# Lightweight TT

The Supertwin TT is a motorcycle road race that is a part of the Isle of Man TT festival - an annual motorcycle event traditionally held over the last week of May and first week of June. Prior to the 2022 edition of the TT, the race was known as the Lightweight TT.

## History

The Lightweight class, as it was then known, was first present at the 1920 TT races, as a category in the Junior TT. However it was not until 1922 that the first time the Lightweight TT took place, won by motorcycle journalist Geoff S. Davison riding a Levis, at an average speed of 49.89 mph (80.29 km/h) for 5 laps of the Snaefell Mountain Course. Between 1949 and 1976, the Lightweight race was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.
In the changes following the loss of FIM World Championship status after the 1976 event, the Lightweight TT event was dropped with the 250 cc machines running for the Junior TT in place of the now defunct 350 cc formula. The Lightweight TT returned in 1995 before being split into two distinct events from 1999, dropping from the schedule again after 2004.
The Lightweight TT and the Ultra-Lightweight TT were later reinstated to the 2008 & 2009 race schedules, but were held on the 4.25 mile Billown Circuit in the south of the Isle of Man. For the 2010 races, the Lightweight TT was again dropped from the race schedule on cost grounds.
The event was re-introduced for the 2012 races on the Mountain course, with a change to water-cooled four-stroke twin cylinder engines not exceeding 650 cc and complying with the ACU Standing Regulations.
The event was renamed Supertwin TT in 2022.

## The Lightweight category

There have been several different categories of motorcycle that can compete in this event. In the 1950s and 1960s, the principal TT solo events were the Senior (500 cc), Junior (350 cc), and Lightweight (250 cc, or sometimes 125 cc). The 125 cc class was occasionally called the "Ultra-Lightweight" class.
Currently the Lightweight class comprises road-based "SuperTwin" solo machines with liquid-cooled four-stroke engines of up to 500 cc for Four-Cylinder and 800 cc Twin-Cylinder engine capacity.

## Overview

* 1924–1948: For motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity.
* 1949–1953: FIM World Championship event for motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Snaefell mountain course.
* 1954–1959: FIM World Championship event for motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Clypse Course.
* 1960–1976: FIM World Championship event for motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Mountain Course.
* 1977–1994: event not run (250 cc formula run as Junior TT).
* 1995–1998: For 2-stroke motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity and 4-stroke motorcycles not exceeding 400 cc, held on the Mountain Course.
* 1999–2003: Lightweight 400 TT for 4-stroke motorcycles not exceeding 400 cc engine capacity, held on the Mountain Course.
* 1999–2002: Lightweight 250 TT for 2-stroke motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Mountain Course (the category running within Junior TT in 2003).
* 2008–2009: For motorcycles not exceeding 250 cc engine capacity, held on the Billown Circuit.
* 2012–2019: For water-cooled four-stroke twin cylinder not exceeding an engine capacity of 650 cc and complying with the ACU Standing Regulations.

## Speed and lap records

The lap record for the Lightweight TT is held by Michael Dunlop in a time of 18 minutes and 26.543 seconds, at an average speed of 122.750 mph (197.547 km/h) set during the 2018 race. The race record for the 4 lap (150.73 miles/242.58 km) Lightweight TT is a time of 1 hour, 15 minutes and 05.032 seconds, at an average race speed of 120.601 mph (194.088 km/h), also held by Dunlop during the 2018 race.

