THE SENIOR TT: HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Any victory around the Isle of Man Mountain Course is a career defining moment, but almost every rider will tell you that the big dream would be to win the Senior.
The Senior has been the curtain-closing blue ribbon event at the Isle of Man TT since 1911, and has seen some of the biggest names in the history of motorsport, let alone motorcycling, etch their names onto the Marquis de Mouzilly St Mars Trophy.
While Rem Fowler’s name is the first on the trophy itself as he won the twin-cylinder class in the inaugural TT in 1907, the first winner of the “Senior TT” was Oliver Godfrey, who won the five-lap race around the Mountain Course in just under four hours at an average speed of 47.63mph.
In the 115 years that have followed, speeds have just continued to grow and today’s records (for a full-length six-lap race) sit at an average race speed of 132.526mph, with a lap record of 135.523 - both held by 8TEN Racing’s Peter Hickman.
Names like Guthrie, Duke, Surtees, Hailwood, Agostini and Dunlop have all taken honours in the Senior TT, and gone on to hold bragging rights for the next 50 weeks before the TT came back around the following year.
Not only were the riders keen on owning bragging rights, but for the manufacturers, the Senior always carried that extra weight of “win on Friday, sell on Monday”. Norton, for example, were so successful in the Senior that the Manx Norton would go on to become one of the most sought after motorcycles racers could buy - and it still retains that legendary status in the historic scene to this day.
Along with Norton, other manufacturers such as MV Agusta, Suzuki, Honda and BMW have all enjoyed strong results in the Senior, and winning the Senior can do nothing but improve the reputation of a brand, even elevating some marques and models to cult status - such as the Rotary Norton ‘White Charger’ of Steve Hislop in 1992.
When it comes to the riders, though, one of the most successful in the history of the Senior will be leading the class of 2026 off down Bray Hill today, as John McGuinness continues his storied career climbing up and racing around the Snaefell Mountain.
McGuinness sits alongside Mike Hailwood at the top of the Senior TT’s all-time winners’ list, holding seven victories taken across a ten year period from 2005 through to 2015. Of those victories, his 2007 triumph stands out for not only was it the Centenary TT, but he also broke the beam and set a new standard around the Mountain Course when he set the first ever lap at 130mph.
To put into perspective the gravity of winning more than one Senior, let alone seven, only two other current riders have visited the winners’ enclosure as a Senior winner on multiple occasions. Michael Dunlop and Peter Hickman both currently have three Senior wins to their name, with Dean Harrison and Ian Hutchinson the only other riders to have tasted victory in the blue ribbon event lining up this afternoon.
The likelihood is that McGuinness’ wins record will stand unbeaten, as many of the other names on the list come from the World Championship era when the likes of Hailwood, John Surtees and Giacomo Agostini arrived year after year looking to start their season off in the best way possible.
While there is no World Championship to chase in the modern era of TT racing, it still marks the centre of many racers’ seasons - you just have to look at the current collection of riders who come to the Island in the middle of their British Championship season chasing the glory of winning a TT. Any one of them will tell you that a TT win, particularly the Senior, would sit as high, if not higher, on their priorities list than a championship win on the national scene.
