Giacomo Agostin

GIACOMO AGOSTIN Opposite: With film-star good looks, Glacomo cut a dashing swathe through Europe's racing paddocks Left: In full flight on the all- conquering MV Below: "Eddie, I think you are dragging your knee too much in the corners." The records show that Giacomo is the most successful rider of all time. There is little doubt he was a talented rider, but it is difficult to find any evidence to suggest he was a rider for the hard times. MV Agusta won the 500cc title every year from 1958 to 1974 and Agostini arrived on the scene as an Italian who could ride well, and his era from 1966 could be viewed as "timely". Giacomo, like Hailwood, was also from money. The Agostini fortune was made from a ferry company in the north of Italy. But where Hailwood's father did everything to encourage his son, Giacomo's father did everything to discourage him from racing motorcycles. So concerned was his father that he tried to bribe Giacomo with a brand new sports car if he would stop. But "Young Ago", as he would become known, was having none of that. He started racing without his parents' knowledge and in his first major series, won the Italian 175cc Championship. He then won the Italian 250cc Championship in 1964 when Count Agusta signed him to understudy Hailwood. By 1966, Hailwood had gone to Honda claiming that the Italian factory was ensuring his "understudy" got preferential treatment and equipment. For Giacomo, the dream run began as the number one rider on the number one bike of the past decade. Hailwood would match him for wins and points in 1968, but this was still not enough to deny the handsome Italian. As Honda, Yamaha and then Suzuki all withdrew from the World Championship, there was little to challenge the mighty Italian combination of bike and rider. By 1972, a young Finnish rider named Jarno Saarinen had the racing world agog as he claimed the 250 title. The ex ice-racer amazed everyone as he dragged his knee on the ground and drifted front and rear tyres in a display of masterful disregard for the traditional tucked- in racers. He almost beat Giacomo for the 500 title that year, but MV rushed in the new four-cylinder bike and recruited Englishman Phil Read to help keep the young Finn at bay. By the start of the 1973 season, Saarinen had conquered America in the pre-season by becoming the first ever European to win the Daytona 200, followed by the Imola 200. Riding the two-stroke Yamaha, Saarinen won the opening three rounds of the 250cc series and two of the three 500 races. He would die in an accident caused by others in the following round at Monza, thus killing the hopes of many who could see Saarinen as the next big thing. Ironically, back-up rider Read would ultimately win the title from Giacomo, who then switched to the all-conquering Yamaha the following year. Giacomo always knew where the better bike was and it was not among the ageing four-strokes. Read would claim the double before Giacomo came to grips with the ever stronger Yamaha to take what would be his final title in the World Championship in 1975..

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