From that moment on, Kavanagh was a road-racer and a very capable one, resulting in his selection as Victoria State’s nomination for Australia’s 1951 Isle of Man TT team. Although Kavanagh’s first rides in the TT that year ended in retirements, the potential was clear, not only in his race performance (sixth place in the Senior at the start of the seventh and last lap) but also in his approach to learning the Mountain course, taking five weeks off work (assembling Norton Dominators at Bracebridge Street) to ride, walk and study the circuit prior to official practice. Shortly after the TT, he scored a 350cc/500cc ‘double’ win at Tarare in France, then a third place in his first Continental Grand Prix, the 350cc Dutch. For the Ulster Grand Prix in August, and on the recommendation of Geoff Duke, he was invited to join the Norton works team and rode to two fine second places
