| Marco Lucchinelli | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Marco Lucchinelli in Assen became the 1981 500cc world champion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Italian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 26, 1954 Bolano, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Marco Lucchinelli (born 26 June 1954) is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was 1981 FIM Road Racing World Champion with Suzuki. [1] He is a MotoGP Legend.
Lucchinelli was born in Bolano.
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 Nations Grand Prix in the 350 class.
In 1976 he rode a Suzuki 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 season, he would drop to 11th place in the 500 World Championship on a Yamaha.
Lucchinelli returned to Suzuki for the 1978 season and in 1980, he won his first 500cc Grand Prix at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. He would finish the season in third place behind Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola.
Lucchinelli had his best year in 1981. He began the year with a victory over Kenny Roberts in the prestigious Imola 200 non-championship race in Italy. [2] 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. In 1982, 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, he joined the Cagiva team for the 1984 and 1985 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 in a Lola-Ford. Lucchinelli raced a Ducati 851 to a popular win at the 1987 Daytona Battle of the Twins race. In 1988 he joined the Ducati in the Superbike World Championship where he won two races during the year before taking on the role of Ducati's team manager. [3]
On 6 December 1991, he was arrested for drug possession. He spent some time in jail, during which he successfully fought against drug addiction. [4] 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, and the opening race of the International Sports Racing Series (ISRS), driving for Centenari; he didn't start the 1000 km Monza, [5] and finished sixth overall (second in the CN class) in the opening round of the ISRS. [6]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 350cc | Yamaha | FRA | SPA | AUT | GER | NAT 7 | IOM | NED | FIN | CZE | YUG | 32nd | 4 | ||
| 1976 | 350cc | Yamaha | FRA Ret | AUT | NAT | YUG | IOM | NED | FIN | CZE | GER | SPA | NC | 0 | ||
| 500cc | Suzuki | FRA 3 | AUT 2 | NAT DNS | IOM | NED | BEL | SWE 15 | FIN 5 | CZE Ret | GER 2 | 4th | 40 | |||
| 1977 | 500cc | Suzuki | VEN 7 | AUT DNS | GER 7 | NAT Ret | FRA Ret | NED 6 | BEL Ret | SWE Ret | FIN 2 | CZE Ret | GBR | 11th | 25 | |
| 1978 | 350cc | Yamaha | VEN | AUT | FRA | NAT 6 | NED | SWE | 18th | 5 | ||||||
| Harley-Davidson | FIN Ret | GBR | GER | CZE | YUG | |||||||||||
| 500cc | Suzuki | VEN | SPA Ret | AUT 4 | FRA Ret | NAT 3 | NED Ret | BEL 7 | SWE Ret | FIN Ret | GBR 4 | GER Ret | 9th | 30 | ||
| 1979 | 500cc | Suzuki | VEN | AUT 9 | GER Ret | NAT Ret | SPA 10 | YUG Ret | NED Ret | BEL DNS | SWE 7 | FIN 9 | GBR 9 | FRA Ret | 18th | 11 |
| 1980 | 500cc | Suzuki | NAT Ret | SPA 2 | FRA 3 | NED Ret | BEL 2 | FIN Ret | GBR 3 | GER 1 | 3rd | 59 | ||||
| 1981 | 500cc | Suzuki | AUT Ret | GER 3 | NAT 5 | FRA 1 | YUG 2 | NED 1 | BEL 1 | RSM 1 | GBR 19 | FIN 1 | SWE 9 | 1st | 105 | |
| 1982 | 500cc | Honda | ARG 5 | AUT Ret | FRA DNS | SPA 5 | NAT 5 | NED Ret | BEL 6 | YUG 8 | GBR 17 | SWE 5 | RSM 6 | GER 5 | 8th | 43 |
| 1983 | 500cc | Honda | RSA 9 | FRA 2 | NAT 10 | GER 3 | SPA Ret | AUT 7 | YUG 9 | NED Ret | BEL 7 | GBR Ret | SWE 6 | RSM 4 | 7th | 48 |
| 1984 | 500cc | Cagiva | RSA Ret | NAT Ret | SPA Ret | AUT Ret | GER | FRA DNS | YUG | NED Ret | BEL | GBR | SWE | RSM | NC | 0 |
| 1985 | 500cc | Cagiva | RSA | SPA | GER | NAT | AUT | YUG 15 | NED Ret | BEL Ret | FRA | GBR | SWE | RSM Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1986 | 500cc | Cagiva | SPA | NAT Ret | GER | AUT | YUG | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | SWE | RSM | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | ||||
| 1988 | Ducati | GBR 2 | GBR 1 | HUN 9 | HUN Ret | GER 6 | GER 11 | AUT 1 | AUT Ret | JPN 12 | JPN Ret | FRA 10 | FRA C | POR 3 | POR 4 | AUS | AUS | NZL | NZL | 5th | 63 | ||||
| 1989 | Ducati | GBR | GBR | HUN | HUN | CAN | CAN | USA | USA | AUT | AUT | FRA | FRA | JPN DNS | JPN DNS | GER Ret | GER 10 | ITA 9 | ITA DNS | AUS | AUS | NZL | NZL | 42nd | 13 |
Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who achieved six World Championships. With four 250 cc road race titles and two in World Superbikes, he is one of only two riders to score championships across both disciplines.
