Reuben Thomas "Ben" Drinkwater (13 February 1910 – 9 June 1949) born in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

,''Isle of Man Examiner'' pp4 dated 17 June 1949

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England, was a

railway signalman :''This article deals with rail traffic controllers in Great Britain and Ireland; for similar functions in other jurisdictions, see Train dispatcher.'' A signalman or signaller is an employee of a railway transport network who operates the points ...

and motorcycle racer who competed in the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

races and the Manx Grand Prix. After riding in the 1946 Manx Grand Prix, the first post-war event on the Snaefell Mountain Course, Ben Drinkwater returned to race in the

1947 Isle of Man TT The 1947 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy was the first race festival since 1939 due to the interruption of World War II. With the restart of racing, the ACU decided to add three Clubman-class races for production machines in Lightweight, Junior and Se ...

, finishing in third place in the controversial 1947 250 cc

Lightweight TT The Lightweight 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. History The Lightweight class was first present at th ...

race won by Manliff Barrington. While competing in the 1949 350cc

Junior TT The Junior TT is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. Between 1949 and 1976 this race was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Engine c ...

race, the first ever race of the new

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, Drinkwater collided with a bank trying to avoid a fellow competitor near Cronk Bane farm, close to the 11th milestone marker post, and was killed. The distinctive S-bend corner on the Mountain Course near to the accident location was renamed "Drinkwater's Bend"''Motocourse History of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Races 1907-1989'' by Nick Harris pp58 (1990)(1st Edition) Hazelton Publishing or the

11th Milestone __NOTOC__ The 11th Milestone, Isle of Man (''Drinkwater's Bend'') is situated adjacent to the 13th Milestone on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road which forms the boundary between the parishes of Kirk German and Kirk Michael in the Isle ...

TT career summary

Sources

External links

TT database rider profile
iomtt.com
TT database TT results
iomtt.com 1910 births 1949 deaths Sportspeople from Rochdale English motorcycle racers 350cc World Championship riders Manx Grand Prix racers Isle of Man TT riders Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in the Isle of Man {{England-motorcycle-racing-bio-stub