- Marco Lucchinelli
-
Marco Lucchinelli Nationality Italian
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1975 - 1986 First race 1975 350cc Nations Grand Prix Last race 1986 500cc Nations Grand Prix First win 1980 500cc German Grand Prix Last win 1981 500cc Finnish Grand Prix Team(s) Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Cagiva Championships 500cc - 1981 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 75 6 19 9 9 Marco Lucchinelli (born June 26, 1954 in Bolano, Italy) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In 1981 he won the FIM 500cc World Championship.[1]
Lucchinelli 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 2 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. For 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 ironically, 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 December 6, 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.
Grand Prix career statistics
Points system from 1968 to 1987
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 1975 350cc Yamaha FRA
-ESP
-AUT
-GER
-NAT
7IOM
-NED
-FIN
-CZE
-YUG
-4 32nd 0 1976 500cc Suzuki FRA
3AUT
2NAT
-IOM
-NED
-BEL
-SWE
-FIN
5CZE
-GER
240 4th 0 1977 500cc Yamaha VEN
7AUT
-GER
7NAT
-FRA
-NED
6BEL
-SWE
-FIN
2CZE
-GBR
-25 11th 0 1978 350cc Yamaha VEN
-AUT
-FRA
-NAT
6NED
-SWE
-FIN
-GBR
-GER
-CZE
-YUG
-5 18th 0 500cc Suzuki VEN
-ESP
-AUT
4FRA
-NAT
3NED
-BEL
7SWE
-FIN
-GBR
4GER
NC30 9th 0 1979 500cc Suzuki VEN
-AUT
9GER
NCNAT
NCESP
10YUG
NCNED
NCBEL
DNSSWE
7FIN
9GBR
9FRA
NC11 18th 0 1980 500cc Suzuki NAT
NCESP
2FRA
3NED
NCBEL
2FIN
NCGBR
3GER
159 3rd 1 1981 500cc Suzuki AUT
NCGER
3NAT
5FRA
1YUG
2NED
1BEL
1RSM
1GBR
19FIN
1SWE
9105 1st 5 1982 500cc Honda ARG
5AUT
NCFRA
-ESP
5NAT
5NED
-BEL
6YUG
8GBR
-SWE
5RSM
6GER
543 8th 0 1983 500cc Honda RSA
9FRA
2NAT
10GER
3ESP
NCAUT
7YUG
9NED
NCBEL
7GBR
NCSWE
6RSM
448 7th 0 1984 500cc Cagiva RSA
NCNAT
NCESP
NCAUT
NCGER
-FRA
-YUG
-NED
NCBEL
-GBR
-SWE
-RSM
-0 - 0 1985 500cc Cagiva RSA
-ESP
-GER
-NAT
-AUT
-YUG
NCNED
NCBEL
NCFRA
-GBR
-SWE
-RSM
NC0 - 0 1986 500cc Cagiva ESP
-NAT
NCGER
-AUT
-YUG
-NED
-BEL
-FRA
-GBR
-SWE
-RSM
-0 - 0 References
- ^ Marco Lucchinelli career statistics at MotoGP.com
- ^ "Luchinelli wheels to win". Anchorage Daily News: p. 4. 6 April 1981. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5Ig1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=pJ4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1405,1535903&dq=kenny+roberts&hl=en. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ Marco Lucchinelli career World Superbike statistics at worldsbk.com
- ^ Lucchinelli, 5 anni per la " coca " : la cella mi ha aiutato
External links
Preceded by
Kenny Roberts500cc Motorcycle World Champion
1981Succeeded by
Franco Uncini500cc/MotoGP Motorcycle World Champions 1950 – U. Masetti
1951 – G. Duke
1952 – U. Masetti
1953 – G. Duke
1954 – G. Duke
1955 – G. Duke
1956 – J. Surtees
1957 – L. Liberati
1958 – J. Surtees
1959 – J. Surtees1960 – J. Surtees
1961 – G. Hocking
1962 – M. Hailwood
1963 – M. Hailwood
1964 – M. Hailwood
1965 – M. Hailwood
1966 – G. Agostini
1967 – G. Agostini
1968 – G. Agostini
1969 – G. Agostini1970 – G. Agostini
1971 – G. Agostini
1972 – G. Agostini
1973 – P. Read
1974 – P. Read
1975 – G. Agostini
1976 – B. Sheene
1977 – B. Sheene
1978 – K. Roberts
1979 – K. Roberts1980 – K. Roberts
1981 – M. Lucchinelli
1982 – F. Uncini
1983 – F. Spencer
1984 – E. Lawson
1985 – F. Spencer
1986 – E. Lawson
1987 – W. Gardner
1988 – E. Lawson
1989 – E. Lawson2010 – J. Lorenzo
2011 – C. StonerCategories:- People from the Province of La Spezia
- 1954 births
- Living people
- Italian motorcycle racers
- 350cc World Championship riders
- 500cc World Championship riders
- Superbike World Championship riders
- International Formula 3000 drivers
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