The Formula TT was a racing class for motorcycles from 1977 to 1990 as the official World Cup under the umbrella of

International Motorcycling Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. It was in three engine capacity classes, and was divided into both

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

and

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

engines.

History

From

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

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 ...

was part of the Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship and was the home of the British Grand Prix. The event came under increasing scrutiny due to safety concerns despite efforts by the ACU to retain its world championship status. When Italian rider

Gilberto Parlotti Gilberto Parlotti (17 September 1940 – 9 June 1972) was an Italian professional motorcycle racer competing in the FIM World Championship between 1969 and 1972. He competed for the Benelli, Derbi, Morbidelli and Tomos factories. Parlotti was b ...

was killed during the 1972 TT, his close friend and the reigning world champion

Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini (; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian multi-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed Ago, he amassed 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championship titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500 ...

, announced that he would never again race on 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 ...

. More riders joined Agostini's boycott and by the

season, only a handful of serious Grand Prix riders were among the entrants. Shortly after the 1976 TT, the

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 * ...

made the long-anticipated announcement that the TT, once the most prestigious race on the Grand Prix calendar, was stripped of its world championship status. The Grand Prix action was moved to the UK with the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

being held at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

. The race authorities of the Isle of Man TT worked with

Auto Cycle Union The Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) is the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, but excluding Northern Ireland.

to set up a new formula that would include racing on the Isle of Man. This series was the result of that collaboration. For the first two years all three formula were run as part of the Isle of Man TT: *1977 One event: Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man *1978 One event: Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man In 1979 a second race was added: *1979 Two events: Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man;

Ulster Grand Prix The Ulster Grand Prix is a motorcycle race that takes place on the Dundrod Circuit made up entirely of closed-off public roads near Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first races took place in 1922 and in 1935 and 1948 the Fédération Internation ...

Dundrod Dundrod () is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 167 people. It is within the Lisburn City Council area. Buildings Sport Dundrod Circuit is the location to Dundrod M ...

(

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

) *1980 Two events: Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; Ulster Grand Prix, Dundrod (Northern Ireland) *1981 Two events: Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; Ulster Grand Prix, Dundrod (Northern Ireland) For the start of the 1982 season Formula III was dropped and the number of circuits was increased: *1982 Three events: Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man,

Vila Real, Portugal Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality covers ...

;

(

) *1983 Four events: Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; TTF1,

Dutch TT The Dutch Tourist Trophy, also known as the ''TT Assen'', is an annual Dutch motorsport event established in 1925 for road racing motorcycles held on the TT Circuit Assen, also known as the ‘Cathedral of Speed'. The event attained world champ ...

Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...

(

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

); Ulster Grand Prix, Dundrod (Northern Ireland); and TTF2,

(second meeting at the circuit) *1984 Six events: TTF1-TTF2, Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; TTF1, Dutch TT - Assen (Netherlands), TTF1-TTF2, Vila Real (Portugal); TTF1-TTF2, Ulster GP, Dundrod (Northern Ireland); TTF2,

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

(

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

);TTF1,

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

), *1985 Six events: TTF1-TTF2, Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; TTF1, Dutch TT - Assen (Netherlands); TTF1-TTF2, Vila Real (Portugal); TTF1-TTF2, Montjuich (

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

); TTF1-TTF2, Ulster GP, Dundrod (Northern Ireland); TTF1,

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) *1986, Eight events: TTF1,

San Marino motorcycle Grand Prix The San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. The name of the race is a misnomer as the race has always taken place in Italy, but because there is already an Italian motor ...

, Misano (Italy); TTF1, Hockenheim (Germany); TTF1-TTF2, Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; TTF1, Dutch TT - Assen (Netherlands); TTF1-TTF2,

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...

(Spain); TTF1, Vila Real (Portugal); (TTF1) Imatra (Finland); and TTF1-TTF2, Ulster GP, Dundrod (Northern Ireland) For the remaining four seasons only Formula I races were run: *1987 Seven events: Misano (Italy);

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone wan ...

(

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

); Tourist Trophy; Isle of Man, Dutch TT - Assen (Netherlands); Sugo (

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

); Hockenheim (Germany); and

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

(

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

). *1988, Eight events: Sugo (Japan); Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; Dutch TT - Assen (Netherlands); Vila Real (Portugal);

Kouvola Kouvola () is a cities of Finland, city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki, Kymijoki River in the Regions of Finland, region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lapp ...

(Finland); Dundrod (Northern Ireland);

Pergusa Pergusa is an Italian village of Sicily. It is a ''frazione'' of Enna, the administrative seat of the same-named province. Geography Pergusa lies in hills about 10 km south of Enna. Pergusa is reached by the ''Enna-Gela Road'', which allow ...

(Italy); and Donington Park (England) *1989, six events: Sugo (Japan); Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; Dutch TT - Assen (Netherlands); Vila Real (Portugal); Kouvola (Finland); and Dundrod (Northern Ireland). *1990, five events: Sugo (Japan); Tourist Trophy, Isle of Man; Vila Real (Portugal); Kouvola (Finland); and Dundrod (Northern Ireland).Championnat du Monde - TT Formula 1990
/ref> In 1988 a rival series called the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

started and as it proved popular and commercially successful, it was decided to end the Formula TT at the end of the 1990 season.

Technical regulations

The TT Formula was divided into three categories: * Formula I -

from 600 to 1000 cc (reduced to 750 cc since 1984) and

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...

350 to 500 cc * Formula II - four-stroke from 400 to 600 cc and two-stroke 250 to 350 cc * Formula III - four-stroke from 200 to 400 cc and two-stroke 125 to 250 cc

List of winners

Notes

References

Unofficial website of the Tourist Trophy & Road Race Portal Road Race Supporters

Official website of the Tourist Trophy

(French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Formula Tt

Formula TT The Formula TT was a racing class for motorcycles from 1977 to 1990 as the official World Cup under the umbrella of International Motorcycling Federation. It was in three engine capacity classes, and was divided into both two and four-stroke engi ...