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"fJiI'" During Arturo Magni's time at MV, the immediately obvious was that he lived and slept motorcycles; MV motorcycles. I was Italian factory won 38 world championships. often invited into his home and you can John Surtees profiles the man guess what the conversation was about. whosejob was winning It wasn't an easy position that Magni held. After Ingegnere Remor had left, the team really had no chief engineer or chief originally met Arturo Magni in designer. There was a very good drawing September 1955 on my first visit office and there were engineers on the pay- I to the MV Agusta factory at roll, mainly responsible for helicopter Cascina Costa outside Gallarate, work and, to some degree for the pro- ,in Northern Italy. I had been invited there duction motorcycles. to discuss my riding for the team in 1956. But there was no chief engineer like My preoccupation was machine testing Giulio CarcanoatMoto Guzzi, orJoe Craig and on arrival! was taken to the workshop at Norton; Arturo had to be chief mech- to see Arturo. I sat on a bike, adjusted the anic, chief organiser, and component de- handlebars and footrests, and off we went signer: most of the development work was to Modena. Wecouldn't useMonza because his responsibility. the track was covered in leaves, but the Arturo the man could be warm, friendly weather wasn't kind at Modena: it was and encouraging, but he could also be pouring with rain. The machines were biting in his criticism. If you asked the about to beput back in the van when I said opinion of other riders who knew Magni, 'Hold on, let's do some laps. Its bound to be you would no doubt get varying replies. wet sometimes when we race.' Some would say he was great, a super With this I think the beginningofa bond mechanic. Others would say he was adevi- between Arturo and myself was created. ous so-and-so;or that he was too much of a We had a full day's testing and then went politician. In some ways, all of them would to Monzo the next day, a path having be right because in his position he had to been swept through the leaves. befirst and foremost agood mechanic, and During those tests we learned to appre- know how to put a team together. But he ciate each other. I realised that he was a had to be apolitician toexist in a team like man with a wealth of experience who had MV, particularly in his key position, and known two tragic events in his relation- he had to bedevious at times. ship with MV: the loss of Les Graham I came to realise that the straightfor- and then Ray Amm, who was very hungry ward approach often just didn't get things for success, just as I was. Until then MV's done. Different routes were sometimes achievements were mainly in the light- needed toget results. This wasn't just true weight classes. for MV- it was very noticeable at Ferrari. Arturo and his brother Andrea certainly Now the MV period is behind him, tried to make me feel at home. Luckily Arturo is busy with the Magni company. It Arturo had a smattering of English be- is quite a different team, afamily team. He cause of his relationship with Les Graham has been wise enough to ensure that his and of course, two other British riders, sons arefully trained engineers. Cecil Sandford and Bill Lomas. What was I think Arturo was very hurt when the MV racing team got broken up. For years, the machines lay at the factory, Magni tried todeal with the Agusta management, but in a state-owned concern it was diffi- cult to know who to talk to. When, sud- denly, all the racing machine stock was dispersed this was a great shock. Magni could not be blamed if he took it as aslap in the face: for there was most of his life's work being disposed of like common chattels. I didn't agree with Arturo at all times, and I certainly did not understand some of the things that happened - or didn't hap- pen - at MV, but we started off on a friendly basis and weare still good friends to this day. When we were to- gether we had a common objective- to get the machines home, and out infront. , ~ October 1990 19 ig o<ganisations are. no good, the first four cylinder machines appeared, according to Arturo Magni. 