MV Agusta 500 Four, 1957
1957 · MV Agusta, Cascina Costa, Italy · 500cc four-cylinder works racer
Rotating view of a 3D model built for Manx Road Racer. A reconstruction from period photographs and drawings, not a surviving machine.
MV Agusta's 500 four was designed by Piero Remor, the engineer who had earlier designed Gilera's four-cylinder racer. In 1956 MV signed the 22-year-old John Surtees from Norton.
Surtees's first Senior TT on the four came in 1956. He led from start to finish and won at 96.57 mph, with a fastest lap of 97.79 mph. It was his first TT win, and he went on to win the 500cc world championship that year.
The 1957 Senior was the Golden Jubilee race, run over eight laps instead of seven. Surtees lapped at 97.20 mph from a standing start, but the Gileras were faster that year. Bob McIntyre caught and passed him on the road, and Surtees finished second at 97.86 mph. He was fourth in the Junior.
With Gilera gone from racing after 1957, Surtees and MV won the Senior in 1958, 1959 and 1960. He was the first rider to win the Senior three years in a row, and his 1960 winning average of 102.44 mph was the first race win over the Mountain Course at more than 100 mph.
Facts
- Races: 1956 Senior TT, 1 John Surtees (MV), 96.57 mph; 1957 Senior TT, 2 John Surtees (MV), 97.86 mph
- Designer: Piero Remor
- Later: Senior TT wins 1958, 1959, 1960 (Surtees)
Sources
- Manx National Heritage, iMuseum, John Surtees (competitor record, quoting TT Special, 6 June 1958)
- Manx National Heritage, iMuseum, "1956 Senior TT" (TT Special, 8 June 1956)
- Motorcycle Classics, "John Surtees" (2017)
- Cycle News archive (Remor as designer of both fours)
- Museo Agusta, "Anniversario della nascita di John Surtees"
- Classic Racer, 2017 (Surtees's 97.20 mph first lap, via PressReader)