Duilio Agostini (8 April 1926 – 12 April 2008) was an Italian

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

road racer. He had his best year in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

when he won the 350cc

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

and finished the season in seventh place in the 350cc world championship. He is not related to

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

legend

Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini (; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian multi-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed Ago, he amassed 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championship titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500 ...

.Duilio Agostini statistics at MotoGP website
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Biography

Duilio Agostini was born to a well off family that owned the hotel restaurant Al Porto, now known as the Giardinetto, at

Mandello del Lario Mandello del Lario (Lecchese: ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the province of Lecco, in Lombardy, on Lake Como. Since 1921, Mandello del Lario has been home to Moto Guzzi—the Italian motorcycle manufacturer, now a subsidiary of Piagg ...

on the shores of

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

; Guests included many important personalities linked to motorcycling, such as

Omobono Tenni Tommaso Omobono Tenni (July 24, 1905 – June 30, 1948) was an Italian motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed The Black Devil, he was a multiple Italian Motor Cycle champion, who raced to 47 victories for Moto Guzzi from 1933 till 1948, the year he d ...

Stanley Woods Stanley Woods (1903 – 28 July 1993) was an Irish motorcycle racer famous for 29 motorcycle Grand Prix wins in the 1920s and 1930s, winning the Isle of Man TT races ten times in his career, plus wins at Assen and elsewhere. He was also a skill ...

, Terzo Bandini, Primo Moretti and Ugo Prini. Duilio worked for

Moto Guzzi Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production. Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its historic role in Italy's motorcycling ma ...

first in the customer service department, and finally, in 1947, as the official test rider alongside of Engineer Giulio Cesare Carcano. His first race, which he won, was at

Asola, Lombardy Asola ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a comune in the province of Mantua, Lombardy (northern Italy). It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree of October 23, 1951. In 1516, when it was part of the Republic of Venice, it was unsucc ...

riding a borrowed Condor 500. From that moment his racing career began and he gained many podium positions and victories. In 1953 he won first overall in the Milano-Taranto on a Moto Guzzi Dondolino. That year he also won the Italian Championship in the Second Category of the 500cc class. In 1954 he became an official

rider both in the 250cc class and in the 350 class, as they used to do in those days, with the Bialbero (twin cam). That year he was victorious winning the Italian 250cc Seniors (Campionato Italiano Seniores). Whilst at the

1955 Isle of Man TT In the 1955 Isle of Man TT the Lightweight 250cc race moved to the 10.75 miles long Clypse Course, also used for the Lightweight 125cc TT race, and the Sidecar TT, and the course was used for these races until 1959. During this period the r ...

he met an Australian, Margaret Ward, who later became his wife. They had two daughters Alis, born in 1957, and Lindy, born in 1962. His best year was 1955 when he won the

French motorcycle Grand Prix The French motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. The Grand Prix was held on different circuits in its history: on the Charade Circuit (Puy-de-Dôme) between 1959 and 1967, Le Mans circ ...

and ended the season in seventh place in the 350cc World Championship. In 1957 Duilio retired from racing and devoted himself to his workshop and

dealership in

. In the seventies he founded a team for endurance racing using the

Moto Guzzi V7 Sport The Moto Guzzi V7 Sport is a sports motorcycle first manufactured in 1971 by Italian company Moto Guzzi. Based on the V7 roadster, but with a new frame and clip-on handlebars, the V7 Sport was the first Moto Guzzi café racer A coffeehouse ...

. The race development projects led to the manufacture of many special components that were later marketed by the dealership. In the 70's, together with a group of enthusiasts, formed a new motorcycle club, the Moto Club Carlo Guzzi, of which he was president for many years. Together with the club he organised the first international

rallies in

. The rallies were held every two years and giving rise to a tradition which continued over the years. The last rally organised by Duilio in collaboration with the Moto Club took place in September 1989. In 1993 he retired from the dealership leaving it totally in the hands of his daughter Alis who already managed it from 1981, initially with her sister Lindy. After a life dedicated to the brand of Mandello he died April 12, 2008 following a serious illness.

