1905 International Tourist Trophy
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Race winner John Napier, passing The Bungalow
|
|||
| Date | 15 September 1905 | ||
| Location | Isle of Man | ||
| Course | Highroads Course | ||
| Course length | 51.125 miles (82.278 km) | ||
| Distance | 4 laps, 208.5 miles (335.5 km) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
|
Arrol-Johnston | |
| Second |
|
Rolls-Royce | |
| Third |
|
Vinot-Deguingand | |
The 1905 International Tourist Trophy was an automobile motor race held on 14 September 1905 on closed public roads along the Highroads Course on the Isle of Man. It was organised by the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, and was the first time that what became known as the RAC Tourist Trophy was awarded. The race lasted over six hours and was won by John Napier, driving an Arrol-Johnston. Percy Northey finished second in a Rolls-Royce, while the Vinot-Deguingand driver Norman Littlejohn was third.
Prior to the Tourist Trophy the Isle of Man had hosted the English trials for the Gordon Bennett Cup as the English government had banned motor racing on its roads. The Automobile Club wanted to run an event to help develop fuel efficiency in motor cars and opted to use the same route as had been used for the trials. In order to make the event relevant to those cars on general sale they imposed rules to prevent specialist race cars from entering, though there were complaints that the rules were too restrictive and detracted from the spectacle.
There were 58 entrants but only 42 of these started the race. Less than half of the cars completed the full 208.5 miles (335.5 km) and there were more retirements due to mechanical failures and crashes than a lack of fuel. The top three were separated by just over five minutes, while the final finisher took almost three hours longer than Napier. The event was held again in 1906 though the overall distance covered was shortened to around 160 miles (260 km).
At the start of the twentieth century motor racing was banned on English roads, and although the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland (later renamed the Royal Automobile Club) had lobbied the British government to remove speed limits and allow provision for motor racing in England the Motor Car Act 1903 only raised the speed limit to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) and did not repeal the ban on racing. British cars and drivers had nonetheless been successful during the 1902 Gordon Bennett Cup, and as such the Automobile Club wanted to host the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup in Britain. After their failure to persuade the government to allow racing in England the 1903 race had been held in Ireland under the provision of the Light Locomotives (Ireland) Act, but this had been a one-off, and the Automobile Club did not manage to get the law extended for further races.
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