Giacomo Agostini

Giacomo Agostini
Agostini in 2022
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1942-06-16) 16 June 1942 Brescia, Kingdom of Italy
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1964 – 1977 First race 1963 250cc Nations Grand Prix Last race 1977 500cc British Grand Prix First win 1965 350cc German Grand Prix Last win 1976 500cc German Grand Prix Team(s) MV Agusta, Yamaha, Suzuki Championships 350cc – 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 500cc – 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 223 122 159 9 117 1577 Isle of Man TT career TTs contested 8 (1965 – 1972) TT wins 10 First TT win 1966 Junior TT Last TT win 1972 Senior TT TT podiums 13
British Formula One Championship career
Active years	1979–1980
Entries	23
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	7
Career points	41
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0

Giacomo Agostini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒaːkomo aɡoˈstiːni]; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1963 to 1977, most prominently as a member of the MV Agusta factory racing team. He amassed 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championship titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500 cc class, the rest in the 350 cc class. For these achievements obtained over the course of a career spanning 17 years, the AMA described him as "...perhaps the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time". In 2000, Agostini was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as a MotoGP Legend, while in 2010, he was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.

Early career

Agostini was born in Brescia, Lombardy. His family was from Lovere, where his father was the owner of a Bergamo transport company that operated ferries on Lake Iseo. The oldest of four brothers, Agostini initially had to steal away to compete, first in hill climb events and then in road racing, as his father did not approve of his son's motorcycle racing career and did everything he could to persuade him not to race.

Eventually, his father came to terms with his racing and Agostini won the 1963 Italian 175cc championship aboard a Morini. He got his break when Morini factory rider Tarquinio Provini left the team to ride for Benelli. Count Alfonso Morini hired the young Agostini to ride for him. In 1964, Agostini would win the Italian 350cc title and proved his ability by finishing fourth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

MV Agusta team

These results caught the eye of Count Domenico Agusta, who signed Agostini to ride for his MV Agusta squad as Mike Hailwood's teammate. Agostini then fought a season-long battle with Honda's Jim Redman for the 1965 350cc world championship. He seemed to have the title won when he led the final round in Japan at Suzuka when his bike failed him, handing the title to Redman.

Agostini in 1968

At the end of the 1965 season, Hailwood left to join Honda as he had tired of working for the difficult Count Agusta. With Agostini now the top MV Agusta rider, he responded by winning the 500cc title seven years in succession for the Italian factory. He would also win the 350cc title seven times in succession and won 10 Isle of Man TTs. Agostini and Hailwood engaged in a fierce competition for the 1967 500cc World Championship including a famous duel at the 1967 Isle of Man TT race. The championship wasn't decided until the final race of the year in Canada. Hailwood won there to tie Agostini on points. Each rider had five wins so it came down to second places — Agostini taking the title with three seconds to Hailwood's two. Honda withdrew from motorcycle racing after the 1967 season while Hailwood pursued a new career path in Formula One racing.

From 1968 to 1970, Agostini and MV Agusta were so dominant that Agostini won every single race he contested in the 350cc and 500cc classes. At the time, the Isle of Man TT and the Ulster Grands Prix were dominated by British and Irish riders; Agostini was the first and only European continental rider who dominated the TT in successive years; he won the Senior TT 5 consecutive times from 1968 to 1972 and the Junior TT 5 out of 6 years from 1967 to 1972. His winning streak ended at the 1971 Isle of Man TT when his MV Agusta broke down on the first lap of the Junior TT. By that point he had won 58 races in a row, including 26 in the 350cc class and 32 in the 500cc class. Later, Agostini had the hump after Bray Hill named “Ago’s Leap” after him, in reference to a famous photo of him riding through there. In addition to Agostini's successes at the TT he also won seven Ulster Grand Prix races. In 1967 he battled Hailwood in one of the most dramatic seasons in Grand Prix history. Each rider had five victories before the championship was decided in Agostini's favor at the last race of the season.

Agostini (1) and Mike Hailwood (2) dueling during the 1967 500cc Dutch TT.

Agostini on the 350cc MV Agusta during practice for the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring

After the death of his close friend, Gilberto Parlotti during the 1972 TT, Agostini announced he would never again compete in the event. He considered the 37.73 mile circuit unsafe for world championship competition. At the time, the TT was the most prestigious race on the motorcycling calendar. This decision had far reaching consequences for the TT and would lead to a walk-out of the top Grand Prix stars, many of whom resorted to severe criticism of the organisation and safety at the event, with people such as Phil Read in the vanguard of the critics.

