The man who finished third in the famous 1967 Senior TT, riding a Steve Lancefield Norton, passed away in May 2017, just before the 50th anniversary of his superb achievement.
Steve Spencer’s effort is even more impressive because it was the year of his TT debut. During the course of his ride, it is reckoned he became the only man to lap at upwards of 100mph on a Manx Norton with a four-speed gearbox.
Spencer had made his Senior Manx GP debut in 1964, when he retired, then finished fifth in 1965 and third in 1966, before his TT bow. He ended his career in 1970, with a Production TT seventh and a Senior TT 10th, before making a comeback in 1991’s Classic Manx GP. He qualified a Norton twin on his first lap, but it expired early on in the race.
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In the 1967 races, Spencer also finished eighth in the Junior race, on another Lancefield Norton, despite being beaten up from crashing out of third place in the Production TT on a Triumph Bonneville; at the time, he was employed as a tester by Triumph. His 1967 Senior/Junior efforts won him the Joe Craig Trophy, for best aggregate performance by a British rider on a British machine.
Steve Spencer’s funeral was held in the Warwickshire
village of Piccadilly, on June 6, 10 days before the half-century anniversary of his most
glorious ride.
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