Tommaso Omobono Tenni (July 24, 1905 – June 30, 1948) was an Italian

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. Nicknamed The Black Devil, he was a multiple Italian Motor Cycle champion, who raced to 47 victories 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 ...

from 1933 till 1948, the year he died from an accident during practice for the Swiss GP.

Early years

Omobono Tenni was born in

Tirano Tirano ( lmo, Tiràn, german: Thiran) is a town in Valtellina, located in the province of Sondrio in northern Italy. It has 9,053 inhabitants (2016) and is adjacent to the Switzerland-Italy border. The river Adda flows through the town. Main s ...

, Lombardy. When he was 15, his family moved to

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

, where he began an apprenticeship at a motorcycle workshop. At 19, he opened his own workshop and began his racing career. His first victory was in 1924, at the end of his teenage years. It was not until 1931 that members of his local club contributed so that he could purchase a

Velocette Velocette is a line of motorcycles made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling almost as many hand-built motorcycles during i ...

350 with which he finished in third place at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza followed by a victory at the Grand Prix Reale of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Moto Guzzi

In 1932, he won a race at

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, located in the Liguria region of northern Italy. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiav ...

against Moto Guzzi's star rider, Pietro Ghersi. His performance earned him a spot on the

team for the 1933 season. For the 1934 season, Moto Guzzi developed a new V twin 500 cc racer and Tenni rode it to victory at the Italian Grand Prix ahead of his teammate

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 ski ...

. He would go on to win the 1934 Italian 500 cc national championship. Tenni first travelled to the

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 ...

in 1935. For a newcomer, he performed remarkably well. He was lying in second to his teammate Woods, when he crashed in a fog bank on the mountain section. It was here that he came to be dubbed the ''Black Devil'' referring both to the color of his hair and his diabolical riding style. He would again capture the 500 cc Italian National Championship in 1935. The highlight of his career was winning the 250cc

Lightweight TT The Lightweight TT is a motorcycle road race that is a part of the Isle of Man TT festival - an annual motorcycle event traditionally held over the last week of May and first week of June. History The Lightweight class was first present at th ...

at the 1937 Isle of Man TT, becoming the first Italian to win the TT. In 1937 he also won the 250cc European Championship. He suffered serious injuries in the 1938 and 1940 seasons then his racing career was put on hold by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, he began racing again, claiming his fourth Italian 500 cc championship in 1947. He put in a respectable performance at the

1948 Isle of Man TT In the 1948 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy festival Harold Daniell, lap record holder since 1938, failed to finish the 1948 Senior TT on his Norton, and victory went to Norton team member, Artie Bell, the flying Ulsterman. Norton dominated, taking th ...

where he set the race's fastest lap and led the race before mechanical difficulties forced him back to ninth place. Omobono Tenni had 47 victories racing for Moto Guzzi in the period from 1933 to 1948.

Maserati

In the mid 1930s Tenni ventured into car racing, and in 1936 and 1937 drove for Maserati, but was not as successful as on two wheels, although he did compete in the 1936

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

, finishing first in his class and fifth overall.

Death

At the 1948 Swiss GP, at Bremgarten, Tenni died after a crash during practice. This was the same weekend that Achille Varzi crashed and died.
Kolumbus ''The Golden Era of GP Racing 1934 - 1940, Drivers'' (Retrieved 10 November 2006)

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenni, Omobono 1905 births 1948 deaths Sportspeople from the Province of Sondrio Italian motorcycle racers Motorcycle racers who died while racing Isle of Man TT riders Sport deaths in Switzerland