In response, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme decided that the Isle of Man TT would be withdrawn from the World Championship calendar after the 1976 races. Agostini maintained that he did not object to the event itself, but that he only opposed riders being contractually required to enter such a dangerous race as part of a World Championship campaign.

By 1972, advancements in two-stroke engine technology were made obvious as Yamaha and their top rider Jarno Saarinen began to challenge Agostini and the dominant MV Agusta team for the first time in years. Saarinen won three races in the 1972 350cc World Championship, including a victory at the West German Grand Prix where he gave Agostini his first defeat in a head-to-head race since the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix. Agostini was able to successfully claim his fifth consecutive 350cc World Championship in 1972 however, the increasing threat from Yamaha's performance was so strong that the MV Agusta factory was forced to produce a new 350cc motorcycle for Agostini and to hire Phil Read as his teammate.

In 1973, Yamaha developed a new 4-cylinder two-stroke Yamaha YZR500 motorcycle for Saarinen and he began the 500cc World Championship with victories in France and Austria while Agostini had to withdraw with mechanical issues. Yamaha and Saarinen were leading the World Championship when an accident at the 1973 Nations Grand Prix claimed the lives of Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini. The loss of Saarinen caused Yamaha to withdraw their team from the World Championship out of respect for their fallen rider.

Agostini's mechanical issues along with the cancelation of the 500cc Nations Grand Prix after Saarinen's death and the subsequent boycott of the Yugoslavian Grand Prix over unsafe conditions meant that he didn't score any points in the first seven races of the year. His new teammate Read also proved to be less than willing to play a supportive role to Agostini and scored points at every opportunity. In the final five races of the season, Agostini took three victories however, he was unable to overcome his early season points deficit which allowed his teammate Read to win his first World Championship in the premier 500cc division. In the 350cc class, he successfully fended off a challenge from Yamaha's Teuvo Länsivuori to win his sixth consecutive 350cc World Championship.

Move to Yamaha and later career

Agostini was frustrated with Read's role in team politics and came to believe that Read was receiving preferential treatment. He was also frustrated by MV Agusta's lack of development and the growing threat of Japanese two-stroke technology, so he made the decision to join the Yamaha factory racing team for the 1974 season. His decision to leave the MV Agusta team after winning 13 World Championships with them shocked the motorcycle racing world. Agostini had also grown weary of hearing that he was only winning because he rode the best motorcycle and wanted to prove otherwise. On his first outing for the Japanese factory, he won the Daytona 200, helping to cement the event's reputation as one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world.

Agostini's first season with Yamaha in 1974 was marred by crashes and mechanical failures. He led the opening round in France only to retire with gearbox failure and then ran out of fuel at the Nations Grand Prix. Despite only finishing four races all year, two of those finishes were victories in Austria and the Netherlands. A broken shoulder caused after colliding with Barry Sheene at the Swedish Grand Prix ended his attempt to regain the 500cc title. He was more successful in the 350cc class where the MV Agusta team had withdrawn their 350cc motorcycle from the competition. Agostini won five of the ten rounds to easily claim the seventh 350cc world championship of his career, however his victory at the Austrian Grand Prix only happened after race leader Chas Mortimer allowed Agostini to pass him for the win. Mortimer also rode a Yamaha and was concerned that the Yamaha factory might deny him support if he defeated their top rider. Agostini rebounded in 1975 and fought with Read in a title fight that was not resolved until the tenth and final round in Czechoslovakia, where he emerged triumphant to claim his fifteenth world title and the first in the premier 500cc class for a two-stroke motorcycle. The 1975 championship was Agostini's last.

In the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, sales of recreational vehicles decreased significantly, and Yamaha was forced to reduce their competition budget by withdrawing their road racing and motocross teams after the 1975 season. Agostini then formed his own team with the financial backing of the Marlboro cigarette company. When Read left the MV Agusta team, Agostini was offered the use of the 1975 factory racing motorcycles. In 1976, he rode both Suzuki and MV bikes in the 500cc class, yet raced only once in the 350cc to win in Assen. For the challenging Nürburgring, he chose the 500cc MV Agusta and took it to victory, winning the last Grand Prix for both himself, the marque and the last for four-stroke engines in the 500cc class. Agostini retired from motorcycle competition at the age of 35 after finishing 6th in the 1977.

