The Indian team consisted of five machines, with De Rosier billed as the leading rider. Always with an eye for publicity, he wore as his racing attire running shoes and black theatrical tights. He also covered his chin with heavy bandages to protect it from hitting the tank rail, when riding in a prone position.
An eyewitness to the races, the late G. S. Davison, has left us an account of the contest in his book, The Story of the TT. 'The weather was fortunately bright and sunny, as the mountain course was mostly a farm track and could have been extraordinarily hazardous in wet condition. De Rosier took the lead on the first lap, closely followed by Charlie Collier on a Matchless twin and Godfrey, on another Indian. Indians ridden by Franklin and Moorhouse were lying fourth and sixth, so only two British machines were among the first half dozen competitors.
Collier took the lead in the second lap, with the rest of the Indian team close behind. In the fourth lap he sustained a puncture, and, although according to his lap time he lost only four minutes, he dropped back to third place. He also ran out of fuel several times, but managed to pull into second place behind Godfrey and just ahead of Franklin and Moorhouse, at the finish. As Collier had taken on extra fuel, which was against the rules, the Indian team lodged a protest. The stewards disqualified his entry, and Indians were designated as the winners of the first three places in the now immortal Godfrey, Franklin and Moorhouse combination. De Rosier had been highly touted as a probable first place winner, but he was obviously not at home on rough road courses and he finished with the last of the pack. The winning times were 3.56.10, 3.59.52 and 4.5.34, respectively. Godfrey's average speed was 47.6mph, not a bad showing considering the hazards of the course.
The British contestants were not a little chagrined at having been beaten by foreigners, but the reliability of the Hedstrom engines, coupled with their rugged two speed gearboxes, with gearing carefully selected for the course, made their victory an almost foregone conclusion. The English motorcycle press made much of the results in relation to the general unsuitability of single geared machines.
The Indian company quite naturally made capital of the victory, glossing over Collier's formidable challenge on his rugged Matchless. All in all, Indian's performance was very creditable indeed. De Rosier did not return to Springfield with the Indian team following the TT races, and remained in England under the sponsorship of Billy Wells, to undertake a number of match races at Brooklands that summer.
[Page 3]