10 replies to this topic

[brands77]

I wrote a while back about Zonta Van De Goorbergh being reported as the first third generation GP rider.

 

However, it is possible that David Jefferies may have beaten him to it, having made 6 starts in 1993 in the 500c class. His dad Tony made 4 GP starts at the Ulster GP and TT in 1970 and 1971. Nick didn't win a TT until after it had been replaced as a world championship round, so to my knowledge didn't race in any GPs.

 

Did David's grandfather Alan Jefferies compete in any GPs? I have him down making 3 starts at the 1947, 8 and 9 TT in the Clubmans Senior TT races and the 1933 Manx GP. Would any of these races classify as World or European Championship GP races? It looks to me like the Clubmans TT wasn't a GP race, but was the Manx? If so was it part of the 1933 European championships?

[Michael Ferner]

No, the "Clubmans TT" was, as its name suggests, just a clubman's event, and it is was more of a coincidence that it was held during the international TT week (actually, not really a coincidence - the IoM authorities were not keen on closing off roads for a third event each year, and since the Clubmans races were used to qualify riders for the Manx GP it was deemed advisable to not hold them together with the latter event. This was eventually resolved when the Clubmans races were replaced with the Manx Newcomers or Snaefell races from 1957 onwards). The Manx GP itself was a "Grand Prix" only in name; it originated as the Manx Amateur Road Racing Championship in the twenties, and was first held under the name "Manx Grand Prix" in 1930. Rules specified (i.a.) that "a competitor will be held to be a person who has not since 1920 been entered as a rider or a reserve rider in any International Road Race (...) such as the International TT races, the Ulster Grand Prix , and the various Continental "TTs'" - so, in effect, "true" Grand Prix riders were actually banned from competing!

 

About Allan Jefferies, I'd need to check my records at home, maybe he competed in Continental GP races as a member of the Triumph works team, I'm not sure. He was mainly a Trials and Scrambles rider (Enduro and Moto Cross), though.

 

 

EDIT: A bit of searching in online archives shows Allan Jefferies to have been a non-starter after practicing for the 1934 International TT races, so that (in my estimation, at least) makes him a bonafide Grand Prix Rider! 

Edited by Michael Ferner, 13 June 2023 - 09:47.

[Michael Ferner]

The 1933 European Championships, by the way, were held in their entirety on a single day, Septemeber 3 at the Swedish GP in Saxtorp. Only the 1938 and '39 championhips consisted of several qualifying rounds in different countries, before that (and in 1947/'48) the titles were handed out to the winners of a single event, specified by the FICM at the beginning of each season.

[brands77]

Thank you for the clarification Michael.

 

Alan appears to have been first and foremost a trials rider, who went racing after becoming an established star in that discipline, as was his son and David's uncle Nick.

 

As for Alan being a non-starter in 1934 TT, that makes it probably the subject for debate! Although just from a purely records point of view it would have been nice if he had started the race. I haven't found anything for him in the 1949 world championships in the Ron Maggs book, which is the only source I have of non points scoring finishers in the world championships. The main Triumph rider that year was S. H. Jensen, who I am pretty sure would be Syd Jensen the New Zealander.

[GregThomas]

Alan Jefferies appears in one of the Keig Collection photo books - on the Triumph which was a non-starter at the TT.

[Michael Ferner]

Thank you for the clarification Michael.

 

Alan appears to have been first and foremost a trials rider, who went racing after becoming an established star in that discipline, as was his son and David's uncle Nick.

 

As for Alan being a non-starter in 1934 TT, that makes it probably the subject for debate! Although just from a purely records point of view it would have been nice if he had started the race. I haven't found anything for him in the 1949 world championships in the Ron Maggs book, which is the only source I have of non points scoring finishers in the world championships. The main Triumph rider that year was S. H. Jensen, who I am pretty sure would be Syd Jensen the New Zealander.

 

Yep, Sydney Harold Jensen. As for Jefferies, no I wouldn't expect him to have raced on the continent in 1949 or any other postwar years, I was thinking of mid-thirties GP appearances (of which I didn't find any in my records, for what it's worth). He was well over forty years old by the time hostilities ended, and him racing in the Clubmans events means he didn't compete in internationals, as I think the rules for those races were at least as restrictive as those for the Manx GP (quoted above).

 

 

Alan Jefferies appears in one of the Keig Collection photo books - on the Triumph which was a non-starter at the TT.

 

Nice find! Can I ask which number he wore? I have him entered as reserve rider "C", and I'm wondering whether that would have been on his number plate.

Edited by Michael Ferner, 14 June 2023 - 07:04.

[tonyed]

The TT fact zone as Allen Jefferies as a non-finisher in the 1933 MGP on a Scott, but of course does not record any non-start as in the 1934 TT. 

[GregThomas]

 

 

 

 

Nice find! Can I ask which number he wore? I have him entered as reserve rider "C", and I'm wondering whether that would have been on his number plate.

 

I answered because I remembered the Triumph - I used the pic as a reference for a bike I built. But having recently downsized I can't put my hand on the book. I'll keep looking and get the info to you. Again from memory the caption says something about when the pic was taken and that he was a reserve.

[Michael Ferner]

For interest, I found the rider eligibility rules for the 1948 Clubmans, and it says:
 
 

A rider who has gained a replica in any International T.T. Race or has finished first, second, or third in any post-war Manx Grand Prix Race is barred.

 
 
It doesn't say anything about internationals on the continent, though, but since "entries are accepted only from motorcycle clubs affiliated either to the ACU or the Scottish ACU" it's clearly meant to cater for the domestic racers only. Owing to high demand, the ACU also limited each club to enter only one rider (covered by the supplementary regulations)! As for technical regulations:
 

Machines are to all intents and purposes standard models which must have been catalogued before the 1st January 1948, and of which at least 75 of each model shall have been produced and delivered to the general public at the closing date of entries. All machines have to be equipped with full lighting sets, which must include a dynamo, but the lamps, horns, wiring harness, etc. must be removed for the race. Batteries, luggage carriers, speedometer drive and cables, air cleaners, dynamos, etc., may be removed, but this is not compulsory."

[GregThomas]

A bit of googling revealed the pic is in Volume one of the Keig Collectiion. Still haven't found my copy. 

[WonderWoman61]

I thought it was Allan Davies?

Edited by WonderWoman61, 10 July 2023 - 14:52.