Motorcycle racing career overview

He won seven 500cc world championships in a row with MV Agusta between 1966 and 1972, plus seven consecutive 350cc world championships between 1968 and 1974. His last world championship came with Yamaha in 1975 for a total 15 titles. Agostini was also a ten-time winner of the Isle of Man TT which was the most prestigious race of the year during his era. In 14 seasons he started 223 races, finishing on the podium 159 times with 122 victories. He set 117 fastest laps, but only has six official pole positions to his name as they were only recorded from 1974.

Agostini in 2003

Racing car career

Like Jean-Pierre Beltoise, John Surtees and Mike Hailwood before him, Agostini raced in Formula One cars. He competed in non-championship Formula One races in 1978. He competed in the European Formula 2 series in a Chevron B42-BMW and British Aurora Formula 1 with his own team and a Williams FW06. He ended his auto racing career in 1980.

Team manager

In 1982, Agostini returned to motorcycle racing as the Marlboro Yamaha team manager. In this role, he won three 500cc titles with Eddie Lawson and managed many successful riders including Graeme Crosby and Kenny Roberts. Under his management riders won the 1982 Daytona Formula 1 (Crosby), 1983 and 1984 Daytona Formula 1 (Roberts) and 1986 Daytona Superbike championships (Lawson). Between 1986 and 1990, he also managed the Marlboro Yamaha 250cc team with riders like Luca Cadalora, Martin Wimmer and Àlex Crivillé.

Since 1992, Agostini served as the Cagiva factory racing team manager until 1994, when Cagiva withdrew from the world championship. Agostini's last season as team manager was 1995 when he managed a 250cc Honda team with Doriano Romboni as rider.

Complete Grand Prix motorcycle racing results

Source:

Points system from 1964 to 1968:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6
Points	8	6	4	3	2	1

Points system from 1969 onwards:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pts	Pos
1963	250cc	Moto Morini	ESP	GER		IOM	NED	BEL	ULS	DDR		NAT Ret	ARG	JPN		0	NC
1964	250cc	Moto Morini	USA	ESP	FRA	IOM	NED	BEL	GER 4	DDR	ULS		NAT 4	JPN		6	12th
1965	350cc	MV Agusta		GER 1	IOM 3	NED 3		DDR Ret	CZE Ret	ULS	FIN 1	NAT 1	JPN 5			32	2nd
	500cc	MV Agusta	USA	GER 2	IOM Ret	NED 2	BEL 2	DDR 2	CZE 2	ULS	FIN 1	NAT 2				32	2nd
1966	350cc	MV Agusta	GER Ret	FRA 2	NED 2		DDR 1	CZE 2	FIN Ret	ULS 2	IOM 1	NAT 1	JPN			42	2nd
	500cc	MV Agusta	GER 2		NED 2	BEL 1	DDR Ret	CZE 2	FIN 1	ULS 2	IOM 2	NAT 1				36	1st
1967	350cc	MV Agusta	GER 2	IOM 2	NED 2		DDR 2	CZE 7		ULS 1	NAT Ret		JPN			32	2nd
	500cc	MV Agusta	GER 1	IOM Ret	NED 2	BEL 1	DDR 1	CZE 2	FIN 1	ULS 20	NAT 1	CAN 2				46	1st
1968	350cc	MV Agusta	GER 1		IOM 1	NED 1		DDR 1	CZE 1		ULS 1	NAT 1				32	1st
	500cc	MV Agusta	GER 1	ESP 1	IOM 1	NED 1	BEL 1	DDR 1	CZE 1	FIN 1	ULS 1	NAT 1				48	1st
1969	350cc	MV Agusta	ESP 1	GER 1		IOM 1	NED 1		DDR 1	CZE 1	FIN 1	ULS 1	NAT	YUG		90	1st
	500cc	MV Agusta	ESP 1	GER 1	FRA 1	IOM 1	NED 1	BEL 1	DDR 1	CZE 1	FIN 1	ULS 1	NAT	YUG		105	1st
1970	350cc	MV Agusta	GER 1		YUG 1	IOM 1	NED 1		DDR 1	CZE 1	FIN 1	ULS 1	NAT 1	ESP		105	1st
	500cc	MV Agusta	GER 1	FRA 1	YUG 1	IOM 1	NED 1	BEL 1	DDR 1		FIN 1	ULS 1	NAT 1	ESP		90	1st
1971	350cc	MV Agusta	AUT 1	GER 1	IOM Ret	NED 1		DDR 1	CZE Ret	SWE 1	FIN 1	ULS	NAT Ret	ESP		90	1st
	500cc	MV Agusta	AUT 1	GER 1	IOM 1	NED 1	BEL 1	DDR 1		SWE 1	FIN 1	ULS	NAT Ret	ESP		90	1st
1972	350cc	MV Agusta	GER 2	FRA 4	AUT 1	NAT 1	IOM 1	YUG Ret	NED 1		DDR Ret	CZE Ret	SWE 1	FIN 1	ESP	102	1st
	500cc	MV Agusta	GER 1	FRA 1	AUT 1	NAT 1	IOM 1	YUG Ret	NED 1	BEL 1	DDR 1	CZE 1	SWE 1	FIN 1	ESP	105	1st
1973	350cc	MV Agusta	FRA 1	AUT Ret	GER Ret	NAT 1	IOM	YUG	NED 1		CZE 2	SWE 2	FIN 1	ESP		84	1st
	500cc	MV Agusta	FRA Ret	AUT Ret	GER Ret	NAT C	IOM	YUG	NED Ret	BEL 1	CZE 1	SWE 2	FIN 1	ESP		57	3rd
1974	350cc	Yamaha	FRA 1	GER	AUT 1	NAT 1	IOM	NED 1		SWE DNS	FIN		YUG 1	ESP		75	1st
	500cc	Yamaha	FRA Ret	GER	AUT 1	NAT Ret	IOM	NED 1	BEL 2	SWE Ret	FIN	CZE 6				47	4th
1975	350cc	Yamaha	FRA 2	ESP 1	AUT Ret	GER Ret	NAT 2	IOM	NED 4			FIN 2	CZE Ret	YUG		59	2nd
	500cc	Yamaha	FRA 1		AUT Ret	GER 1	NAT 1	IOM	NED 2	BEL Ret	SWE Ret	FIN 1	CZE 2			84	1st
1976	350cc	MV Agusta	FRA Ret	AUT Ret	NAT Ret	YUG Ret	IOM	NED 1			FIN Ret	CZE Ret	GER Ret	ESP		15	15th
	500cc	MV Agusta	FRA 5	AUT 6									GER 1			26	7th
		Suzuki			NAT Ret		IOM	NED Ret	BEL Ret	SWE	FIN Ret	CZE Ret
1977	350cc	Yamaha	VEN		GER 2	NAT 8	ESP -	FRA 11	YUG -	NED -		SWE 13	FIN -	CZE 10	GBR -	16	16th
	500cc	Yamaha	VEN	AUT	GER	NAT 5		FRA 2		NED Ret	BEL 8	SWE 9	FIN Ret	CZE 2	GBR 9	37	6th

