Strong and Vital No 2

Fit and Healthy

Giacomo Agostini The Motorbike Legend

Simply the Best - Birthday party 2022 for his 80th birthday

Giacomo Agostini (Ago), born in 1942, grown up in Italy bet ween Lanico and Lovere on Lake Iseo in Lombardy, is consi dered one of the best motorbike riders in history. With 15 world championship titles on MV Agusta and Yamaha in the 350 and 500cc sizes (1966-1975), 122 Grand Prix victories, 163 podium finishes in 190 world championship races and 117 fastest race laps, he is the most successful rider in the motorbike world championship. Ago was the oldest race winner (35 years and three months) at the Hockenheimring and the only Italian rider to win the «Daytona 200 Miles». He had a remarkable 17-year career and was the first motorcyclist to be recognised by the World Sports Academy. His sporting career is unique, his results astonishing and to this day he remains unbeaten in terms of the number of world championships won. The special F4 AGO model from MV Agusta with the legendary number 1 was developed with his co-operation. The US punk n’roll band Zeke dedicated the song «Viva Agostini!» from the album «Flat Tracker» to him as a tribute. On 24 November 2000, he was added to the list of MotoGP legends and was honoured with a star on the «Walk of Fame» of the Andalusian race track in Jerez in 2015. After retiring from racing, Giacomo Agostini became team manager in 1982. In his new position, which he held for four teen seasons, Ago was able to use his organisational and tactical experience as well as his manic attention to important details, which formed the basis of his success.

The champion has repeated several times that he feels like a «survivor of his time», because at the time of his sporting activity, safety was in fact less guaranteed than it is today, as motorcyclists were not yet equipped with special clothing and helmets. «I got more than I could have dreamed of» The first-born of four brothers, Ago has been instinctively drawn to the world of motorbikes since childhood. He had his first contact with motorbikes at the age of nine, when he decided to borrow his father’s Guzzi Galletto to take a few laps around the village. When he arrived at the village square, he had an unfortunate fall to the ground shortly after stopping, as his small stature meant that he could not touch the ground with his feet. With the Aquilotto, however, he was a true magi cian and regularly managed to beat the provincial specialists in the gymkhanas organised at village festivals. But his father ignored his talent, preferring his son to become an accountant. When Giacomo told him that he wanted to race motorbikes instead, his father turned to the family notary for his opinion. He feared that the motorbike would be too dangerous and could distract his son from his studies. The notary, wise but rather deaf, understood «bicicletta» (bicy cle) instead of «motocicletta» (motorbike) and advised: «Give him some sport. Sport is good, especially for young people. It keeps them away from other distractions and dangers.» It was thanks to this little misunderstanding that the door to a champion’s career opened.

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STRONG and VITAL No. 2 - 2024