I started to race not very, very, young like today as I didn’t have the permission of my father to do so. I had to wait until I was eighteen and a half years old, mainly because my family was not involved in the motorcycle trade or racing. When I ask my father if I could race he said, “You’re crazy, I don’t want to sign any permission for you to race. I don’t want to sign the death of my son.” One day I was very lucky, we went to the lawyer who was a very good friend of our family. The lawyer looked at me and thought I looked unhappy and disappointed about something and asked why this was. I said, “I want to race motorcycles, but my father won’t let me.” Thankfully, the lawyer convinced my father to allow me to race, although he thought I would be racing with sidecars not ordinary motorcycles.
Giacomo Agostini Photo: Pete Austin
With some backing from a local motor-cycle company owned by Count Alfonso Morini, I was able to race; fortunately I was good and finished in 2nd place in my first race. Many people asked, “Who is this new boy?” After three races I won my first race. The regular rider, Tarquinio Provini, left Morini to ride for Benelli and I was given permission to race factory bikes instead of customer bikes. I was also offered a salary, which made me a professional racer. From there I was able to go on and win many championships all over the world. I was very happy because it was always my dream to race. I’m best remembered for racing for the MV Augusta team, I spent nine years with them and won 13 World Championships with them. It was a very friendly team, and just like one big family, I called it my second family.