'Some 500cc machinec in both race and road- factories have tried to. run racing going trim - although the latter was for M~GNI Bdepartments by paYlllg IDts of too expensive to be a realistic commercial money to many gDod men, but the result prospect. Being a Remor design, the new has been zero,' he says. engine had many similarities with Behind He never had to wait for experts to chew Gilera'sunit. over decisiDns at MV. The hoss said what It was to he the basis of a line of racing thescenes he wanted, and Magni'sjobwas to make it multis lasting twenty-five years. happen. During most of his time at 'The 500ec Gilera was producing 49bhp Cascina Costa, the boss was Count in 1950. By 1974 we had an engine of the atMV: Domenico Agusta. His retention of the same transverse four laYDut that made archaic title of CDunt tells us a fair bit over 100bhp,' Magni says. ArturoMagni abDut his 'Lord of the ManDr' style: the Much of the credit for the improvement worst sort to.work for, you may think. must go to Magni. Remor left in 1953, and talks to Bnt for the purposes Df running a despite his inspiration and firm convic- victDriOUS racing team, Magni found a tions, Domenico Agusta was not an engi- short chain of cDmmand effective. And he neer. MickDuckworth admired Agusta's strong leadership: 'He As Magni points out, a lot of technical let his men use their heads. He asked them progress made in the fifties was due to to give 90 per cent, and he received 50 per input by riders, particularly Britons Les cent: this is a good system,' he says. Graham and John Surtees. Butas the man Magni (pronounced Maan-yee) surely who travelled the circuits of Europe as well gave clDse to 100 per cent to. the most suc- as implementing policy in the workshops it Behind cessful racing campaigninmotorcychng his- was Magni whomadethingshappep. tDry. He arrived at MV in 1950 and hecame To illustrate the way he sometimes had the scenes chief racing mechanic, then team manager to work Magni offers the example of the until the equipe was disbanded in the mid- Dutch Grand Prix in 1966. That was the seventies. BefDre joining Agusta, he had year MV faced a challenge which had worked for Gilera in his native town of seemed inconveivable a few years earlier: Arcore. There, he assisted Pietro Remor with the Italian factory's dominance in the Arturo Magni Gilera's 500cc four, the world's most 500cc world championships was under advanced racing motorcycle at the time. attack from Honda. talksto When Remor, one of the fathers of the The Japanese team had signed MV's now universal multi-cyhnder machine, formee number one rider Mike Hailwood Mick Duckworth mDved toMV, Magni soon followed. It was and wheeled out a sensational 500cc four natural for him to.stay with theIngegnere at an early-season Grand Prix, to beat he admired, hut Magni says there was also MV's star Giacomo Agostini. The Italian a financial incentive to mDve. factDry had responded to Honda's arrival MV's output at the time was small-capa- in the 350cc class by huilding the four- city road and racing machines, mainly valves-per-cylindertriple. But MV's "OOcc with two-stroke engines. In 1950, however, contender was a four of the type cam- 20 Classic Bike I Agostini went on to win his first of The machine was approved, and Magni thirteen world titles for Agusta. When MV told to organise the first test ride. Agusta beatoffthe 500cc Honda again in 1967, the said that it must be carried out by an factory could claim to have established Italian rider. 'I didn't think there were any invincibility in the class, perhaps leading good enough,' Magni says. 'Mike Hail- to further complacency. wood was MV's rider, but he wasn't It was logical for Agostini to ride threes Italian. Itwas a problem forme.' in both classes. For, as Magni explains, 'Then I remembered Giacomo Agostini. the Italian rider was recruited specifically He had spoken to me in Germany some as a jockey for the triple, when the 350cc time before where he was riding for version was first fielded in 1965. In the Morini. He said he would like to ride an previous year Redman had won every MV and I had told him be was too small. 350cc world championship round for But later I noticed from newspapers that Honda, andMVhad to come up with anew hcwas doing welL machine to maintain credibility in the 'I went to a public pbone box, and after middleweight class. making a few calls I got a number of Agostini's house in Lovere. I spoke to his father, who said he was out racing. I tele- paigned for several seasons, since what phoned next morning and asked Agostini Magni calls 'the calm situation' of the to cometoCascina Costa: Mr Agustacame early sixties, when MV had minimal oppo- 'Thetechnical back from Venice very quickly and a con- sition.

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