Ted Fenwick, the oldest winner of a motorcycle road race in the Isle of Man [and probably anywhere in the British Isles], has died at the age of 92.

The Grand Old Duke of York as he was dubbed, Ted first competed in the Isle of Man 58 years ago when he was passenger to Alwyn Maltby in 1963.

Out of luck, the pair returned 12 months later to seal 12th place on their Triumph twin in a race won by Max and Emil Hoerner from Colin Seeley and Wally Rawlings.

Among those Maltby and Fenwick managed to beat were Florian Camathias and Alfred Herzig on the Gilera, Fred Hanks/Joe Thornton and Mac Hobson/John Hartridge.

Ted also squeezed his own 250cc NSU solo machine into the van and rode it in Lightweight race, but failed to register a finish.

It was a full 24 years before he returned to race in the inaugural Pre-TT Classic at Billown in 1988 as a mere 60-year-old. He loved the 4.24-mile course, the famed camaraderie of the meeting and the friendliness of the organisers.

He continued to race in the annual event up to and including 2016 - some 28 years in all.

Initially on a Suzuki twin, he changed to a single-cylinder 250cc Ducati in 1996 and stayed faithful to what proved to be a reliable work-horse for the next 20 years.

The unassuming Yorkshireman won his first race in 1998 and he went on to claim victory in no fewer than Pre-TT Classic six races, including a hat-trick in the Single cylinder 250cc class.

In later years he was granted a race number the same as his age, and Ted secured his final laurel wreath and cup in 2015 at the age of 87.

Many of his fellow riders described Ted Fenwick as ’the gentleman of road racing’, a fitting tribute to a reserved and extremely pleasant man. He would have been 93 in March.