Remembering 1930's Scottish motorcycle legend Jimmie Guthrie

Standing next to the famous Isle of Man TT motorcycle road-racing circuit is a stone cairn. It is to the west of North Barrule (Manx: Baarool Twoaie) which is the second highest peak in the Isle of Man (Manx: Mannin) at 1,854 ft (565 metres). This cairn is a memorial to the 1930's Scottish motorcycling legend Jimmie Guthrie. He was six times Isle of Man TT winner. When looking north from this beautiful location the valley of Gen Auldyn stretches below towards the northern Manx plain. The most northerly point on the Island is the Point of Ayre (Manx: Kione ny h-Ayrey). In the distance can be seen the hills of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba). It is the closest point to any of the adjacent countries surrounding the Isle of Man being 16 miles (26 kilometres) south of Burrow Head in south-west Scotland. So appropriately the memorial to Jimmie Guthrie looks out across the northern part of the Irish Sea towards his homeland, although it was built at the spot where he retired in his last Isle of Man TT Race.

Andrew James Guthrie (23 May 1897 – 8 August 1937) was a Scottish motorcycle racer. Jimmie Guthrie was born in the southern Scottish town of  Hawick ( Scottish Gaelic: Hamhaig). He was famous in the 1930's for his outstanding international motorcycling success. The son of a plumber, on leaving school he became an apprentice engineer with a local firm. Like many of his generation he faced the horrors of battle in the First World War. Joining the Border Battalion of the 4th King's Own Scottish Borderers. He was aged 18 when he was sent abroad to serve in Turkey, Egypt, Palestine and the Western Front in France. It was in France that he became a motorcycle dispatch rider. After the war he joined the Hawick Motorcycle Club taking part in various competitive events. His early successes pointed to his potential success and he took part in his first Isle of Man TT race in 1923. An event that in later years he was to achieve great success winning the Isle of Man TT six times. The International Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) was first held on the Island in 1907 with the now world famous Snaefell  Mountain Course first used in 1911. The 37¾ mile course rises to 1,385ft (422 metres) above sea level at its highest.

Early in his career Jimmie Guthrie rode New Hudson and AJS bikes and first started winning races in 1926 and 1927 at the Scottish Speed Championships. Later he was to ride a Norton. Over the next ten years he would become one of the greatest motorcycle racers in Europe. By the mid-1930s he had broken numerous World Speed Records.  Although a formidable figure in his sport, articles that have been written on Jimmie Guthrie over the years describe him as a sincere, quiet, generous and humble man. He died at the German Grand Prix of August 8 1937, a three times  European champion. His name is commemorated at two tracks: the Isle of Man TT circuit and the German Sachsenring that claimed his life. A special train was arranged by the Germans to take his body to the German border. On reaching his home town of Hawick a three mile procession paid their last respects. A statue to him stands in the Wilton Lodge Park, Hawick. There is an exhibition to Jimmie Guthrie at Hawick Museum. 

Listed below are the major achievements of this Scottish racing legend as listed by Hawick Museum:

1927 2nd Isle of Man Senior TT

1928 2nd 350 German Grand Prix

2nd 350 Swiss Grand Prix

1930 1st Isle of Man Lightweight TT

1st 350 German Grand Prix

1931 2nd Isle of Man Junior TT

2nd Isle of Man Senior TT

3rd 500 French Grand Prix

1st 500 “500 at Solitude”

1st 350 German Grand Prix

2nd 350 Ulster Grand Prix

1932 1st 350 Leinster “200”

2nd Isle of Man Senior TT

2nd 350 Belgian Grand Prix

1933 3rd Isle of Man Junior TT

4th Isle of Man Senior TT

2nd 350 French Grand Prix

1st 350 Belgian Grand Prix

2nd 350 Ulster Grand Prix

1st 350 Spanish Grand Prix

1st 500 Spanish Grand Prix

2nd 350 Grand Prix of Europe (Sweden)

1934 1st Isle of Man Junior TT

1st Isle of Man Senior TT

1935 1st 500 North West “200”

1st Isle of Man Junior TT

2nd Isle of Man Senior TT

1st 500 Swiss Grand Prix

2nd 350 Swiss Grand Prix

1st 500 Dutch TT

1st 500 German Grand Prix

1st 500 Belgian Grand Prix

1st 500 Grand Prix of Europe (Ulster)

1st 350 Spanish Grand Prix

1st 500 Spanish Grand Prix

1936 1st 350 Swiss Grand Prix

1st 500 Swiss Grand Prix

1st 500 North West “200”

1st Isle of Man Senior TT

1st 500 Belgian Grand Prix

1st 500 Grand Prix of Europe (Germany)

1st 500 Dutch TT

3rd Swedish Grand Prix

1937 1st 350 Leinster “200”

1st 500 North West “200”

1st Isle of Man Junior TT

1st 350 Grand Prix of Europe (Switzerland)

1st 500 Grand Prix of Europe (Switzerland)

1st 500 Belgian Grand Prix

World Speed Records at Montlhery, France

1934 50km record at 113.23mph

50 mile record at 113.39mph (both records set on a 490cc Norton)

1935 One hour record at 114.09mph

World 50km, 50 mile, 100km, 100 mile record all at over 114mph (all on 490cc Norton)

1936 One hour 350cc record at 107.43mph (348cc Norton)

World 50km, 50 mile, 100km records broken at over 117mph (490cc Norton)