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Jan 20
Giacomo Agostini (born 16 June 1942 in Brescia, Lombardy) is an Italian multi-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Nicknamed Ago, he is the all-time leader in victories in motorcycle Grand Prix history, with 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championships titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500cc class, the rest in the 350cc class.
Agostini was the son of a wealthy Italian industrialist. His father originally didn’t approve of his son’s motorcycle racing career. He did everything he could to persuade his son not to race. Agostini would have to steal away to compete, first in hill climb events and then in road racing.
Eventually his father came to terms with his racing and he won the 1963 Italian 175cc championship aboard a Morini. He got his break when Morini factory rider, Tarquinio Provini left the team to ride for Benelli. Count Alfonso Morini hired the young Agostini to ride for him. In 1964, Agostini would win the Italian 350cc title and proved his ability by finishing fourth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
These results caught the eye of Count Domenico Agusta who signed Agostini to ride for his MV Agusta squad as Mike Hailwood’s team-mate. Agostini then fought a season-long battle with Honda’s Jim Redman for the 1965 350cc world championship. He seemed to have the title won when he led the final round in Japan at Suzuka when his bike failed him, handing the title to Redman. Read full wikipedia article.
