Giacomo Agostini

Giacomo Agostini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒaːkomo aɡoˈstiːni]; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championships from 1963 to 1977, most prominently as a member of the MV Agusta factory racing team. Agostini was the preeminent motorcycle racer of the late 1960s and early 1970s, amassing 122 Grand Prix victories and 15 World Championships, the most by any competitor in the history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He won seven consecutive 500cc World Championships with MV Agusta between 1966 and 1972, plus seven consecutive 350cc world championships between 1968 and 1974. Agostini was also a ten-time winner of the Isle of Man TT.

Agostini's rivalry with Mike Hailwood early in his career dominated Grand Prix motorcycle racing in the 1960s and culminated in their dramatic duel for the 1967 World Championship. Although critics claimed that Agostini raced for much of his career aboard the dominant MV Agusta against fields composed of privateer racers, he had to race during an era when rider deaths were commonplace. He competed on racetracks lined with deadly metal barriers or on street circuits that featured railroad crossings and hay bales wrapped around telephone poles. When Agostini boycotted of the Isle of Man TT race in 1972, the most prestigious race of the year at the time, his influential status as the reigning champion led to the removal of the event from the World Championships and marked the beginning of an era of increased safety for riders.

After his motorcycle racing career, he briefly attempted to race automobiles, but at the age of 35, perhaps waited too long to make the switch, and he was not able to replicate the success that he had experienced on motorcycles. He then turned to the role of racing team manager for the Yamaha and Cagiva factory teams during the 1980s and 1990s. With handsome features and a charming demeanor, Agostini was popular with motorsports enthusiasts and became a film star in his native Italy. In 1999, Agostini was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame, and in 2010, he was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.