1987: Norton development engineer Brian Crighton constructs a 120 bhp Spondon-framed RC588 Rotary racer weighing just 140 kg., using an air-cooled twin-rotor engine originally producing 80 bhp sourced from a crashed Interpol II police bike - a model which is the lifeblood of the Shenstone-based Norton concern, purchased in February that year by South African financier Philippe LeRoux and associates for £1.64 million. After the result tops 170 mph on the MIRA test track in July, LeRoux establishes a fledgling Norton racing department, and test rider Malcolm Heath finishes third on the bike’s Darley Moor race debut, just six weeks after the start of the project. Heath wins next time out on the bike at Snetterton, scores several more club racing victories, and LeRoux establishes a three-man race team for 1988, with the rotary engine rated as a 588cc unit for TT Formula 1 racing under an ACU/FIM 1.7:1 factorisation ruling.
This story is from the June 2022 edition of Bike SA.
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This story is from the June 2022 edition of Bike SA.
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