Virginio Ferrari (born 19 October 1952) 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 ...

. His best season was in the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

500cc world championship, when he finished second to Kenny Roberts.

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 successfu ...

to win the 1975 1000 km du Mugello 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 and was a two-time world champion, winning consecutive 500cc titles in 1976 and ...

at the

Venezuelan Grand Prix Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

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 champi ...

in Assen 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 balneothe ...

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 Champions ...

handed the world championship to Roberts. In 1986 Ferrari rode a Honda NSR250 in a team run by Takazumi Katayama in the World Championship without much success, with just four top 10 results, his best, a 6th place in

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

. 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 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

, 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. After his Grand Prix career, Ferrari switched to the Superbike World Championship in , riding for the Ducati factory racing team. He took over as the team manager until 1998, when Davide Tardozzi took the job. Ferrari briefly managed the

Kawasaki Kawasaki ( ja, 川崎, Kawasaki, river peninsula, links=no) may refer to: Places *Kawasaki, Kanagawa, a Japanese city **Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, a ward in Kawasaki, Kanagawa **Kawasaki City Todoroki Arena **Kawasaki Stadium, a multi-sport stadium *K ...

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) (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