## List of Lightweight TT Winners

| Year | Rider | Manufacturer | Average Race Speed |
| 1922 | Geoff S. Davison | Levis | 49.49 mph |
| 1923 | Jock Porter | New Gerrard | 51.93 mph |
| 1924 | Edwin Twemlow | New Imperial | 55.44 mph |
| 1925 | Edwin Twemlow | New Imperial | 57.74 mph |
| 1926 | C. W. Johnston | Cotton | 57.74 mph |
| 1927 | Wal Handley | Rex-Acme | 63.3 mph |
| 1928 | Frank Longman | OK-Supreme | 62.9 mph |
| 1929 | Syd Crabtree | Excelsior | 63.87 mph |
| 1930 | Jimmie Guthrie | AJS | 64.71 mph |
| 1931 | Graham Walker | Rudge | 68.98 mph |
| 1932 | Leo Davenport | New Imperial | 70.48 mph |
| 1933 | Syd Gleave | Excelsior | 71.59 mph |
| 1934 | Jimmy Simpson | Rudge | 70.81 mph |
| 1935 | Stanley Woods | Moto Guzzi | 71.56 mph |
| 1936 | Bob Foster | New Imperial | 74.28 mph |
| 1937 | Omobono Tenni | Moto Guzzi | 74.72 mph |
| 1938 | Ewald Kluge | DKW | 78.48 mph |
| 1939 | Ted Mellors | Benelli | 74.26 mph |
| 1940-1946 | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1947 | Manliffe Barrington | Moto Guzzi | 73.22 mph |
| 1948 | Maurice Cann | Moto Guzzi | 75.12 mph |
| 1949 | Manliffe Barrington | Moto Guzzi | 77.99 mph |
| 1950 | Dario Ambrosini | Benelli | 78.08 mph |
| 1951 | Tommy Wood | Moto Guzzi | 81.39 mph |
| 1952 | Fergus Anderson | Moto Guzzi | 83.82 mph |
| 1953 | Fergus Anderson | Moto Guzzi | 84.73 mph |
| 1954 | Werner Haas | NSU | 90.88 mph |
| 1955 | Bill Lomas | MV Agusta | 71.37 mph |
| 1956 | Carlo Ubbiali | MV Agusta | 67.05 mph |
| 1957 | Cecil Sandford | Mondial | 75.80 mph |
| 1958 | Tarquinio Provini | MV Agusta | 76.89 mph |
| 1959 | Tarquinio Provini | MV Agusta | 77.77 mph |
| 1960 | Gary Hocking | MV Agusta | 93.64 mph |
| 1961 | Mike Hailwood | Honda | 98.38 mph |
| 1962 | Derek Minter | Honda | 96.68 mph |
| 1963 | Jim Redman | Honda | 94.85 mph |
| 1964 | Jim Redman | Honda | 97.45 mph |
| 1965 | Jim Redman | Honda | 97.19 mph |
| 1966 | Mike Hailwood | Honda | 101.79 mph |
| 1967 | Mike Hailwood | Honda | 103.07 mph |
| 1968 | Bill Ivy | Yamaha | 99.58 mph |
| 1969 | Kel Carruthers | Benelli | 95.95 mph |
| 1970 | Kel Carruthers | Yamaha | 96.13 mph |
| 1971 | Phil Read | Yamaha | 98.02 mph |
| 1972 | Phil Read | Yamaha | 99.68 mph |
| 1973 | Charlie Williams | Yamaha | 100.05 mph |
| 1974 | Charlie Williams | Yamaha | 94.16 mph |
| 1975 | Chas Mortimer | Yamaha | 101.78 mph |
| 1976 | Tom Herron | Yamaha | 103.55 mph |
| 1977-1994 | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1995 | Joey Dunlop | Honda | 115.68 mph |
| 1996 | Joey Dunlop | Honda | 115.31 mph |
| 1997 | Joey Dunlop | Honda | 115.59 mph |
| 1998 | Joey Dunlop | Honda | 96.61 mph |
| 1999 | John McGuinness | Honda | 116.79 mph |
| 1999 | Paul Williams | Honda | 109.01 mph |
| 2000 | Joey Dunlop | Honda | 116.01 mph |
| 2000 | Brett Richmond | Honda | 104.00 mph |
| 2001 | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 2002 | Bruce Anstey | Yamaha | 115.32 mph |
| 2002 | Richard Quayle | Honda | 109.27 mph |
| 2003 | John McGuinness | Honda | 109.52 mph |
| 2004 | John McGuinness | Honda | 110.28 mph |
| 2005-2007 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2008 | Ian Lougher | Honda | 100.741 mph |
| 2009 | Ian Lougher | Honda | 101.168 mph |
| 2009 | Ian Lougher | Honda | 100.273 mph |
| 2010-2011 | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2012 | Ryan Farquhar | Kawasaki | 114.155 mph |
| 2013 | James Hillier | Kawasaki | 117.694 mph |
| 2014 | Dean Harrison | Kawasaki | 117.460 mph |
| 2015 | Ivan Lintin | Kawasaki | 118.936 mph |
| 2016 | Ivan Lintin | Kawasaki | 118.454 mph |
| 2017 | Michael Rutter | Paton | 118.645 mph |
| 2018 | Michael Dunlop | Paton | 120.601 mph |
| 2019 | Michael Dunlop | Paton | 121.646 mph |
| 2022 | Peter Hickman | Paton | 120.006 mph |
| 2023 (Race 1) | Michael Dunlop | Paton | 120.505 mph |
| 2023 (Race 2) | Peter Hickman | Yamaha | 119.318 mph |

### Race winners (riders)

| Rider | Wins |
| Joey Dunlop | 6 |
| Charlie Williams | 5 |
| Mike Hailwood, Jim Redman | 3 |
| Fergus Anderson, Manliff Barrington, Kel Carruthers, Michael Dunlop, Ivan Lintin, Ian Lougher, Phil Read, Tarquinio Provini, Eric Twemlow | 2 |
| Dario Ambrosini, Bruce Anstey, Maurice Cann, Syd Crabtree, Ryan Farquhar, Gary Hocking, Jimmie Guthrie, Wal Handley, Werner Haas, Dean Harrison, Tom Herron, James Hillier, Bill Ivy, Ewald Kluge, John McGuinness, Ted Mellors, Derek Minter, Jack A. Porter, Richard Quayle, Jimmie Simpson, Omobono Tenni, Carlo Ubbiali, Graham Walker, Stanley Woods | 1 |