Kevin Schwantz is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He was the world champion of the 1993 FIM Road Racing World Championship.
Eddie Ray Lawson is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1983 to 1992
Alexandre Barros is a Brazilian former professional motorcycle road racer who is a 7-time 500cc/MotoGP race winner and also a race winner in Superbike World Championship. After a long Grand Prix career, in 2006 he moved to the Superbike World Championship. He returned to MotoGP for 2007, but retired by the end of the season.
Marco Melandri is an Italian retired motorcycle road racer who is a five-time premier class race winner. He is the 2002 250 cc World Champion and runner-up in 125 cc, MotoGP and Superbike World Championship. He competed in the MotoGP class from 2003 to 2010 and then a brief return with Aprilia in 2015.
John "Hopper" Hopkins is a former motorcycle road racer based in the United States. During 2017 he raced in the British Superbike Championship aboard a Ducati 1199 Panigale for Moto Rapido Racing, but suffered injuries from a crash at the season-finale race meeting in October, meaning he could not participate during 2018. He has not made a full recovery, which has so far precluded hopes of a comeback, but he has become involved in rider coaching.
Randy Mamola is an American former professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between 1979 and 1992. A 13-time Premier Class race winner, Mamola was one of the most charismatic Grand Prix road racers of his generation, becoming a favourite because of his interaction with race fans both on and off the track as well as his aggressive and spirited riding style.
Noriyuki Haga is a Japanese former professional motorcycle racer. He won 43 world championship superbike races during a 25 year racing career, making him one of the most accomplished competitors never to have won a Superbike World Championship. Haga was the runner-up in the championship three times and, four times finished in third place. His 43 victories ranks fourth all time in the history of the Superbike World Championship behind Jonathan Rea, Carl Fogarty and Troy Bayliss. Haga ranks fourth behind Troy Corser, Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea in career World Superbike race starts with 313. He last competed in the 2018 CIV Supersport 600 Championship, aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6.
Frederick Burdette Spencer, sometimes known by the nickname Fast Freddie, is an American former world champion motorcycle racer. Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.
Franco Uncini is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racing. He was 1982 FIM Road Racing World Champion with Suzuki. He was inducted into the F.I.M. MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2016.
The 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 35th F.I.M. Road racing World Championship season.
John Kocinski is a retired American Grand Prix motorcycle road racer whose successes include winning the 1990 250cc World Championship, and the 1997 Superbike World Championship title.
Eugene Laverty is a former professional motorcycle road racer from Northern Ireland, the brother of Michael and John.
Sylvain Guintoli is a French professional motorcycle racer. He was FIM World Superbike Champion in 2014. He is contracted to the Suzuki MotoGP team as a test rider with occasional race entries, as a wild card or replacement rider.
The 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 33rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
The 1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 34th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
Graeme Crosby is a former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. A versatile rider, Crosby was equally capable on either four stroke Superbike racers or two stroke Grand Prix racers. He is the only person to have won the Daytona 200, the Imola 200, the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, and the Isle of Man TT.
Suzuki MotoGP was the factory-backed team of Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki in the MotoGP World Championship, most recently using the name Team Suzuki Ecstar for sponsorship purposes. Suzuki withdrew from MotoGP competition at the conclusion of the 2022 season, winning their final race with Álex Rins.
Danilo Carlo Petrucci is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer who has competed in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York. After losing his KTM ride in MotoGP at the end of the 2021 season, he entered the 2022 Dakar Rally with a Tech3 KTM rally raid 450 cc machine in January 2022.
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.
| |
|
| Authority control: Artists |
|---|
