Harold Daniell (29 October 1909 – 19 January 1967) was a British professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

driver. He competed in the 1940s and 1950s. On retiring from racing he owned a Norton motorcycle dealership in

Forest Hill, London Forest Hill is a district of the London Borough of Lewisham in south east London, England, on the South Circular Road, which is home to the Horniman Museum. History Like much of London, Forest Hill was only sparsely populated until the ...

. Harold Daniell and George Rowley rode the supercharged

AJS V4 The AJS V4 (1935 – 1939) started out as a prototype air-cooled V4 road bike, but became a water-cooled and supercharged racing bike. The 1935 Olympia Show bike In 1935, at the Olympia Show, the Bert Collier designed air-cooled 495cc sohc AJS 5 ...

s in the 1936 Isle of Man Senior TT, but despite its high top speed, it lacked acceleration. Both riders retired due to mechanical problems. In the 1938 Isle of Man TT' Daniell completed the first under 25-minute (24min.52.6sec), 91.00 plus mph, lap of 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 ...

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 ...

on his

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan * Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, ...

in the

Senior TT The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event traditionally held over the last week in May and the first week in June. The Senior TT is the Blue Riband event of the festi ...

, a record which would stand for 12 years. He won, beating

Stanley Woods Stanley Woods (1903 – 28 July 1993) was an Irish motorcycle racer famous for 29 motorcycle Grand Prix wins in the 1920s and 1930s, winning the Isle of Man TT races ten times in his career, plus wins at Assen and elsewhere. He was also a skil ...

by only 14.4 seconds. Daniell competed in the 1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season riding on a 500cc Norton and finished sixth overall with 17 points in the World Championship while

Leslie Graham Robert Leslie Graham (14 September 1911 – 12 June 1953) was a British motorcycle road racer who competed in the 1930s and 1940s. He won the inaugural Grand Prix motorcycle racing 500 cc World Championship in 1949. Early Career (1929 ...

and Nello Pagani finished first and second respectively. In the same year he also won the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Senior TT and was placed fifth in the

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 ...

. His victory in the Senior TT makes him the first race winner of the MotoGP (then 500 cc) class. Daniell's Isle of Man TT racing career spanned the years from 1930 until 1950 and included three victories and several placings in the Tourist Trophy races but he also competed in the

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or 'Snaefell Mountain Course, Mountain Circuit') every year for a two-week period, usually spanning the end of August and early September. New for 2022 is a period re ...

. Daniell declared that the new Norton was like "riding on a featherbed" compared with riding the "garden gate" - and it has been called the

Featherbed frame The featherbed frame was a motorcycle frame invented by the McCandless brothers and offered to the British Norton motorcycle company to improve the performance of their racing motorcycles in 1950. It was considered revolutionary at the time,"'' ...

ever since. After his motorcycle racing career, Daniell began

, entering

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dr ...

events at the wheel of an

Emeryson Emeryson was a Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). T ...

car.

World Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

References

External links

Harold Daniell profile at iomtt.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniell, Harold 1909 births 1967 deaths British motorcycle racers English motorcycle racers 500cc World Championship riders Isle of Man TT riders English racing drivers Place of birth missing