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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE D uring the 1970s, the Imola 200 became one of the biggest road races in the world, matching, and in some cases surpassing, the Daytona 200 in terms of factory participation. In its heyday, the Imola 200 attracted 140,000 fanati- cal spectators and drew nearly every top road racer of the era. The race had a colorful history with all the American riders who participated coming home with stories of rabid Italian fans, trigger-happy police, big-time paydays and welcoming locals. The Daytona 200 reached its zenith of worldwide popularity in the early-1970s when international riders and factory and semi-factory entrants from numerous countries packed the huge field. Airliners were chartered bringing over hordes of European fans, journal- ists and photographers to watch their heroes taking on America's best while railing around the fa- mous high banks. As a bonus the Euros got a little late-winter Florida sunshine in the process. Francesco "Checco" Costa, the dean of Italian race organiz- ers, saw an opportunity in the Daytona phenomenon. He came up with the brilliant plan of bringing together the top riders from the Grand Prix, European, American and Italian championships to race together in the Imola 200. Inaugu- rated in 1972, the Imola 200 was billed as Europe's Daytona. Imola is a classic European circuit situated not far from the Adriatic Coast. Its three-mile-plus length featured elevation changes, tight to ultra-fast turns and the Mistral Straight—nearly a half-mile long where, like at Daytona, draft- ing games were played out at 180 miles per hour. Attracted by generous start money and race purse, the Imola 200 kicked off with a bang in 1972 with an impressive racing lineup, which read like a who's who of racing at that time. Italy's hero Giacomo Agostini on the fac- tory MV Agusta and his leading countrymen Walter Villa (Triumph) and Bruno Spaggiari (Ducati), along with top Brits such as John Cooper, on the factory BSA, Paul Smart, teammate to Spaggiari on the works Ducati, Phil Read and Peter Williams on the John Player Nortons, Helmut Dahne, on a factory BMW, and America's sole entrant Daytona 200 winner Don Emde, who rode a borrowed Nor- ton after his Yamaha two-stroke was banned from the race. There were also factory entrants from Moto-Guzzi and Laverda, as well as support teams from Honda and Kawasaki. Ducati took its big home race as an opportunity to get back into rac- ing after several years' absence. The Italian company came loaded with specially built 750 SS ma- chines for Spaggiari and Smart. In the race, Agostini broke away early, but his MV didn't last and it was Smart and his veteran Italian teammate Spaggiari battling for the lead the rest of the way. In the end, it was Smart taking the win ahead of Spaggiari. Walter Villa was third on a Triumph. The 70,000 fans turned into a happy mob thrilled to see Ducati back with such suc- cess. "They put our bikes in this big glass-sided truck and us on the THE IMOLA 200: EUROPE'S DAYTONA P110 Racers head out for the start of the Imola 200 in 1982. The last Imola 200 would be held just three years later.