Franco UnciniWorld Championship history continues to build at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in San Marino. On Thursday, the late Italian Marco Simoncelli’s #58 was retired from racing during a ceremony by his father Paolo and Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta.The tributes continued Friday when the 1982 500 World Champion, the Italian Franco Uncini, was inducted into the FIM MotoGP World Championship Hall of Fame. He was the final Italian to earn a 500cc title before Valentino Rossi completed the feat in 2001.
[Visit the Ultimate Motorcycling MotoGP Page]Uncini began Grand Prix motorcycle racing in the former 250cc class in 1976 with Yamaha, and went on to compete aboard a mix of Yamaha and Harley-Davidson machinery through 1978. During his 250/350 years, Uncini earned seven podiums.For 1979, he moved to the premier 500cc class with Suzuki, and earned the 1982 title. Earned is an understatement; Uncini took seven podiums that season, including five wins, and beat Graeme Crosby (Yamaha) by 27 points. That year the grid was full of talent, including American GP Champions Freddie Spencer and Kenny Roberts, and the Brit Barry Sheene.Franco Uncini on Suzuki 500During the 1983 Assen TT, Uncini was involved in a near-career-ending crash. While on the ground, then-500cc rookie Wayne Gardner’s Honda ran over Uncini’s head, which resulted in a coma. Uncini recovered and returned to racing for two more years, but retired after the 1985 500cc Championship (won by Freddie Spencer).Today, Uncini remains active in World Championship racing, and is the FIM Safety Officer for MotoGP.Unicini joins a long list of greats that have been made MotoGP™ Legends that includes Giacomo Agostini, Mick Doohan, Geoff Duke, Wayne Gardner, Mike Hailwood, Daijiro Kato, Eddie Lawson, Anton Mang, Angel Nieto, Wayne Rainey, Phil Read, Jim Redman, Kenny Roberts, Jarno Saarinen, Kevin Schwantz, Barry Sheene, Marco Simoncelli, Freddie Spencer, Casey Stoner, John Surtees, Carlo Ubbiali, Nicky Hayden and Alex Crivillé.Franco Uncini says “I am very happy. This is another time for me in which my dreams have come true. For this I have to thank IRTA, Dorna the FIM and all of you. For me this is an important moment and I’m very, very happy. Thank you so much.”Carmelo Ezpeleta says: “”This is a special day for us. To nominate someone as a MotoGP legend is always important, but today it’s also very important because of the the relationship we now have with Franco. Franco was a big hero in the 500 and 250 categories, but also in this new era working together, Franco has been a crucial part of the evolution of MotoGP.“We are very proud to give him this award, and it’s a big honor for us to have Franco as a MotoGP™ legend. Also personally for me, he is a big friend of mine and I am personally so happy to give this award to him. It’s a special day for MotoGP.”Franco Uncini and Carmelo Ezpeleta
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends, the weekly podcast brought to you by Ultimate Motorcycling. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
Motos and Friends is brought to you by Yamaha. You can check out the amazing YZF-R7 at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com. The YZF-R7 is an amazing supersport machine that is comfortable too!
In this week’s first segment, Editor Don Williams takes the smallest BMW ADV bike on an urban adventure in Los Angeles. The BMW G 310 GS is a full size motorcycle with a modest engine, so of course we wonder if it is a little too underpowered and might struggle. Don put it through its paces and gives us his take.
In the second segment, Neale Bayly and Kiran Ridley have returned from the Ukraine to Paris where Kiran is based.
Kiran is an award winning photojournalist, and as an accomplished documentarian, he has covered stories as diverse as drug smuggling around the Mexican border, to the devastation of the Australian Bush Fires, to the tragedy of the Mediterranean migration crisis. Neale and Kiran reminisce about their motorcycle adventure in the Ukraine, and their observations and experiences with the incredibly resilient people of Ukraine, who have been put through such brutal hardship.