Franco Uncini

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Franco Uncini
Franco Uncini
Nationality	Italian

Grand Prix motorcycle racing career
Active years	1976 - 1985
Teams	Suzuki
Grands Prix	79
Championships	500cc - 1982
Wins	7
Podium finishes	21
Career points	446
Pole positions	8
Fastest laps	3
First Grand Prix	1976 350cc Nations Grand Prix
First win	1977 250cc Nations Grand Prix
Last win	1982 500cc British Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	1985 500cc San Marino Grand Prix

Franco Uncini (born March 9, 1955) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion.

[edit] Career

Uncini was born at Recanati, province of Macerata.

He made his debut as professional motorcycle road racer in the 750cc class with Laverda, moving later to Ducati, with whom he earned various titles as Italian champion. His first year in the Grand Prix World Championship was with Yamaha in 1976, in both the 250cc and the 350cc classes. The following year he continued to race in both classes, this time with the Harley-Davidson team, winning two Grands Prix in 250cc (Grand Prix of Nations and Czechoslovakia) and finishing second in championship behind Mario Lega. However, his quarrelsome relantionship with teammate Walter Villa forced him to move back to Yamaha.

After some disappointing years with a privateer Yamaha team, in 1979 he bought a Suzuki and launched a private team of his own in the 500cc class. He was the top-ranking privateer both in 1979 and 1980, with 5th and 4th place finishes. Accidents hindered his 1981 season, but after Marco Lucchinelli left Suzuki to join Honda, Suzuki offered Uncini an official factory-sponsored race bike run by Roberto Gallina's team. Finally, with a competitive vehicle, Uncini won the World Championship in 1982, scoring five victories (GPs of Austria, Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Great Britain and GP of Nations). He was the last Italian rider to win the 500cc crown until Valentino Rossi won in 2001.

In 1983, he was severely injured at Assen when he fell off his bike and was struck in the head by competitor Wayne Gardner's bike. He went into a coma but, eventually recovered. He retired from motorcycle competition after the 1985 season.

Today, Uncini acts as Rider's Safety Representative in MotoGP.

[edit] Grand Prix career statistics ^[1]

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
1976	250cc	Yamaha TZ250	2	0	0	0	0	6	21st
1976	350cc	Yamaha TZ350	3	0	2	0	0	27	9th
1977	250cc	Harley-Davidson	7	2	4	3	2	72	2nd
1977	350cc	-	2	0	0	0	0	11	20th
1978	250cc	Yamaha TZ250	5	0	3	1	0	42	8th
1978	350cc	Yamaha TZ350	3	0	1	3	0	19	12th
1979	500cc	Suzuki RGB500	8	0	1	0	0	51	5th
1980	500cc	Suzuki RGB500	7	0	3	0	0	50	4th
1981	500cc	Suzuki RGB500	7	0	0	0	0	12	13th
1982	500cc	Suzuki RGB500	8	5	7	1	1	103	1st
1983	500cc	Suzuki RGB500	8	0	0	0	0	31	9th
1984	500cc	Suzuki RGB500	8	0	0	0	0	14	14th
1985	250cc	Suzuki RGB500	1	0	0	0	0	8	15th
Total			79	7	21	8	3	446