Gilera 500 Four, 1957
1957 · Gilera, Arcore, Italy · 499cc four-cylinder works racer with full streamlining
Rotating view of a 3D model built for Manx Road Racer. A reconstruction from period photographs and drawings, not a surviving machine.
Gilera's 500 four was designed by Piero Remor in 1947 and developed over the following decade. Gilera riders won six 500cc world championships between 1950 and 1957, three of them with Geoff Duke.
For 1957, the TT's Golden Jubilee, the Senior was run over eight laps, 302 miles. With Duke injured, the Scottish rider Bob McIntyre led the Gilera team. His machine carried a full streamlined fairing.
McIntyre lapped at 99.99 mph from a standing start. On the second lap he went round in 22 minutes 24.4 seconds, 101.03 mph, the first lap of the Mountain Course at more than 100 mph. He lapped at over 100 mph four times, fastest at 101.12 mph on the fourth lap, caught and passed John Surtees's MV on the road and won by more than two minutes. Bob Brown made it a Gilera first and third. McIntyre had already won the Junior on a 350 Gilera that week.
It was the last time Gilera sent a full works team to the Island. The company withdrew from racing at the end of the 1957 season.
Facts
- Race: 1957 Senior TT, 7 June, 8 laps, 302 miles
- Result: 1 Bob McIntyre (Gilera) 98.99 mph, 2 John Surtees (MV Agusta), 3 Bob Brown (Gilera)
- First 100 mph lap: 101.03 mph, lap 2; fastest lap 101.12 mph, lap 4
- Designer: Piero Remor (1947)
Sources
- Museo Piaggio, "Gilera 500 Quattro Cilindri"
- Cycle World, "2017 Classic TT pays tribute to Bob McIntyre"
- Mortons Archive, 1957 Senior TT photograph caption (last full Gilera works team)
- Wikipedia, "1957 Isle of Man TT"
- Wikipedia, "Bob McIntyre (motorcyclist)" (fairing fuel tanks, 99.99 mph first lap)