Cagiva C591
1991 Australian GP
With Phil Aynsley
Cagiva’s 500cc Grand Prix long efforts (which had begun in 1977) took a turn for the better in the 1991 season with Eddie Lawson joining the team and a new 80º V4 engine replacing the previous 70º design.
1990 had ended with Cagiva’s riders Alex Barros, Randy Mamola and Ron Haslam in 12th, 14th and 15th positions respectively. In pretty much a last ditch attempt to get the project back on track the Castiglionis employed Lawson on a two year contract, with Barros as his team-mate. Engineer Riccardo Rosa (ex-Ferrari F-1) also came onboard.
The new engine made 169 hp at 12,000 rpm (up 15 hp at 8000 rpm from the C590), with an overrev limit of 12,800 rpm. Programmable digital ignition was used for the first time. The bike’s weight was right on the class limit at 130 kg. Chassis designer Romano Albesiano cooperated closely with Lawson to produce a new frame.
The beginning of the 1991 season certainly showed the potential of all the off-season work with Lawson finishing in sixth, sixth, fifth and sixth in the first four races.
The fifth race was at Misano where he scored the team’s first dry race podium – third place. Other firsts were qualifying on the front row and leading a race.
The rest of the season saw him take another third (beating Kevin Schwantz at Paul Ricard), two fourths, another fifth and sixth and an eighth. He finished the season in seventh place overall.
Barros finished in 13th despite only competing in five races (top ten places in all of them).
Cagiva C591 Gallery
