Tomos was the only Yugoslav manufacturer to race in the motorcycle world championship. Its 50 cc D5 and D6 racers took Gilberto Parlotti to sixth overall in 1969 and a third place in the first heat of the 1970 German Grand Prix, and in 1978 the company built a carbon-fibre monocoque racer.
Tomos racing at a glance
| Maker | Tomos, Koper |
|---|---|
| Class | 50 cc road racing motorcycle |
| First racer | D5, 1960 |
| D6 | 1967; water-cooled from 1968 |
| 1969 season | Gilberto Parlotti sixth overall |
| 1970 German GP | third in the first heat, ninth overall in the class |
| 1978 racer | carbon-fibre monocoque frame, steel box swingarm, Marzocchi fork |
| Project ended | 1981 |
| Later racing model | Racing TT moped in the 2010s |
History of the Tomos racing
The D5 and D6
Tomos developed its first road racing motorcycle, the air-cooled 50 cc D5, in 1960 for private riders in the smallest capacity class. The successor D6 of 1967 was air-cooled, and from 1968 the D6 was water-cooled. In the 1969 motorcycle world championship Gilberto Parlotti took a water-cooled Tomos D6 to sixth overall. In 1970 he finished third in the first heat of the German Grand Prix, held on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and ninth overall in the class.
Tomos first took part in the world championship in the 50 cc class in 1968, when Janko Štefe finished eighteenth and scored one point. In 1969 five riders competed for the Tomos factory team: Štefe, Adrijan Bernetić, Anton Kralj and the Italians Luigi Rinaldo and Gilberto Parlotti.
The 1978 monocoque
In 1978, for the motorcycle world championship, Tomos developed the first fully self-supporting monocoque frame made of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic. The rear wheel ran in a conventional steel box swingarm, and the front fork was supplied by Marzocchi. Success was held back by the engine’s power deficit compared with the competition and by Tomos’s technical and financial resources, and the racing motorcycle project was stopped in 1981.
After the works racers
Tomos returned to racing themes in the 2010s, when it launched the all-new Racing TT moped as one of two models for its return to the US market. The company went bankrupt in January 2019.
Design and features
- Only Yugoslav GP manufacturer: Tomos was the only motorcycle maker from Yugoslavia to take part in the world championship.
- D5 to D6: the 1960 D5 air-cooled racer was followed by the D6 of 1967 and its water-cooled version of 1968.
- Parlotti’s results: sixth overall in 1969 and third in the first heat of the 1970 German Grand Prix.
- Carbon monocoque: the 1978 racer used a fully self-supporting carbon-fibre frame, with a steel box swingarm and a Marzocchi fork.
- Racing TT: the racing theme returned in the 2010s with a moped rather than a works racer.
Tomos racing versions
- D5 (1960): the air-cooled 50 cc racer for private riders.
- D6 (1967): the air-cooled successor.
- D6 water-cooled (1968): the version raced by Parlotti.
- 1978 monocoque racer: the carbon-fibre experiment.
- Racing TT (2010s): the later racing-themed moped.
Other Tomos models are described in the BT50 and Sprint articles. More Tomos history is in the Tomos collection.
Video: TOMOS Racing 100ccm
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Tomos-Rennmaschine, German Wikipedia: D5 and D6, Parlotti’s results, 1978 monocoque, end of the project
- Tomos, Slovenian Wikipedia: 1968 and 1969 world championship seasons and riders
- Tomos, English Wikipedia: Racing TT of the 2010s
