CN
III ARCHIVES
BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU
M
agnificent as was Valen-
tino Rossi's heroic vic-
tory aboard the factory Yamaha
YZF-M1 at the 2004 MotoGP
season-opening Grand Prix of
Malaysia, it didn't represent the
first time that a man recognized
as the sport's absolute best had
elected to abandon the safety
of a team that provided a stable
foundation for his success and
travel into uncharted territory with
a different brand. On March 10,
1974, 13-time (later 15-time) World
Road Racing Champion Gia-
P100
TIE GOES TO
THE PIONEER
new deal with Yamaha.
Still every ounce worth his
salt but not getting any younger,
Agostini's first test would perhaps
be his biggest, as the factory en-
tered him in the Daytona 200 (the
race was to be shortened to 180
miles due to the U.S. gas crunch)
aboard a motorcycle with far
fewer combat miles under its belt
than Rossi's M1, Yamaha's inline
four-cylinder TZ700 two-stroke.
Much of the R&D for the new
machine had been carried out
by American Yamaha race team
como Agostini came to Daytona
Beach, Florida, in an even more
dire circumstance.
Following a season in which
Agostini had repeated as 350cc
World Champion but seen his
seven-year reign as 500cc World
Champion halted by his MV
Agusta teammate, Phil Read—
arguably the most disliked man
ever to set foot in a GP paddock—
Agostini made the shocking deci-
sion to leave the Italian factory and
its blood-red four-stroke thorough-
bred racers behind in favor of a
In 1974, Giacomo
Agostini made a bold
decision to leave MV
Agusta for Yamaha and
won his first race—the
Daytona 200—aboard
the unproven machine.
