Virginio Ferrari (born 19 October 1952) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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. His best season was in the 1979 500cc world championship, when he finished second to

Kenny Roberts Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951, in Modesto, California) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship ...

Motorcycle racing career

Ferrari teamed up with

Benjamin Grau Benjamin Grau (born August 19, 1945 in Barcelona, Spain) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best year was 1974, when he won the 125cc Spanish Grand Prix and finished in ninth place in the 125cc class. Grau also competed successful ...

to win the 1975 1000 km du

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...

endurance race riding a Ducati. He began the 1979 season with a string of podium results, finishing second to

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing even ...

at the Venezuelan Grand Prix and, second to Kenny Roberts in the Austrian Grand Prix. He continued to post good results with a third place in Germany and another second place behind Roberts in Italy. Ferrari dropped from the podium with a fourth place in Spain before bouncing back with another second place to Roberts in Yugoslavia. His victory at the

Dutch TT The Dutch Tourist Trophy, also known as the ''TT Assen'', is an annual Dutch motorsport event established in 1925 for road racing motorcycles held on the TT Circuit Assen, also known as the ‘Cathedral of Speed'. The event attained world champ ...

Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...

together with an eighth-place finish by Roberts, vaulted Ferrari into the championship lead as the series headed towards Belgium. Ferrari became embroiled in a controversy at the Belgian Grand Prix held at the

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

circuit when he, along with Roberts and other top riders refused to race due to unsafe track conditions. The circuit had been paved just days before the race creating a track that many of the racers felt was unsafe due to diesel seeping to the surface. Ferrari along with Roberts, instigated a riders' revolt and refused to race. The F.I.M. responded by suspending Roberts and Ferrari. The F.I.M. later reduced this to a probation. After the Belgian round, Ferrari suffered a series of disastrous results with a fifteenth place in Finland followed by an improved fourth place in Britain before a crash at the season-ending

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 ...

handed the world championship to Roberts. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Ferrari rode a

Honda NSR250 The Honda NSR250 and Honda RS250RW were race motorcycles manufactured by Honda Racing Corporation to race in the 250cc class of the Grand Prix motorcycle World Championship. Both names identified the factory specification bikes entrusted to wor ...

in a team run by

Takazumi Katayama Takazumi Katayama (片山敬済, born April 16, 1951) is a Japanese former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world champion. Motorcycle racing career Born in Kobe, Japan, he was the first Japanese rider to win a motorcycle road racing world ch ...

in the World Championship without much success, with just four top 10 results, his best, a 6th place in Silverstone. He finished 14th in the Championship. Ferrari won the 1987 TT Formula 1 title aboard a

Bimota Bimota is an Italian manufacturer of custom and production motorcycles. It was founded in 1973 in Rimini by Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri, and Massimo Tamburini. The company name is a portmanteau derived from the first two letters of each of ...

YB4 EI.Italy Italian Motorcycles: Bimota
/ref> His last Grand Prix season was in 1989, again in the 250 class, with the Italian made Gazzaniga, failing to score any points and finishing 28th in the Salzburgring and 27th in his last Grand Prix in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

. After his Grand Prix career, Ferrari switched to the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

in , riding for the Ducati factory racing team. He took over as the team manager until 1998, when

Davide Tardozzi Davide Tardozzi (born in Ravenna, January 30, 1959) is a former Italian Superbike racer and current race team manager. After an unsuccessful attempt at competing in the 250cc Grand Prix world championships in 1984 and 1985, Tardozzi turned his a ...

took the job. Ferrari briefly managed the Kawasaki PSG-1 team in the World Superbike Championship in 2007.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Points system from 1969 to 1987: Points system from 1988 to 1992: (

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrari, Virginio 1952 births Living people Italian motorcycle racers 500cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders