.52 p.m. approx. he receives the chequered flag - the winner of the 1958 Senior T.T. – and seventh man to “do the double.” (As forecast by Barney Craig in Wednesday’s issue!)

Alastair King is out of it! Bob Brown and Bob Anderson have finished, but Alastair is still shown on the Kirk Michael – Ramsey stretch. Now here’s news of Alastair – he has come off at Kirk Michael. “Has concussion but should be O.K.”

Bob Anderson is second and Bob Brown third; fourth is Derek Minter.

Competitors

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