Notes:
One of the finest men ever to honor the sport, Andrew James Guthrie, "Jimmie" Guthrie as he was universally known, was a Scottish motorcycle racer famous for his 19 Grand Prix wins, 3 outright victories in the Coleraine's North West 200 and 6 wins at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races in his career.


Jimmie Guthrie's Biography
by Kevin Guthrie

Motorcycle ace Jimmie Guthrie was born in Wilton, Hawick, in the Scottish borders on 23 May 1897, at 5 Rosevale Cottage. For the 1937 German Grand Prix, held at the Hohenstein-Ernstthal, later named Sachsenring, on 08 August, Jimmie was riding a 500 cm³ Norton, for who he was a works rider. The 500 race was the last event of the day and there was a crowd of around 250,000 people to witness it. Jimmie, the reigning Champion of Europe, lined up his number 86 motorcycle on the front row along with German riders Otto Ley (BMW) and Kurt Mansfeld (DKW), and the Austrian Karl Gall (BMW).

On the fourth lap Guthrie took the lead from Ley and established a large gap over the other competitors. Starting the last lap he had a two-minute gap, and the Union Jack was already being prepared to be hoisted; however, Gall came through first. Jimmie had crashed and was severely injured. The crowd was shocked as Guthrie was a huge favorite even in Germany. He was taken by ambulance to Chemnitz hospital, where he died later that day.

Several theories were put forward as to the cause for the accident, none conclusive. An interesting twist came in 1992 when Stanley Woods, an old team mate of Guthrie's, spoke for the first time about the crash:
"I am prepared to go on oath that Guthrie was fouled. I saw the accident because I was coasting to a halt with a broken petrol pipe. Two riders passed me, a German and Guthrie. It was just before a downhill right-hander which Jimmie took flat out. The German knew Guthrie was right behind him, for he'd been there for some time. But the German couldn't take it flat out, slackened, and pulled into Jimmie's path, forcing him off the road into a line of saplings. He ended up in the foot of a ditch. I was the first to reach him and could see that he was in a desperately bad way. Both legs and an arm were broken. But he had no head injuries. I don't think he knew he was dying. I went in the ambulance with him to the hospital, but the roads were choked and it took two hours. After 20 minutes or so, the surgeon came out and said that they'd revived him momentarily, but that he had died. You can imagine how I felt. We'd been friends, team mates and rivals for ten years. I was shattered."

It was reported that possibly the high temperature had been a factor in the death of the rider. The day was very hot and on the particular bend of the accident, the tar ran rather more than usual and a marshal had spread sand, which naturally adhered only to where the tar held it, the rest being wafted out to the dry-off area.

Jimmie Guthrie was survived by his wife, Isabel, and daughter, Margaret. Isabel Guthrie was pregnant at the time of his death and gave birth to their son, James just two months later. James Guthrie, Jr. was the winner of the 1967 Senior Manx Grand Prix, riding a Norton.

There are three at least memorial sites dedicated to Jimmie Guthrie. One is on the mountain on the Isle of Man, at the point where he retired from his final Tourist Trophy - a race in which he made 24 starts between 1923 and 1937. This memorial was paid for by public subscription and, on a clear day, once can see Scotland from it. Another public subscription for a statue of him which was erected in 1939 in the Wilton Park, Hawick. At the nearby museum there is also a Jimmie Guthrie exhibition with artifacts and three of his motorcycles. The Germans also paid for a memorial to Guthrie at the site of his accident at Sachsenring; it was erected in 1949 and it is still immaculately kept. It is known as the Guthrie Stone.

There was also another interesting tribute to him. After his death German dictator Adolf Hitler - apparently a big fan of the Norton rider - presented Jimmie's mechanic with a brass statue of Mercury. It appears that this object is currently in the possession of Knockhill racing circuit in Scotland where it is used as the trophy for the 600 cm³ class.

• Book "Jimmie Guthrie, Hawick's Racing Legend" by John Rogerson and Gordon Small, the Hawick Archaeological Society, 1997 [G1].
• Book "I Giorni del Coraggio - Storia dei Motomondiali 1949-1969" by Ezio Pirazzini, Edizioni Calderini, Bologna 1975.
• Magazine Motorcycle Sport, issue of March 1973, pages 82/83.
• Website Racing Memory by Vincent Glon, page http://racingmemo.free.fr/M%20HISTOIRE/M-HIST%201937.htm .
• Website Find-A-Grave: Jimmie Guthrie.
• E-mail by Andy Marlow, dated 22 December 2004.
• E-mail by Hans-Hugo Boecker, dated 23 December 2004.
• E-mail by Andy Marlow, dated 24 January 2005.
• E-mail by Kevin Guthrie, dated 07 June 2005, citing [G1] and also personal research carried at the Hawick Museum.
• E-mail by Jan Walther, dated 03 April 2020, citing website https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Guthrie .