Race results

1950

*16 April Circuito di Asola (Moto Guzzi 500) 1st place *18 May Circuito di Lodi (Moto Guzzi 500) 4th place and fastest lap *28 May Circuito di Codogno (Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st place and fastest lap *18 June Circuito di Castano Primo (Moto Guzzi 500) 1st place

1951

*15 April Circuito di Finale Emilia ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 3rd place *20 May Circuito di San Secondo ad Asti ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 5th place *3 June Circuito di Busto Arsizio ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 3rd place *9 September Circuito di Asola (Moto Guzzi 500 ) 2nd place *30 September Circuito di Castelfranco Veneto ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st place *7 October Circuito di La Spezia ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st place *21 October Autodromo di Modena (Moto Guzzi 500 ) retired *Italian Championship second category ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 5th place

1952

*13 April Circuito di Cattolica (Moto Guzzi 500 ) retired *25 April Autodromo di Modena (Moto Guzzi 500 ) 2nd place *2 June Circuito di Gradisca (Moto Guzzi 500 ) retired *15 June Milano Taranto (Moto Guzzi 500 ) retired *6 June Circuito di Fossano (Moto Guzzi 500) retired *21 September Circuito di Castelfranco Veneto (Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st place *Italian Championship second category ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 5th place

1953

*3 May Circuito di Crema (Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st place and fastest lap *10 May Circuito delle mura di Bergamo (Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st place and fastest lap *14 June Circuito di Busto Arsizio ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st place and fastest lap *21 June Milano Taranto ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st Absolute *12 July Coppa del mare Livorno ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) 1st place *16 August Circuito di Luino (Moto Guzzi 500 ) retired but had the fastest lap *6 September GP delle Nazioni a Monza ( Moto Guzzi 350 ) 3rd place *World Championship (Moto Guzzi 350 ) 10th place *Italian Championship second category ( Moto Guzzi 350 ) 1st place

1954

*28 March Autodromo di Modena ( Moto Guzzi 250 ) 3rd place *28 March Autodromo di Modena ( Moto Guzzi 500) retired *19 April Circuito di Ferrara ( Moto Guzzi 250 ) 2nd place *25 April Coppa d’oro Shell at Imola ( Moto Guzzi 250 ) retired but had the fastest lap *23 May Autodromo Monza ( Moto Guzzi 250 ) 3rd place *17 June Circuito di Piacenza ( Moto Guzzi 250 ) 1st place *20 June Milano Taranto ( Moto Guzzi 500 ) retired *25 July Circuito di Locarno ( Moto Guzzi 250 ) 1st place *25 July Circuito di Locarno (Moto Guzzi 500) retired *1 August Circuito di Senigalia ( Moto Guzzi 350 ) 1st place *12 September GP delle Nazioni Monza ( Moto Guzzi 350 ) 4th place *26 September Circuito di Codogno ( Moto Guzzi 250) 2nd place and the fastest lap *3 October Spanish GP ( Moto Guzzi 350 ) 2nd place *3 October Spanish GP ( Moto Guzzi 500) retired *World Championship ( Moto Guzzi 350 ) 7th place *Italian Championship seniors ( Moto Guzzi 250 ) 1st place

1955

*11 April Coppa d’oro Shell at Imola (Moto Guzzi 350) retired *11 April Coppa d’oro Shell at Imola (Moto Guzzi 500) retired *1 May Spanish GP (Moto Guzzi 500) retired *15 May French GP at Reims (Moto Guzzi 350) 1st place and the fastest lap *6 June

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

(Moto Guzzi 350) 8th place *3 July Belgian GP at Spa (Moto Guzzi 350) retired *3 July Belgian GP at Spa (Moto Guzzi 500) 4th place *16 July Dutch GP at Assen (Moto Guzzi 350) retired *11 August Ulster GP Ireland (Moto Guzzi 350) retired *4 September GP delle Nazioni at Monza (Moto Guzzi 350) retired *World Championship (Guzzi 350) 7th place *World Championship (Guzzi 500) 16th place

1956

*2 April Coppa d’oro Shell at Imola (Moto Guzzi 350) 6th place *29 April Gran premio della Sarre at St. Wendel (Moto Guzzi 500) 4th place *13 May Hockenheim Circuit (Moto Guzzi 350) retired *13 May Hockenheim Circuit (Guzzi 500) 5th place *4 June

(Moto Guzzi 350) 9th place *30 June Dutch GP at Assen (Moto Guzzi 350) 7th place *8 July Belgian GP at Spa (Moto Guzzi 350) retired *9 September GP delle Nazioni at Monza (Moto Guzzi 350) 8th place

1957

*19 March Circuito di Siracusa (motoGuzzi 350) retired *15 September Autodromo di Modena (Moto Guzzi 350) 4th place *Italian Championship Seniors (Moto Guzzi 350) 8th place

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agostini, Duilio 1926 births 2008 deaths Sportspeople from the Province of Lecco Italian motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders People from Mandello del Lario