Marco Lucchinelli

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.

Marco Lucchinelli
Marco Lucchinelli in Assen became the 1981 500cc world champion
NationalityItalian
Born (1954-06-26) June 26, 1954
Bolano, Italy
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1975 - 1986
First race1975 350cc Nations Grand Prix
Last race1986 500cc Nations Grand Prix
First win1980 500cc German Grand Prix
Last win1981 500cc Finnish Grand Prix
Team(s)Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Cagiva
Championships500cc - 1981
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
75 6 19 9 9

Career

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 (n.11) ahead of Kenny Roberts at the 1978 Nations GP at the Mugello circuit

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]

Career statistics

Races by year

(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

Races by year

(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

References

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