| Franco Uncini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Franco Uncini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Italian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 9, 1955 Recanati, Province of Macerata | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Franco Uncini (born 9 March 1955) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1976 to 1985. He won the 1982 world championship with the Roberto Gallina-Suzuki team. He was inducted into the F.I.M. MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2016. [1] [2]
Uncini was born at Recanati, province of Macerata. He made his debut as professional motorcycle road racer in the 750cc class with Laverda, moving later to Ducati, with whom he earned various titles as Italian champion. [3] His first year in the Grand Prix World Championship was with Yamaha in 1976, in both the 250cc and the 350cc classes. The following year he continued to race in both classes, this time with the Harley-Davidson team, winning two Grands Prix in 250cc (Grand Prix of Nations and Czechoslovakia) and finishing second in championship behind Mario Lega. However, his quarrelsome relationship with teammate Walter Villa forced him to move back to Yamaha. [3]
After some disappointing years with a privateer Yamaha team, in 1979 he purchased a Suzuki RG500 and launched a private team of his own in the 500cc class. He was the top-ranking privateer both in 1979 and 1980, with 5th- and 4th-place finishes. Accidents hindered his 1981 season, but after Marco Lucchinelli left Suzuki to join Honda, Suzuki offered Uncini an official factory-sponsored race bike run by Roberto Gallina's team. Finally, with a competitive vehicle, Uncini won the World Championship in 1982, scoring five victories (GPs of Austria, Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Great Britain and GP of Nations). He was the last Italian rider to win the 500cc crown until Valentino Rossi won in 2001, and for almost two decades the last European rider to win 500cc before Alex Criville won his title in 1999.
In 1983, he was severely injured at TT-Assen (The Netherlands), when he fell off his bike and was struck in the head by competitor Wayne Gardner's bike. [3] [4] He went into a coma, but eventually recovered. He retired from motorcycle competition after the 1985 season. [3]
Today, Uncini acts as Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme Safety Officer in MotoGP. [3]
Grand Prix motorcycle racing results [5]
Points system from 1969 to 1988:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | Rank | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 250cc | Yamaha | FRA - | NAT - | IOM - | NED 10 | BEL - | SWE - | FIN - | CZE - | GER - | ESP - | 6 | 21st | 0 | |||
| 350cc | Yamaha | FRA - | AUT - | NAT 2 | IOM - | NED 6 | FIN - | CZE - | GER - | ESP 3 | 27 | 9th | 0 | |||||
| 1977 | 250cc | Harley Davidson | VEN - | GER 3 | NAT 1 | ESP 13 | FRA - | YUG - | NED 2 | BEL 7 | SWE - | FIN 4 | CZE 1 | GBR 4 | 72 | 2nd | 2 | |
| 350cc | Harley Davidson | VEN - | GER - | NAT 6 | ESP - | FRA - | YUG - | NED 5 | SWE - | FIN - | CZE - | GBR - | 11 | 20th | 0 | |||
| 1978 | 250cc | Yamaha | VEN - | ESP 3 | FRA - | NAT 3 | NED 4 | BEL 2 | SWE - | FIN - | GBR - | GER - | CZE 9 | YUG - | 42 | 8th | 0 | |
| 350cc | Yamaha | VEN - | AUT 2 | FRA - | NAT 5 | NED 10 | SWE - | FIN - | GBR - | GER - | CZE - | YUG - | 19 | 12th | 0 | |||
| 1979 | 500cc | Suzuki | VEN 4 | AUT 6 | GER 6 | NAT - | ESP 5 | YUG 3 | NED 6 | BEL - | SWE - | FIN - | GBR 7 | FRA 4 | 51 | 5th | 0 | |
| 1980 | 500cc | Suzuki | NAT 2 | ESP 7 | FRA - | NED 3 | BEL 6 | FIN 3 | GBR 6 | GER 7 | 50 | 4th | 0 | |||||
| 1981 | 500cc | Suzuki | AUT 7 | GER 10 | NAT 8 | FRA - | YUG NC | NED - | BEL - | RSM NC | GBR 16 | FIN NC | SWE 7 | 12 | 13th | 0 | ||
| 1982 | 500cc | Suzuki | ARG 4 | AUT 1 | FRA WD | ESP 3 | NAT 1 | NED 1 | BEL 3 | YUG 1 | GBR 1 | SWE NC | RSM NC | GER NC | 103 | 1st | 5 | |
| 1983 | 500cc | Suzuki | RSA 6 | FRA NC | NAT 4 | GER 5 | ESP 5 | AUT 5 | YUG NC | NED NC | BEL - | GBR - | SWE - | RSM - | 31 | 9th | 0 | |
| 1984 | 500cc | Suzuki | RSA NC | NAT 5 | ESP NC | AUT 11 | GER 6 | FRA - | YUG - | NED - | BEL - | GBR 11 | SWE NC | RSM 8 | 14 | 14th | 0 | |
| 1985 | 500cc | Suzuki | RSA 11 | ESP - | GER NC | NAT 8 | AUT 13 | YUG NC | NED 13 | BEL 13 | FRA 12 | GBR 18 | SWE 15 | RSM 6 | 8 | 15th | 0 | |
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Barry Steven Frank Sheene was a British professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between 1971 and 1984, most prominently as a member of the Suzuki factory racing team where he won two consecutive FIM World Championships in 1976 and 1977. Sheene remains the last British competitor to win the premier class of FIM road racing competitions.
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The 1973 FIM Motocross World Championship was the 17th F.I.M. Motocross Racing World Championship season.
Grand Prix motorcycle racing sponsorship liveries have been used since the late 1960s, replacing the previously used national colours. With sponsors becoming more important with the rising costs in the motorcycle CC classes, many teams wanted to be able to display the logos of their sponsors as clearly as possible.
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