John Purnell
Record type: Motorsport Biographies
Biography: Senior - Norton
Junior - Norton
Age 34, an engineer from Bourne End, Bucks. Purnell is one of the many fine riders who have graduated from the T.T. via the Manx Grand Prix races. Finished tenth in the 1946 Junior Manx on a Velocette, gaining a replica and twenty-sixth in the Senior of the following Thursday on a Norton.
Last year he used his 348 Velocette for both Senior and Junior M.G.P.’s . In the Junior, after lying fifth on the fifth lap, he picked up third on the final circuit, being the only non-Norton rider in the first five. His speed was 72.37 m.p.h. but he did not quite reach this in the Senior, clocking 71.46 m.p.h. and finishing fifteenth, just within replica time.
(TT Special, 11 June 1948, p.12.)
Competed in
| Race | Position | Time | Speed | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 Senior TT | 25 | 3:25:14.20 | 77.22 | Norton |
| 1949 Junior TT | 36 | 3:27:07.60 | 76.51 | AJS |
| 1948 Senior TT | R | Norton | ||
| 1948 Junior TT | R | Norton | ||
| 1947 Senior MGP | 15 | 3:10:06.00 | 71.46 | Velocette |
| 1947 Junior MGP | 3 | 3:07:13.00 | 72.57 | Velocette |
| 1946 Senior MGP | 26 | 3:50:52.00 | Norton | |
| 1946 Junior MGP | 10 | 3:14:07.00 | 69.99 | Norton |