Giacomo Agostini

Here is a video of Giacomo Agostini, another legendary motorcycle racing champion.  This comes from a race he ran at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, in Monza, Italy, in 1968.  Agostini was nicknamed "Aggo" during his career.  He is the all-time wins leader in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, with 122 victories to his credit.  His wins came on 350cc and 500cc bikes.  He's won eight 500cc Grand Prix championships.  His first racing title was in 1963, in the Italian 175cc bike championship.

Agostini was signed to MV Agusta, and was team mate with another motorcycling great mentioned in this blog (Mike Hailwood).  Agostini also did some car racing later in his career.  But, he's most known for his championship wins on two wheels.  He ran for MV Agusta, Suzuki, and Yamaha.  

Agostini's car racing career encompassed European Formula 2 and the British Aurora Formula One Series.  Agostini returned to motorcycle racing in 1982, as a team manager.  He was manager for the Marlboro Yamaha squad with Eddie Lawson and Kenny Roberts as some of the riders.  In total, Agostini was the king of Grand Prix racing, with 15 titles!  Eight 500cc titles, and seven 350cc titles.  Here's the list of years of Agostini's championships.

350cc

1968, '69, '70, '71, '72, '73, '74 (seven consecutive 350cc titles)

500cc

1966, '67, '68, '69, '70, '71, '72, '75 (seven consecutive 500cc titles, eight total)

So, between '68 and '72, Agostini dominated both classes.  Agostini's career lasted only thirteen years.  But, in that time, his record was cemented.  His first race was the 1963 Nations Grand Prix.  His last, the 1977 British Grand Prix.  Agostini won his first race in the 350cc race in the 1965 German Grand Prix.  Agostini's final win came in the same race (the German Grand Prix) in 500cc competition, in 1976.

Agostini also found much success in the Isle of Man TT.  In eight appearances, he won ten times (meaning he probably had a couple years of winning multiple races).  His first race was the 1966 Junior TT, and his last, the 1972 Senior TT.  Agostini also won the 1974 Daytona 200, in his first race for Yamaha.  Quite the career indeed.  In 1992, Agostini managed the Cagiva racing team in World Grand Prix motorcycle racing.  Eddie Lawson and Alex Barros were the Cagiva team riders that year.   

The video here, (with commentary by the public address announcer, in Italian), is of Agostini's performance in the 1968 Monza race.  Agostini is an undisputed 2 wheel racing legend.