The Yamaha YZR500 was a 500 cc Grand Prix racing motorcycle made by Yamaha from 1973 through 2002. It achieved significant acclaim, especially during the 1980s and 1990s.
20-469: The YZR500 was ridden by championship winners Giacomo Agostini ( 1975 ), Kenny Roberts ( 1978 , 1979 , 1980 ), Eddie Lawson ( 1984 , 1986 , 1988 ) and Wayne Rainey ( 1990 , 1991 , 1992 ). Phillip McCallen won the Macau Grand Prix in 1996. Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒaːkomo aɡoˈstiːni] ; born 16 June 1942)
40-510: A season-long battle with Honda 's Jim Redman for the 1965 350cc world championship. He seemed to have the title won when he led the final round in Japan at Suzuka when his bike failed him, handing the title to Redman. At the end of the 1965 season, Hailwood left to join Honda as he had tired of working for the difficult Count Agusta. With Agostini now the top MV Agusta rider, he responded by winning
60-472: Is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer . Nicknamed Ago , he amassed 122 Grand Prix wins and 15 World Championship titles. Of these, 68 wins and 8 titles came in the 500 cc class, the rest in the 350 cc class. For these achievements obtained over the course of a career spanning 17 years, the AMA described him as "...perhaps the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time". In 2000, Agostini
80-606: The 1977 season in which he also raced in 750cc endurance races for Yamaha. Like Jean-Pierre Beltoise , John Surtees and Mike Hailwood before him, Agostini raced in Formula One cars. He competed in non-championship Formula One races in 1978. He competed in the European Formula 2 series in a Chevron B42- BMW and British Aurora Formula 1 with his own team and a Williams FW06 . He ended his auto racing career in 1980. In 1982 , Agostini returned to motorcycle racing as
100-3809: The Cagiva factory racing team manager until 1994 , when Cagiva withdrew from the world championship. Agostini's last season as team manager was 1995 when he managed a 250cc Honda team with Doriano Romboni as rider. Source: Points system from 1964 to 1968: Points system from 1969 onwards: ( key ) 1949 L. Graham 1950 U. Masetti 1951 G. Duke 1952 U. Masetti 1953 G. Duke 1954 G. Duke 1955 G. Duke 1956 J. Surtees 1957 L. Liberati 1958 J. Surtees 1959 J. Surtees 1960 J. Surtees 1961 G. Hocking 1962 M. Hailwood 1963 M. Hailwood 1964 M. Hailwood 1965 M. Hailwood 1966 G. Agostini 1967 G. Agostini 1968 G. Agostini 1969 G. Agostini 1970 G. Agostini 1971 G. Agostini 1972 G. Agostini 1973 P. Read 1974 P. Read 1975 G. Agostini 1976 B. Sheene 1977 B. Sheene 1978 K. Roberts 1979 K. Roberts 1980 K. Roberts 1981 M. Lucchinelli 1982 F. Uncini 1983 F. Spencer 1984 E. Lawson 1985 F. Spencer 1986 E. Lawson 1987 W. Gardner 1988 E. Lawson 1989 E. Lawson 1990 W. Rainey 1991 W. Rainey 1992 W. Rainey 1993 K. Schwantz 1994 M. Doohan 1995 M. Doohan 1996 M. Doohan 1997 M. Doohan 1998 M. Doohan 1999 À. Crivillé 2000 K. Roberts Jr. 2001 V. Rossi 2002 V. Rossi 2003 V. Rossi 2004 V. Rossi 2005 V. Rossi 2006 N. Hayden 2007 C. Stoner 2008 V. Rossi 2009 V. Rossi 2010 J. Lorenzo 2011 C. Stoner 2012 J. Lorenzo 2013 M. Márquez 2014 M. Márquez 2015 J. Lorenzo 2016 M. Márquez 2017 M. Márquez 2018 M. Márquez 2019 M. Márquez 2020 J. Mir 2021 F. Quartararo 2022 F. Bagnaia 2023 F. Bagnaia 2024 J. Martín 1949 F. Frith 1950 B. Foster 1951 G. Duke 1952 G. Duke 1953 F. Anderson 1954 F. Anderson 1955 B. Lomas 1956 B. Lomas 1957 K. Campbell 1958 J. Surtees 1959 J. Surtees 1960 J. Surtees 1961 G. Hocking 1962 J. Redman 1963 J. Redman 1964 J. Redman 1965 J. Redman 1966 M. Hailwood 1967 M. Hailwood 1968 G. Agostini 1969 G. Agostini 1970 G. Agostini 1971 G. Agostini 1972 G. Agostini 1973 G. Agostini 1974 G. Agostini 1975 J. Cecotto 1976 W. Villa 1977 T. Katayama 1978 K. Ballington 1979 K. Ballington 1980 J. Ekerold 1981 A. Mang 1982 A. Mang Giacomo Agostini , Hideo Kanaya , Kenny Roberts , Eddie Lawson , Wayne Rainey , John Kocinski , Luca Cadalora , Norifumi Abe , Max Biaggi , Valentino Rossi , Jorge Lorenzo , Ben Spies , Maverick Viñales , Fabio Quartararo 1967 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1967 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
