Marco Lucchinelli (born 26 June 1954) is an Italian former professional
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 road racer
Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...
. He was
1981 FIM Road Racing World Champion with Suzuki. He is a
MotoGP Legend.
Career
Lucchinelli was born in
Bolano
Bolano ( lij, Bolan) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of La Spezia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southeast of Genoa and about northeast of La Spezia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,490 and an ...
.
He began his road racing career in 1975 on a
Laverda in
endurance racing. His riding impressed the
Yamaha factory enough to earn him a sponsored bike in the Italian National Championship as well as a ride in the
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
Nations Grand Prix in the 350 class.
In
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
he rode a
Suzuki
is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...
in the 500cc World Championship earning fourth place in the championship with two second-place finishes along with a third and a fourth place. He earned the nickname ''Crazy Horse'' for his wild riding style that attracted many fans. This fearless riding style also meant that he crashed quite often. In the
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
season, he would drop to 11th place in the 500 World Championship on a Yamaha.
Lucchinelli returned to Suzuki for the
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
season and in
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
, he won his first 500cc Grand Prix at the
German Grand Prix at the
Nürburgring
The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
. He would finish the season in third place behind
Kenny Roberts and
Randy Mamola.
Lucchinelli had his best year in
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
. He began the year with a victory over Kenny Roberts in the prestigious
Imola 200 The Imola 200 (also known as the 200 Miglia) is a motorcycle race held annually at Imola. The race originally ran as a modern motorcycle race from 1972 to 1985. In 2010, the Imola 200 Miglia Revival began as a classic bike race.
Background
In r ...
non-championship race in Italy. He then took 5 Grand Prix victories aboard the
Roberto Gallina backed Suzuki, battling
Randy Mamola to the final race of the season before winning the
500cc World Championship. For
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
, Lucchinelli accepted a job offer from
Honda to race their new three-cylinder
NS500 alongside
Freddie Spencer and
Takazumi Katayama. He would have a lackluster season in which
Franco Uncini would win the championship for the Roberto Gallina-Suzuki team for which Lucchinelli had won the title the previous year.
After another lackluster season with Honda in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
, he joined the
Cagiva
Cagiva is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1950 by Giovanni Castiglioni in Varese, originally producing small metal components. Giovanni's sons, Claudio and Gianfranco Castiglioni, went into the motorcycle industry in 1978 ...
team for the
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
and
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
seasons before he retired from Grand Prix racing. He tried his hand at
auto racing, competing in the Italian round of the
1986 Formula 3000 season
The 1986 International Formula 3000 Championship was contested over an eleven-round series. A total of 28 different teams, 71 different drivers, 7 different chassis and 2 different engines competed.
Drivers and teams
Calendar
Note:
Race 1 st ...
in a
Lola-
Ford. Lucchinelli raced a Ducati 851 to a popular win at the 1987
Daytona Battle of the Twins race. In he joined the
Ducati
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. () is the motorcycle-manufacturing division of Italian company Ducati, headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini, whose German parent company is Au ...
in the
Superbike World Championship where he won two races during the year before taking on the role of Ducati's team manager.
On 6 December 1991 he was arrested for drug possession. He spent some time in jail, during which he successfully fought against drug addiction. After retiring, Lucchinelli became a television commentator for the
Eurosport network's motorcycle race coverage. He retired with 6 Grand Prix victories. However, he briefly returned from retirement in 1998, entering the
1000 km Monza
The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy.
Overview
Despi ...
, and the opening race of the
International Sports Racing Series (ISRS), driving for
Centenari
Centenari Racing SRL, usually referred to as Centenari, was an Italian auto racing, racing team and chassis constructor company based in Italy, predominantly building sports prototypes. The team were active in international events between 1997 and ...
; he didn't start the 1000 km Monza, and finished sixth overall (second in the CN class) in the opening round of the ISRS.
Career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Races by year
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Superbike World Championship
Races by year
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
Lucchinelli article on the Ducati web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucchinelli, Marco
Sportspeople from the Province of La Spezia
1954 births
Living people
Italian motorcycle racers
350cc World Championship riders
500cc World Championship riders
Superbike World Championship riders
International Formula 3000 drivers