Formula TT 1977

The Formla-TT 1977 was the first event in the history of Formula TT and was announced by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme as the official world championship.

Formula TT was launched in 1977 by the government of the Isle of Man and the Auto-Cycle Union to compensate for the FIM's withdrawal of the World Championship status of the Tourist Trophy and at the same time to make races with near-production machines more popular.

The winner of the respective race of the 59th Isle of Man TT in a class also became TT world champion in this category.

useful information

• The Formula TT was announced in 1977 in three classes.
  • In the TT-F1 class were four-stroke engine of 600 to 1000  cc displacement , and two-stroke engine allows cm³ with displacements of 350 to 500.
  • In the TT-F2 class, four-stroke engines from 400 to 600 cm³ and two-stroke engines from 250 to 350 cm³ were allowed.
  • In the TT-F3 class, four-stroke engines with a displacement of 200 to 400 cm³ and two-stroke engines with a displacement of 125 to 250 cm³ were allowed.

TT-F1 class

The TT-F1 race was ironically won by Phil Read , one of those drivers who had campaigned particularly hard for the TT to lose its world championship status. Read had sworn in 1972 that he would never return to the island. In 1977, however, he did so after he had been signed by Honda Britain for the Tourist Trophy.

The race itself caused controversy. It was canceled after four laps due to deteriorating weather conditions. After three laps, Ducati driver Roger Nicholls was 22 seconds ahead. After the fourth lap he headed for the pit to refuel, while Read drove through the finish line and was declared the winner.

( Snaefell Mountain Course ; 4 laps = 242.8 km, the first ten pilots evaluated)

1	Phil Read	Honda	1 h 33 min 19.3 s	97.02 mph
2	Roger Nicholls	Ducati	+ 38.7 s	96.36
3	Ian Richards	Honda	+ 1 min 26.7 s	95.55
4th	Stan Woods	Honda	+ 3 min 49.7 s	93.20
5	Malcolm Lucas	BSA	+ 5 min 02.1 s	92.06
6th	Michael Hunt	Laverda	+ 5 min 49.7 s	91.32
7th	Roger Corbett	triumph	+ 6 min 32.9 s	102.89
8th	Ian Tomkinson	BSA	+ 8 min 21.9 s	89.05
9	John Kirkby	Laverda	+ 9 min 53.9 s	87.72
10	John Wilkinson	Suzuki	+ 9 min 59.9 s	87.64

TT-F2 class

The TT-F2 race was held by Honda driver Alan Jackson Jr. won after the then leading Bill Smith failed in the last round.

( Snaefell Mountain Course ; 4 laps = 150 miles, only eight pilots reached the destination)

1	Alan jackson jr.	Honda	1 h 31 min 08.0 s	99.36 mph
2	Neil Tuxworth	Honda	+ 1 min 24.6 s	97.84
3	Denis Casement	Honda	+ 3 min 50.4 s	95.34
4th	John Crick	Honda	+ 11 min 23.2 s	88.32
5	Dennis McMillan	triumph	+ 12 min 5 *, 4 s	87.38
6th	Terry McKane	Honda	+ 15 min 45.0 s	84.72
7th	Alistair Copeland	Benelli	+ 16 min 44.8 s	83.93
8th	Richard Arain	Honda	+ 22 min 41.0 s	79.56

TT-F3 class

( Snaefell Mountain Course ; 4 laps = 242.8 km, the first ten pilots evaluated)

1	John Kidson	Honda	1 h 37 min 04.4 s	93.28 mph
2	Brian Peters	Suzuki	+ 5 min 15.0 s	88.49
3	Abe Walsh	Honda	+ 5 min 23.6 s	88.37
4th	Graham Bentman	Honda	+ 6 min 04.8 s	87.78
5	Fred Launchbury	Maico	+ 7 min 14.2 s	86.83
6th	Mal Kirwan	Honda	+ 7 min 53.0 s	86.27
7th	Nev Watts	Honda	+ 10 min 34.6 s	84.11
8th	Richard Stevens	Yamaha	+ 11 min 27.6 s	84.43
9	John Riley	Yamaha	+ 12 min 06.6 s	82.98
10	Paul Feist	Yamaha	+ 12 min 26.6 s	82.68

Web links

• Vincent Glon: FIM TT Formula Cup 1977. racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on July 13, 2010 (French). 
• Isle of Man TT 1977. www.iomtt.com, accessed July 13, 2010 (English).