Paton C9/2 V70 Racer
With Phil Aynsley
Giuseppe Pattoni was the chief mechanic for the FB Mondial GP team when the company (together with Guzzi and Gilera) quit racing at the end of 1957. He and former company engineer, Lino Tonti, then formed their own company, Paton. Their first bike was a 125cc single, closely based on the Mondial.
Mike Hailwood finished seventh on the bike in the 1958 IOM Lightweight TT. This was followed by a 250cc parallel twin which in turn spawned 350 and 500cc versions. The 500 was the most successful and still produced for classic racing. Indeed it is the go-to bike for the 500 classes.
In 1975-76 Pattoni started development of a V4 two-stroke. It was the first single crankshaft V4 to appear in the 500 Championship. It was also the first design that Pattoni’s son Roberto was involved with. However it wasn’t until 1983 that the much refined C1 500 was ready for competition.
As with the original design the cylinder angle was 115º. It wasn’t until 1990 that it was changed to 90º. A redesign (the C9/2) in 1994 saw the angle further reduced to 70º. A pair of special magnesium Dell’Orto carburettors were fitted (each with two two intakes/float bowls per body) with Paton manufactured top fittings.
The 1995 C10/1 saw power rise to 165 hp, still at 12,000 rpm. This bike is the only ’94 spec V70 in existence as the second machine was upgraded to C10/1 specification. Output was 150 hp at 12,000 rpm, while dry weight was just 135 kg.