Complete Formula 750 Championship results

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Pts	Pos
1975	750cc	Yamaha	USA 4	ITA 1	ITA 2	BEL 1	BEL 2	FRA 1	FRA 2	SWE 1	SWE 2	FIN 1	FIN 2	SIL 1	SIL 2	NED 1	NED 2	GER 1	GER 2			8	21st
1976	750cc	Yamaha	USA	VEN 1	VEN 2	ITA 1	ITA 2	ESP 1	ESP 2	BEL 1	BEL 2	FRA 1	FRA 2 3	SIL 1	SIL 2	NED 1	NED 2 1	GER 1	GER 2			12	18th
1977	750cc	Yamaha	USA	ITA 1	ITA 2 3	ESP	FRA 1	FRA 2	GBR 1	GBR 2	AUT 2	BEL 1	BEL 2	NED 1 4	NED 2 4	USA 1	USA 2	CAN 1	CAN 2	GER 1 1	GER 2 1	45	3rd

Complete British Formula One Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pos	Pts.
1979	Giacomo Agostini	Williams FW06	Cosworth	ZOL 9	OUL 6	BRH 5	MAL Ret	SNE 2	THR 6	ZAN 3	DON 9	OUL 3	NOG Ret	MAL Ret	BRH Ret	THR 6	SNE 7	SIL 7	8th	19
1980	Giacomo Agostini	Williams FW06	Cosworth	OUL	BRH 4	SIL Ret	MAL	THR 4	MNZ 3	MAL	SNE Ret	BRH 3	THR 3	OUL	SIL 3				5th	22

See also

• Legends of Italian sport - Walk of Fame

External links

• Giacommo Agostini at MotoGP.com
• Giacommo Agostini at the CONI honored athlete website (in Italian)
• Giacomo Agostini at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame
• Giacomo-Agostini.com – Official site