Franco Ringhini 50 cc Racer
With Phil Aynsley
Franco Ringhini was an unusual combination of rider and designer who began his career at Guazzoni racing their 1965 50cc Matta.
In subsequent years, he continued racing but also became the company’s main designer. Italy’s first rotary-disc 2-stroke was a Guazzoni. Ringhini’s designs were notable for having reversed heads, with the exhaust exiting at the rear.
Around 1968 Ringhini left Guazzoni to join Giancarlo Morbidelli’s fledging race team. His 50 cc GP bike was raced by Eugenio Lazzarini and himself during the 1969 season, with them scoring 6 and 5 points, respectively.
He was also responsible for the Morbidelli 125GP that debuted in 1970, with Gilberto Parlotti wining the Czech GP. Parlotti also won the Nations GP the following year and finished fifth in the championship with two wins in 1972.
He was responsible for the 350 cc square-four Morbidelli but teething problems with it led to him being replaced by Jorg Möller at the end of the ’73 season.
He set up his own team in Pesaro and developed a series of 50 cc racers such as the one I photographed at the Morbidelli Museum in 2011.
This 1973 bike uses a rotary-disc fed by a 27 mm Dell’Orto carburettor and produced 14 hp at 14,500 rpm.
Bore and stroke is 40 x 39.6 mm for 49.7 cc. A 180 mm double-sided front drum and 130 mm single-sided rear brake are fitted to 18 inch wheels. Dry weight is just 60 kg!
He continued development of his 350/4 and was rewarded with a fourth place in its first GP. However ignition problems and the removal of the 350 cc class at the end of 1982 meant the bike was never able to show its full potential. It usually appeared under the RTM name (Ringhini Torrani Motori). Initial power was 90hp at 14,000 rpm.
Ringhini also developed a 250 cc twin in 1980 by halving the square-four and increasing the bores. At its first appearance at Mugello in the Italian Senior Championship, it ran as high as third in practice before crashing out in the race.
