The Four Inch Course was a road-racing circuit first used for the 1908 Tourist Trophy Race for cars, held on public roads closed for racing by an Act of

Tynwald Tynwald ( gv, Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald ( gv, Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House of ...

(the parliament of the Isle of Man). The name of the course derives from the regulations for the 1908 Tourist Trophy adopted by the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range o ...

, which limited the competitors' engines to a cylinder-diameter of four inches. The Four-Inch Course was adopted by the Auto-Cycle Club for the

1911 Isle of Man TT The 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races took place for the first time over the ''Isle of Man TT Mountain Course''. The whole organisation of the races was given over to the Auto-Cycle Union (ACU), which announced the use of the longer mountain ...

Races. The Four-Inch Course was subsequently known as the

Snaefell Mountain Course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' is a street and public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''TT Course'' is used principally for the Isle of Man TT Races and also the sep ...

or Mountain Course when used for motor-cycle racing.

Four Inch Course

The new course length was 37.5 miles, based on the 'Short'

Highroads Course Highroads Course was a road-racing circuit used for the Gordon Bennett British Eliminating Trial held in the Isle of Man for the 1904 and 1905 Tourist Trophy Race involving touring automobiles and cars. The events were held on public roads clos ...

with the omission of the ''Sandygate Loop'' and the ''Peel Loop''. The start-line was moved from the road junction of the A2 Quarterbridge Road/Alexander Drive to

Hillberry Corner Hillberry Corner (in gv, Knock berrey or ''Cronkybury'') is situated at the 36th Milestone road-side marker on the Snaefell Mountain Course, being on the primary A18 Mountain Road with the side-road junction of the C22 Little Mill Road, in the ...

on the A18 Mountain Road. The Four Inch Course was based on a number of public roads closed for the duration of racing, including: * The primary

A18 A18 or A-18 is a three-character acronym that may refer to: * A18 road (disambiguation), in several countries * A-18 Shrike, a Curtiss Model 76A twin radial engine monoplane service test aircraft of the mid-1930s * Aero A.18, a Czech fighter aircra ...

Snaefell Mountain Road from the start-line at Hillberry Corner to the junction with the primary A21 ''Johnny Watterson's Lane'' and the tertiary C10 ''Scholag Road'' at

Cronk-ny-Mona Cronk-ny-Mona () is situated between the 36 and 37 mile markers used for the Snaefell Mountain Course, being on the primary A18 Mountain Road at the road junction with the A21 ''Johnny Watterson('s) Lane'' and the tertiary C10 Scholag Road in t ...

in the town of

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

. * The primary A21 ''Johnny Watterson's Lane'' from Cronk-ny-Mona to the junction with the A22 Ballanard Road. * The A22 Ballanard Road in an easterly direction to the road junction at St Ninian's Crossroads, the A2

Bray Hill Bray Hill ( Lowland Scots: ''Brae'' a slope) was formerly a country lane known as the ''Great Hill'' during the time of the ownership of the Duke of Atholl, and was previously known as ''Siberia'', originally a triangle-shaped parcel of land i ...

and the A2

Quarterbridge Road Quarterbridge Road ( gv, The Quarters or Quarter Dub – quarterlands of Ballabrooie and Ballaquayle) is situated adjacent to the 1st Milestone road-side marker measured from the startline at TT Grandstand used for the Snaefell Mountain Course ...

in Douglas to Quarter Bridge. * The A1

to Peel road from Quarter Bridge to

Ballacraine __NOTOC__ Ballacraine (, "McCrayne" or "Craine's farm"; archaic ) is located between the 7th and 8th milestones of the TT course, at the junction of the A1 Douglas to Peel and A3 Castletown to Ramsey primary roads in the parish of German in t ...

at the junction with the A3 Castletown to

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

road. * The A3 Castletown to Ramsey road from Ballacraine to

Parliament Square, Ramsey Parliament Square, Ramsey ( gv, Kerrin y Valley or Market Square) is situated between the 23rd and 24th Milestone road-side markers on the Snaefell Mountain Course used for the Isle of Man TT Races on the junction of the primary A3 Castletown ...

. * The A9 Albert Road in Ramsey, including two small sections of private road with the northerly junction of the primary

Snaefell Mountain Road. * The A18 Mountain Road to the finish-line at Hillberry Corner. The Four Inch Course was adopted by the Auto-Cycle Club for the

Races and the start-line was moved to a level section of the

between Selborne Drive and the 1st Milestone/Alexander Drive, becoming known as the Snaefell Mountain Course when used for motorcycle racing. From the

1920 Isle of Man TT Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

races, changes were made to the Snaefell Mountain Course and competitors turned left at

following the primary A18 Bemahague Road to Governor's Bridge, then to a new start/finish line on Glencrutchery Road which lengthened the course from the pre-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

length of to . More changes to the course followed for the

1923 Isle of Man TT The 1923 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw the introduction of the first Sidecar TT race over 3 laps, won by Freddie Dixon and passenger Walter Denney using a special Douglas motorcycle with a banking-sidecar in a time of 2 hours, 7 minute ...

races with the adoption of two small sections of private road between

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...

and

May Hill May Hill is a prominent English hill between Gloucester and Ross-on-Wye. Its summit, on the western edge of Gloucestershire and its northern slopes in Herefordshire, is distinguishable by a clump of trees on its summit, which forms an official ...

in Ramsey. The Snaefell Mountain Course had previously negotiated the A2 Albert Road and Tower Road in Ramsey which differed from the original Four-Inch circuit which had incorporated these sections of private road and the new Mountain Course length increased to . The official course distance for the Snaefell Mountain Course was amended for the

1938 Isle of Man TT The 1938 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy saw the Senior TT lap record of 90.27 mph set by Freddie Frith the previous year broken in 1938 when Harold Daniell completed a lap at 91.00 mph on his Norton, a record which would stand for 12 years. ...

races to which is the current Snaefell Mountain Course length.''Official TT Guide 1992'' page 45 edited by Norrie White Isle of Man Department of Tourism (1992) Mannin Media Ltd

Sources

External links

{{coord, 54, 10, 18, N, 4, 29, 31, W, display=title, region:IM_type:landmark Motorsport venues in the Isle of Man

Four Inch Course

See also

Sources

External links