VOLUME 58 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 17, 2021 P129
many. Dad thought nothing of it
when the boys took up go-kart
racing; it was just another pass-
ing phase. Then Franco began
to play around on two wheels.
At first it was a 50cc scooter, at
age 14. Then, a year later, it was
a 125. And by the time he had his
license, it was a 750cc Laverda,
and Franco announced to the
family he was going to race.
In bringing up their boys, En-
nio and Antonia Uncini allowed
them to pursue their wishes, but
this was too much. Like any good
parents, they protested, threat-
ened, and even bribed Franco in
an effort to change his mind, but
when they realized he would not
be deterred, the family backed
him both emotionally and finan-
cially.
As it turned out, Franco was
a natural on a motorcycle. At 19,
he dazzled everyone with his
performance on a Laverda SFC
in Italian Production racing. After
his first full season of racing,
in 1975, Ducati offered Uncini
a factory ride. A year later, in
addition to his domestic racing
duties, Uncini began to dabble in
the Grand Prix. In 1976, riding a
private Yamaha, he raced three
times and scored two podium
finishes in the 350cc class. So
promising were his performances
on the world stage that he fielded
not one, but two factory offers for
the 1977 season: One was with
the Aermachi Harley-Davidson
team, to be junior teammate to
Italian racing hero Walter Villa;
the other and considerably more
prestigious offer was to be part
of Roberto Gallina's Suzuki
quasi-factory squad in the 500cc
class. Surprisingly, Uncini chose
the Harley offer, perhaps rec-
ognizing that he needed more
seasoning before moving to the
premier class.
Franco did well on the Harley,
especially the 250, on which
he won at Imola and Brno and
finished second in the world
standings. Yet despite his grow-
ing achievements, Uncini had
become unpopular in Italy. His
350 seized at the Salzburgring in
Austria, and he went down while
running at the front of the pack,
starting a massive pileup that,
largely due to incompetent cor-
ner marshalling, led to the death
of Hans Stadelmann. Fans didn't
remember the fact that Uncini's
bike had seized, only that he
was the rider who'd crashed and
started the tragic chain reaction.
Then, at the end of the 250
season, in the Czech GP, Uncini
was asked at the last minute
to let his teammate Villa finish
ahead of him. Villa was coming
to the end of his career, and
the team thought it would be a
gracious gesture to allow him to
go out on top. Uncini didn't quite
see it that way. He figured that
Villa did not have a mathematical
chance at winning the champion-
ship, so he saw no reason to let
the veteran win. After a hard-
ANONYMOUS CHAMPION
