Four or five laps at the pace set by the leading BAT-JAPs were beginning to weed out the field, and a number of riders had dis�appeared from the scene on the Railway Straight, the fastest part of the circuit. One of the first to go was Stanley, drenched with fuel due to his large and heavy filler cap having been shaken loose from his petrol tank and lost somewhere on the track.
Lee Evans was early in trouble. His engine was off form and needed excessive lubrication, so he was forced to stop for oil after only eight laps. Plug trouble caused him another pit stop a lap later. In contrast, the other Indians were going well as was also Sam Wright, on his new single cylinder o.h.v. chain driven Humber. But his team mate Bert Yates had to retire after only two laps.
Of the Trump-JAPs, Angus Maitland's (pulling a 4-to-l gear and revving higher than most) was amongst the fastest single-cylinder machines. He soon had valve-lengthening troubles, but after a short spell in the pits and the use of a file he was soon away again.
Only one pit helper per rider was officially allowed, and the race officials at the Fork had their work cut out preventing extra unauthor�ised assistance from causing the disqualification of some competitors.
Many riders suffered from valve-lengthening and had to come in to the pits to remedy it.
The Triumphs as a team had been going very rapidly and consistently, but unfortunately two of the best Triumph riders dropped out of the race early on. Billy Creyton like Colrick-Herne came to grief badly with a buckled wheel, in his case just beyond the Mem�bers' Bridge. A few laps later Billy Newsome was unlucky enough to run over Stanley's lost filler cap. His back wheel ended up in a similar condition.
Archie Fenn came in to his pit, changed his engine sprocket and was quickly away again. Then both Jack Marshall and Arthur Moorhouse came in to refuel. Their partnership of some fifteen laps was about to be dissolved, for Moorhouse seemed to have acquired a lot more "steam". He soon left the restarted and pursuing Marshall far behind.
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