The 1931 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was again dominated by the battle between Rudge, Sunbeam and Norton motorcycles.
The 1931 Junior TT Race was run at a very fast pace by Jimmie Simpson riding for Norton who completed the first lap in 30 minutes and 49 seconds and was 6 seconds ahead of fellow Norton teammate Stanley Woods in 2nd place and 18 seconds ahead of Freddie Hicks in 3rd place riding an AJS motor-cycle.Isle of Man Examiner dated 19 June 1931 Although Jimmie Simpson was able to hold on to the lead for the next 5 laps, he was slowed by having to refuel every two laps because of carburetor problems.Island Racer 2006 Fellow Norton teammate Tim Hunt recovered from a slow first lap with a loose plug-lead to set the fastest lap on lap 4 of 30 minutes and 5 seconds an average race speed of and steadily moved up the leaderboard. Further, carburetor problems caused Jimmie Simpson to drop off the leaderboard; he eventually finished in 8th place. This allowed the 1931 Junior TT Race to be won by Tim Hunt riding for Norton, in 3 hours 34 minutes and 21 seconds, at an average race speed of , from Norton teammates Jimmie Guthrie and Ernie Nott riding a Rudge motor-cycle.
The 1931 Lightweight TT was dominated by the works Rudge motorcycles and the race was lap 1 by Ernie Nott by 45 seconds from Rudge teammates H. G. Tyrell Smith and Graham Walker in 3rd place. By lap 6, Ernie Nott had a lead of 4 minutes over the rest of the field, until on the last lap he slid off just below the Mountain Mile and finished in 4th place steadying a damaged push-rod with his hand. This provided a first and only TT Race win for Graham Walker riding a Rudge at an average race speed of .
The highly anticipated 1931 Senior TT Race which was again set to be dominated by Rudge and Norton motorcycles. However, it proved to be dominated again by Norton and Jimmie Simpson and Jimmie Guthrie. This time Guthrie led on lap 1 by 1 second from Jimmie Simpson and Norton teammate Stanley Woods by 17 seconds in 3rd place. On lap 3, the 1931 Senior TT Race produced the first lap by Jimmie Simpson on a Norton motor-cycle in 28 minutes and 1 seconds an average speed of . Despite taking over the lead from Guthrie, Jimmie Simpson crashed on lap 4 at Ballaugh Bridge and the bike, ending up in the river. Despite re-taking the lead, Jimmie Guthrie slipped off at the Governor's Bridge on lap 5, but continued to finish in 2nd place at an average speed of . Fellow Norton teammate Stanley Woods finished in 3rd place with a glove in the petrol-tank filler. The fast-paced and incident-packed 1931 Senior TT Race provided Tim Hunt with a popular Junior/Senior double win in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 28 seconds for the 7 lap (264.11 mile) race at an average race speed of . The winner of the 1929 Junior Race, Freddie Hicks, crashed on lap 5 at Union Mills and was killed.
Senior TT (500cc) Rank Rider Team Speed Time 1 Tim Hunt Norton 3.23.28.0 2 Jimmie Guthrie Norton 77.34 3.24.57.0 3 Stanley Woods Norton 76.35 3.27.36.0 4 Ernie Nott Rudge 76.32 3.27.41.0 5 Graham Walker Rudge 73.08 3.24.14.0 6 Ted Mellors NSU 73.18 3.36.36.0 7 Arthur Tyler Raleigh 72.61 3.38.18.0 8 Arthur Simcock OK-Supreme 72.48 3.38.40.0 9 Jimmy G Lind Velocette 71.64 3.41.14.0 10 Sid Gleave SGS 71.16 3.42.45.0
Junior TT (350cc) Rank Rider Team Speed Time 1 Tim Hunt Norton 3.34.21.0 2 Jimmie Guthrie Norton 72.90 3:37.26.0 3 Ernie Nott Rudge 72.37 3:39.01.0 4 Stanley Woods Norton 71.39 3:42.01.0 5 Graham Walker Rudge 70.98 3:43.19.0 6 Charlie Dodson Excelsior 69.58 3:47.47.0 7 Alec Mitchell Velocette 69.46 3:48.11.0 8 Jimmie Simpson Norton 69.06 3:49.30.0 9 George Rowley AJS 69.05 3:49.32.0 10 Ted Mellors New Imperial 69.02 3:49.38.0 The TT Special edited by G.S.Davison dated 10 June 1931
Lightweight TT (250cc) Rank Rider Team Speed Time 1 Graham Walker Rudge 3.49.47.0 2 Henry Tyrell-Smith Rudge 68.26 3.52.13.0 3 Ted Mellors New Imperial 66.84 3.57.08.0 4 Ernie Nott Rudge 66.72 3.57.34.0 5 Frank A Longman OK-Supreme 65.99 4.00.11.0 6 Mario Ghersi New Imperial 65.62 4.01.33.0 7 Stuart Williams New Imperial 65.49 4.02.01.0 8 Paddy Johnston Moto Guzzi 64.6 4.05.24.0 9 C. E. Needham OK-Supreme 63.32 4.10.19.0 10 Colin Taylor OK-Supreme 63.27 4.10.39.0
Notes At Sulby during practice, Jack Williams riding a Raleigh motorcycle was timed at and Percy Hunt riding for Norton was timed at .Isle of Man Eaxminer dated 12 June 1931 During practice, Wal Handley slipped off his F.N. motorcycle at the Gooseneck. During the 1931 Junior TT Race, H. G. Tyrell Smith riding for Rudge retired on lap 3 running out of petrol. At Ballacraine, Otto Steinfeller retired with gearbox failure. On lap 5, Ted Mellors riding a New Imperial motorcycle and F.A. Renier both crashed at Glen Helen. Both continued; Ted Mellors finished in 10th place and Renier in 16th place.Isle of Man Eaxminer dated 19 June 1931 On the first lap of the 1931 Senior TT Race, Wal Handley riding for the Belgium motorcycle firm of F.N. slipped off at the Quarterbride and retired. At Keppel Gate on lap 3 of the 1931 Senior TT Race, R.F. Parkinson riding a NSU motorcycle hit a bank and three spectators were slightly injured.
Sources
External links IoM TT Races Database Detailed race results Isle of Man TT winners Mountain Course map