| Marco Lucchinelli | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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_spuitend_me_champagne,_naast_hem_Bo%E2%80%A6,_Bestanddeelnr_931-5669.jpg) Marco Lucchinelli in Assen became the 1981 500cc world champion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Italian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1954-06-26) June 26, 1954 (age 70) Bolano, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Marco Lucchinelli (born 26 June 1954) is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between 1975 and 1986. He was 1981 FIM Road Racing World Champion as a member of the Gallina-Suzuki racing team. In 2017, Lucchinelli was inducted into the MotoGP Legends Hall of Fame by FIM.
Career
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. 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. In 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.
On 6 December 1991, he was arrested for drug possession. He spent some time in jail, during which he successfully fought against drug addiction. 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, and finished sixth overall (second in the CN class) in the opening round of the ISRS.
Career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Superbike World Championship
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | ||||
| 1988 | Ducati | GBR 2 |
GBR 1 |
HUN 9 |
HUN Ret |
GER 6 |
GER 11 |
AUT 1 |
AUT Ret |
JPN 12 |
JPN Ret |
FRA 10 |
FRA C |
POR 3 |
POR 4 |
AUS | AUS | NZL | NZL | 5th | 63 | ||||
| 1989 | Ducati | GBR | GBR | HUN | HUN | CAN | CAN | USA | USA | AUT | AUT | FRA | FRA | JPN DNS |
JPN DNS |
GER Ret |
GER 10 |
ITA 9 |
ITA DNS |
AUS | AUS | NZL | NZL | 42nd | 13 |
References
- "Marco Lucchinelli career statistics at MotoGP.com". motogp.com. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- "Lucchinelli becomes a MotoGP™ Legend". motogp.com. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- "Luchinelli wheels to win". Anchorage Daily News. 6 April 1981. p. 4. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- Marco Lucchinelli career World Superbike statistics at worldsbk.com Archived 2009-04-10 at the Wayback Machine
- Lucchinelli, 5 anni per la " coca " : la cella mi ha aiutato
- "Monza 1000 Kilometres 1998 - Race results". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
- "International Sports Racing Series Paul Ricard 1998 - Race results". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
External links
| Members of the MotoGP Hall of Fame | |
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 Suzuki Motorcycles Grandprix | |
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 Italian Sportsman of the Year | |
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