|
Moto Guzzi 250 1949
1949 GUZZI 250. Guzzis won the 250 c.c. Lightweight T.T. three
times in succession in the immediate post-war period with race speeds of 73, 75
and almost 78 m.p.h. in 1947, '48 and '49. The rider of the winning machine in
1947 and 1949 was Manliff Barrington; in 1948 it was Maurice Cann, who was to
lose the 1950 race to Dario Ambrosini (Benelli) in a sensational finish by only
02 sec.
In design the successful 1949 machine differed in only one important respect
from its predecessors. It had new bottom-leading-link front forks with a very
large-diameter brake on the front wheel. Rear suspension was surprisingly
similar to that of the "500" on which Stanley Woods won the 1935 T.T.
As had long been Guzzi practice, the engine was built in unit
with its gearbox and had its cylinder horizontal. A large-diameter external
flywheel was employed and the induction tract was swept in almost horse-shoe
pattern so that the carburetter could be mounted in a "normal" attitude. On
later Guzzi 2503 the induction tract was to be completely restyled so that it
ran roughly parallel to the twin front down-tubes.
In the race, which was from a massed start of the twenty-nine competitors,
Barrington had a seven-lap duel with Tommy Wood, on another of the "works"
Guzzis.
Four machines were entered by the factory and they were all
"in formation" for the first two laps. On the third lap Lorenzetti's model
stopped with valve trouble; lap 4 saw Wood in the lead by over half a minute,
for Barrington had had to make a pit stop to change valve springs, but he had
already become the first man to break a pre-war lap record. Dickie Dale, on the
fourth "works" Guzzi, took the lead on lap 5, held it on lap 6, but had a valve
drop in on lap 7. Barrington, two seconds astern of Wood at the end of lap 6,
scratched round on the last lap to win by twelve seconds.
SPECIFICATION
Engine: horizontal single-cylinder 250 c.c. o.h.c; drive
to camshaft by shaft and bevel gears. Ignition: magneto.
Transmission: gear drive to five-speed gearbox in unit with engine.
Frame: cradle type with duplex down-tubes; pivoting-
fork rear suspension. Forks: leading link.
|
