Crighton CR700W to race at Mallory Bonanza
Real Motorsport Ltd, the promoter of the Mallory Park Bike Bonanza on July 6/7, has announced that the rotary-engined Crighton CR700W racer will not only be ridden by Trevor Nation in the Past Masters event. It will also be raced in anger for the first time by 2023 Mallory Race of the Year winner Leon Jeacock.
Designed and made by the creator of the world’s most successful rotary-powered race bikes, Brian Crighton, the CR700W encapsulates all Brian’s vision, knowledge and technical successes attained over his 40-year career in developing, tuning and racing rotary-powered bikes.
Back in the late 1980s, Brian took a standard police bike Norton Rotary, and from the 85bhp roadster, created a 120bhp race-winning motorcycle that dominated British superbike races into the mid-1990s.
In 1988, Steve Spray’s victory on Brian’s air-cooled RC588 at the Brands Hatch Powerbike International secured backing from John Player Special for the following season. The team of Spray and Trevor Nation then dominated British races in 1989 with Spray claiming both the 750cc Supercup Championship and the British F1 title in the same season.
The super-fast and super-light rotary-powered machines continued to win on short circuits and on the roads, and Brian’s water-cooled RCW588, ridden by Ian Simpson and with backing from Duckhams, ultimately took the 1994 British Supercup title.
The rotary engine was subsequently banned from British superbike competition but Brian’s faith in the rotary edesign has remained unwavering, leading to the formation of a partnership in 2009 with Rotron Power Ltd (part of Gilo Industries Ltd), designers and manufacturers of outstanding Rotary engines for the aerospace industry.
For the past 12 years, Brian, heading up Crighton Motorcycles, a subsidiary of Rotron Power, has been developing the next generation 700cc twin-rotor rotary engine.
The CR700W uses the latest designs, the most advanced materials and state-of-the-art precision engineering techniques. The result is a refinement of the rotary racing motorcycle concept beyond anything previously thought possible. The Crighton CR700W produces 220bhp, 105 ft lbs of torque and weight just 129.5kg. Production is limited to 25 units, each priced at £105,000 plus vat.
Brian said: “The CR700W is a brand-new motorcycle built from scratch and features nothing from the original Norton rotary racers. The motor I’ve designed is completely new, as is the Spondon-derived twin-spar frame. The bike’s been designed entirely to take track day bike technology to another level.
“We were aiming to get a famous rider to give the bike a spin in the Bonanza parades but may even race it, if arrangements can be made to accommodate the bike in the open class of the EMRA club races that are part of this year’s Bonanza festival.”
Mallory owner Stuart Hicken has now confirmed that is the case: “We’re delighted that Brian is bringing the CR700W to the Bonanza and we’ve arranged for Trevor Nation to ride it in the Past Masters parades, while Leon Jeacock will race it in the EMRA club races that form part of the Bonanza this year.
“The CR700W is such a fabulous machine. Brian and I go way back and I was delighted to be able to support him with suspension for the original Norton race bikes back in the day when I was the White Power importer.
“We all know how popular the rotary Nortons were back in the late 1980s up to 1994 when Ian Simpson won the Supercup title and I can’t wait to see how it performs in a race against more conventional superbike machines. I’m sure the fans will feel the same and be delighted to see Brian’s latest stunning creation, the CR700W, in action at Mallory during the Bonanza.”