Marco Lucchinelli

Marco Lucchinelli

Lucchinelli leads Kenny Roberts at the 1978 Nations Grand Prix
Nationality Italy Italian
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

Marco Lucchinelli (born 26 June 1954) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In 1981 he won the FIM 500cc World Championship.[1]

Biography

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 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 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]

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
7
IOM
-
NED
-
FIN
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
4 32nd 0
1976 500cc Suzuki FRA
3
AUT
2
NAT
-
IOM
-
NED
-
BEL
-
SWE
15
FIN
5
CZE
-
GER
2
40 4th 0
1977 500cc Yamaha VEN
7
AUT
-
GER
7
NAT
-
FRA
-
NED
6
BEL
-
SWE
-
FIN
2
CZE
-
GBR
-
25 11th 0
1978 350cc Yamaha VEN
-
AUT
-
FRA
-
NAT
6
NED
-
SWE
-
FIN
-
GBR
-
GER
-
CZE
-
YUG
-
5 18th 0
500cc Suzuki VEN
-
ESP
-
AUT
4
FRA
-
NAT
3
NED
-
BEL
7
SWE
-
FIN
-
GBR
4
GER
NC
30 9th 0
1979 500cc Suzuki VEN
-
AUT
9
GER
NC
NAT
NC
ESP
10
YUG
NC
NED
NC
BEL
DNS
SWE
7
FIN
9
GBR
9
FRA
NC
11 18th 0
1980 500cc Suzuki NAT
NC
ESP
2
FRA
3
NED
NC
BEL
2
FIN
NC
GBR
3
GER
1
59 3rd 1
1981 500cc Suzuki AUT
NC
GER
3
NAT
5
FRA
1
YUG
2
NED
1
BEL
1
RSM
1
GBR
19
FIN
1
SWE
9
105 1st 5
1982 500cc Honda ARG
5
AUT
NC
FRA
-
ESP
5
NAT
5
NED
-
BEL
6
YUG
8
GBR
-
SWE
5
RSM
6
GER
5
43 8th 0
1983 500cc Honda RSA
9
FRA
2
NAT
10
GER
3
ESP
NC
AUT
7
YUG
9
NED
NC
BEL
7
GBR
NC
SWE
6
RSM
4
48 7th 0
1984 500cc Cagiva RSA
NC
NAT
NC
ESP
NC
AUT
NC
GER
-
FRA
-
YUG
-
NED
NC
BEL
-
GBR
-
SWE
-
RSM
-
0 - 0
1985 500cc Cagiva RSA
-
ESP
-
GER
-
NAT
-
AUT
-
YUG
NC
NED
NC
BEL
NC
FRA
-
GBR
-
SWE
-
RSM
NC
0 - 0
1986 500cc Cagiva ESP
-
NAT
NC
GER
-
AUT
-
YUG
-
NED
-
BEL
-
FRA
-
GBR
-
SWE
-
RSM
-
0 - 0

References


Preceded by
Kenny Roberts
500cc Motorcycle World Champion
1981
Succeeded by
Franco Uncini
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