Manx Grand Prix: Event has its own heroes, historian says

The Manx Grand Prix has been run on the TT course throughout its history

The Manx Grand Prix has its "own mythology, its own heroes, its own set of stories", a curator of social history has said.

Matthew Richardson from Manx National Heritage was reflecting on the race as it celebrates 100 years.

Starting out as the Manx Amateur Road Races in 1923, the event began 16 years after the better-known TT.

The event became important in its own right, Mr Richardson said, bringing "a lot of visitors to the Isle of Man".

He said it had "its own set of achievements, its own history" and there had "been some fantastic stories to come out of the Manx Grand Prix over the years".

The races were renamed the Manx Grand Prix (MGP) in the 1930s.

The Manx Amateur Road Race was renamed the Manx Grand Prix in the 1930s

Mr Richardson said the background to the event stemmed from concerns from the Manx government that the Auto Cycle Union (ACU) in the early 1920s "had threatened to take the TT races away", with talk of the races being taken to Belgium rather than staging them in the Isle of Man.

"The ACU was persuaded to keep the TT on the Isle of Man but there was always a suspicion at the back of the authorities' minds that they might try again to take the TT away," he said.

"So when the Manx Motor Cycle Club wanted to start an amateur version of the TT in the summer they were given every encouragement because this was seen as a back up if the TT was ever taken away."

Originally the races, which first started on 20 September 1923, mirrored the classes run in the TT earlier the same year, he said.

Matthew Richardson is the curator of social history at Manx National Heritage

Mr Richardson said one of the "biggest names" at the event in the 1920s was Percy Hunt, who was known as Tiger Tim Hunt.

He said he stood out in the history of the event because he "set a lap record at the MGP that was higher than the one at the TT".

"That's the only time that's ever happened," he said.

The watch presented to Percy Hunt for his record breaking lap is on display at the Manx Museum

Norton Motors were "very generous to the riders who won races on their bikes", so a gold watch was presented to Hunt to mark the achievement, Mr Richardson said.

The event has not been continuous over the last century, with disruption during World War Two, the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 and the coronavirus pandemic more recently.

The number plate from the 1934 winning motorcycle is displayed at the Manx Museum

Mr Richardson said people were "really eager to see some racing back on the island" in 1946 after war-time cancellations of the MGP and TT.

Despite the "aftermath of the war", the MGP "still attracted a crowd and people still talk about that one", he said.

Mr Richardson said, in a continuation of firsts for racing on the Isle of Man, 2009 saw the first ever race win by a woman on the 37.75-mile (60km) Mountain Course.

Carolynn Sells made history when she took first place in the Ultralightweight MGP race on the 20th anniversary of women being allowed to compete in the sport.

Her experience demonstrated the "whole series of firsts and achievements that go alongside the TT", Mr Richardson said.