Giacomo Agostini, also known by the nicknames of Ago and Mino (Brescia, June 16, 1942), is an Italian motorcycle rider, winner of 15 world championships. He is the most successful driver in the history of the world championship.


From a young age, Giacomo went against the will of the family by choosing to become a motorcyclist in spite of his father who wanted him to be an accountant.

In doing so, he began the career of the greatest driver that history has ever known.

It is sufficient to observe the numbers, to understand the caliber of this real motorcycle legend: 15 titles won between 350cc and 500cc, 122 grand prizes won, 18 times Italian champion.

Giacomo felt a passion for the two-wheeled world from a very young age, starting to ride a Bianchi Aquilotto moped.

At 18, the turning point, he received the Morini 175 Settebello, 4-stroke capable of reaching top speeds around 160 km / h.

In 1963 Agostini ended his second-class driver activity with the official Morini 175, winning the Italian mountain championship, with eight wins and two second places, and the Italian junior speed championship (also for the 175 class), winning all the scheduled races. But 1963 was to give him greater satisfaction.

Without absolutely imagining it, Giacomo Agostini is called by Alfonso Morini to act as a shoulder to Tarquinio Provini even in the Grand Prix of Nations in Monza, on September 13th, the third-last test of that world championship that the single-cylinder Morini 250 seemed to have won against the squadron Honda driven by Rhodesian Jim Redman.

Morini proved to be super competitive in Italy but not able to stand comparison with the Japanese, so "Ago" leaves the Bolognese brand to go to Cascina Costa and sign for the MV.

The debut is happy, because already in the first race of the season on the Modena track he wins: in the end he wins all the tests of the Italian championship.

The races in the world are, however, quite different and Ago must be content to remain in the wake of Mike Hailwod, who will pass to Honda at the end of the season.

In 1966 Agostini found himself competing in the world championship against his former teammate: he won two world tests in the 350 cc. against six of the English champion who therefore wins the title. At that point, Ago's desire for revenge is immense. Passed to the 500, he won his first title, starting the legend, then extended to the same 350 class.

Agostini dominates the two queen classes unchallenged until 1972, the year of the arrival on the world stage of Saarinen and Yamaha. But it is not over, Renzo Pasolini was climbing the ladder of value and riding the Aermacchi - Harley Davidson 350 cc. tries to compete on par with Agostini, who in the meantime opts for the four-cylinder Cascina Costa.

It is May 20, 1973 when Renzo Pasolini and Jarno Saarinen die in Monza, throwing the entire motorcycle world in dismay.

Agostini regained the title in the sad 350, while Read improved in the 500. The following year Ago moved from MV to Yamaha, famous for its two-stroke engine.

In 1975 a young Venezuelan named Jonny Cecotto arrives in the world motorcycling circus and wins the world title in the 350.

In the 500, after memorable battles with Read, Giacomo Agostini managed to conquer his 15th and last world title at the age of 33, ending his career, as a true legend.