Early life Agostini was born in
Brescia,
Lombardy, and grew up in
Lovere, where his father was the owner of a Bergamo transport company that operated ferries on
Lake Iseo. The oldest of four brothers, Agostini initially had to steal away to compete, first in hill climb events and then in
road racing, as his father did not approve of his son's motorcycle racing career and did everything he could to persuade him not to race.
MV Agusta team These results caught the eye of
Count Domenico Agusta, who signed Agostini in 1965 to ride for the
MV Agusta factory racing team as
Mike Hailwood's teammate. Honda increased their racing activities in by competing in all five displacement classes, including new
Honda RC181 motorcycles for Redman and Hailwood to compete in the premier 500cc class. Agostini won the prestigious, non-championship 1966
Mallory Park Race of the Year invitational when Hailwood suffered a mechanical failure while leading the race on his six-cylinder Honda. (2) dueling during the 1967 500cc Dutch TT. Agostini and Hailwood engaged in a fierce competition for the 500cc World Championship, including a dramatic duel at the
1967 Isle of Man TT where the two competitors were in a dead heat on the final lap of the race when a broken
roller chain on Agostini's motorcycle forced him to withdraw from the event. After eight rounds of the championship, both riders had claimed four victories apiece. The championship was not decided until the final race of the year at the
Mosport Circuit in Canada, where Hailwood won to tie Agostini on points. (L) and Agostini at the 1967 Dutch TT The
FIM implemented new rules for the 1968 season, limiting all gearboxes to six-speeds, 125cc and 250cc motorcycles to no more than two cylinders, and 350cc and 500cc motorcycles to four cylinders. Agostini considered Hailwood to be the best rider he ever raced against.
MV Agusta domination In the wake of Honda's withdrawal, the MV Agusta team faced little opposition in the larger displacement classes from any major manufacturers, competing against
privateer racers using ageing machinery. He was briefly challenged in by former 125 World Champion
Bill Ivy riding a 350cc
Jawa two-stroke,
V-four engined motorcycle. Ivy led Agostini at the 1969 350cc Dutch TT before finishing in second place. Two weeks later, Ivy was killed in an accident during practice at the
Sachsenring. In a harbinger of the future,
Ginger Molloy rode a two-stroke
Kawasaki H1R to finish second to Agostini in the 500 class, as Japanese manufacturers continued to improve two-stroke technology. Agostini's record setting winning streak ended at the
1971 Isle of Man TT when his MV Agusta broke down on the first lap of the Junior TT. As the reigning World Champion, he was favored to win the race however, he was upset by
John Cooper riding a
BSA Rocket 3. The two competitors engaged in a dramatic race-long battle for the lead before Cooper crossed the finish line just three-fifths of a second ahead of Agostini.
Isle of Man TT boycott When Agostini's close friend
Gilberto Parlotti died in an accident while competing in the
1972 TT, he announced he would never again compete in the event, as he considered the 37.73-mile circuit unsafe for world championship competition. His decision to boycott the event had far-reaching consequences for the TT and would lead to a walk-out of the top Grand Prix stars, many of whom resorted to severe criticism of the organisation and safety at the event, with people such as
Phil Read in the
vanguard of the critics. In response, the FIM decided that the
Isle of Man TT would be withdrawn from the World Championship calendar after the
1976 races. Agostini was able to successfully claim his fifth consecutive 350cc World Championship in 1972; however, the increasing threat from Yamaha's performance was so strong that the MV Agusta factory was forced to produce a new 350cc motorcycle for Agostini and to hire Phil Read as his teammate. In , Yamaha developed a new four-cylinder, two-stroke
Yamaha YZR500 motorcycle for Saarinen, and he began the 500cc World Championship with victories in France and Austria while Agostini had to withdraw with mechanical issues. His decision to leave the MV Agusta team after 10 years and 13 World Championships shocked the motorcycle racing community. Italian motorsports journalists treated his departure from MV Agusta as a treasonous act; however, he wanted to prove that he could win on a two-stroke as well as a four-stroke motorcycle. Agostini made his highly publicized debut with the Yamaha team at Daytona when he rode the newly introduced
Yamaha TZ750 to victory over a field of riders that included;
Kenny Roberts,
Gary Nixon and
Yvon Duhamel. His victory at the Daytona 200 helped to cement the event's reputation as one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world. One month later he defeated Roberts to win the
Imola 200 race in Italy. Agostini's first season with Yamaha in was marred by crashes and mechanical failures. He led the opening round in France only to retire with gearbox failure and then ran out of fuel while leading the Nations Grand Prix with two laps remaining. Although his motorcycle was only lightly damaged, Agostini sat out the second leg to the disappointment of spectators who had been anticipating his confrontation with Roberts. He then suffered two consecutive retirements in
Belgium and
Sweden, which allowed Read to close the points gap. Agostini won the penultimate round in
Finland, but Read still had a mathematical chance to win the title if he won the final race with Agostini placing no higher than eighth place. Read won the season ending
Czech Grand Prix; however, Agostini finished in second place to claim his fifteenth and final World Championship. . Agostini's victory on the Yamaha marked the first time that a two-stroke motorcycle had won the premier 500cc class. His string of seven consecutive 350cc World Championships came to an end in 1975 when he finished second to teenage prodigy
Johnny Cecotto who competed on Agostini's 1974 Yamaha TZ 350. In the wake of the
1973 oil crisis, sales of recreational vehicles decreased significantly forcing Yamaha to reduce their competition budget by withdrawing their road racing and
motocross teams after the 1975 season.
Team manager In
1982, Agostini returned to motorcycle racing as the
Marlboro Yamaha team manager. In this role, he won three 500cc titles with
Eddie Lawson and managed many successful riders including
Graeme Crosby and
Kenny Roberts. Under his management riders won the 1982 Daytona Formula 1 (Crosby), 1983 and 1984 Daytona Formula 1 (Roberts) and 1986 Daytona Superbike championships (Lawson). Between
1986 and
1990, he also managed the Marlboro Yamaha 250cc team with riders like
Luca Cadalora,
Martin Wimmer and
Àlex Crivillé. Since
1992, Agostini served as the
Cagiva factory racing team manager until
1994, when Cagiva withdrew from the world championship. Agostini's last season as team manager was
1995 when he managed a 250cc Honda team with
Doriano Romboni as rider. ==Motorcycle racing career overview==