VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P33
LUCCHINELLI
HONORED
T
he growing list of MotoGP Legends gained
another name at Mugello, June 4, where 1981
World Champion Marco Lucchinelli was inducted
into the Hall of Fame.
In 1981, the Italian defeated fellow Suzuki rider
Randy Mamola by 11 points, with defending triple
champion Kenny Roberts third. Six times a 500cc
GP winner and part-time rock star, "Lucky" also
rode for Honda and Cagiva, and then for Ducati in
World Superbikes.
He was arrested and served time for a cocaine offense, but
after fighting drug addiction emerged as a reformed character
and occasional TV commentator.
Michael Scott
Marco Lucchinelli, the 1981 Road
Race World Champion, was inducted
into the Hall of Fame during last
weekend's MotoGP at Mugello.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
MOTOGP REMEMBERS NICKY HAYDEN
T
he Mugello MotoGP weekend was replete with memories of Nicky Hayden, and tributes to the late
World Champion, including a minute (actually 69 seconds) of silence after morning warm-up, and a
display of four of his racing bikes in the paddock. The bikes ranged from the factory Honda RC211V on
which he beat Rossi to the title in 2006 to the Honda CBR1000RR Superbike he was racing this year.
In between, one of his Ducati Desmosedicis, and an Aspar production MotoGP RCV213-RS.
Teams and riders also paid tribute. The Ducatis all carried his trademark number 69 below the seat.
In the Repsol Honda pit, staff wore black sleeve ribbons, and the EG-VDS bikes used black rather than
colored numbers. Andrea Iannone carried the number 69 on his helmet—among a large number of dif-
ferent references.
Valentino Rossi's helmet paid tribute to retired footballer Francesco Totti and the late Simoncelli's
number 58, and Rossi had combined his number 46 with Hayden's 69, resulting in a bi-color "469."
Michael Scott
MotoGP's tribute to
the Kentucky Kid was
touching indeed.