120-568: The Isle of Man , forming a dislike of Agostini. However in his defence Agostini always maintained that his sentiment reflected riders being contractually required to race at the Isle of Man as part of a World Championship campaign, as opposed to having the freedom of conscience governing their decision. In time most fans came to accept the conclusions taken in 1972 and for many years Agostini, along with many other former competitors, have been frequent guests at
140-677: The Marlboro Yamaha team manager. In this role he won three 500cc titles with Eddie Lawson and managed many successful riders including Graeme Crosby and Kenny Roberts . Under his management riders won the 1982 Daytona Formula 1 (Crosby), 1983 and 1984 Daytona Formula 1 (Roberts) and 1986 Daytona Superbike championships (Lawson). Between 1986 and 1990 he also managed the Marlboro Yamaha 250cc team with riders like Luca Cadalora , Martin Wimmer and Àlex Crivillé . Since 1992 , he served as
160-405: The 125 cc class with Bill Ivy finishing ahead of teammate Phil Read . In the 250 cc class, Read would battle Hailwood mightily for the title. They both finished the season with 50 points but Hailwood took the title because he had five wins to Read's four. In the 350 cc class, Hailwood had an easier time, taking six wins and claiming the crown by mid-season. The 500 title fight would be one for
180-631: The 1963 Italian 175cc championship aboard a Morini . He got his break when Morini factory rider Tarquinio Provini left the team to ride for Benelli . Count Alfonso Morini hired the young Agostini to ride for him. In 1964 , Agostini would win the Italian 350cc title and proved his ability by finishing fourth in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza . These results caught the eye of Count Domenico Agusta , who signed Agostini to ride for his MV Agusta squad as Mike Hailwood 's teammate. Agostini then fought
200-513: The 500cc title seven years in succession for the Italian factory. He would also win the 350cc title seven times in succession and won 10 Isle of Man TTs . At the time, the Isle of Man TT and the Ulster Grand Prixs were regularly won by Anglophonic (mostly British) riders; in addition to Agostini's successes at the TT he also won 7 Ulster Grand Prix races- he was the only non-British rider to achieve
220-417: The Isle of Man TT, after the death of his close friend, Gilberto Parlotti during the 1972 TT . He considered the 37.73 mile circuit unsafe for world championship competition. At the time, the TT was the most prestigious race on the motorcycling calendar. This decision had far reaching consequences for the TT and would lead to a walk-out of the top Grand Prix stars many of whom resorted to severe criticism of
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#1732879843851240-535: The Japanese factory, he won the Daytona 200 , helping to cement the race's reputation as one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world. He went on to claim the 1974 350cc World Championship but injuries and mechanical problems kept him from winning the 500cc crown. He rebounded and won the 1975 500cc title, marking the first time a two-stroke machine won the premier class. The 1975 championship would also be
260-578: The TT Races where they ride on exhibition and parade laps, one of the most memorable instances occurring on 8 June 2009, when Agostinin accompanied Valentino Rossi around the famous Snaefell Mountain Course in an exhibition lap in what was called 'The Lap of the Gods'. Agostini surprised the racing world when he announced that he would leave MV Agusta to ride for Yamaha for the 1974 season . On his first outing for
280-452: The ages with Agostini and Hailwood swapping wins back and forth including a legendary duel at the Isle of Man TT . The chase went down to the last race in Canada. Hailwood won there to tie Agostini on points. Each rider had five wins so it came down to second places — Agostini taking the title with three seconds to Hailwood's two. With Honda's pullout, Hailwood left motorcycle racing to take up
300-406: The decision to withdraw its racing program from competition. Nevertheless, Honda would go out with a bang, with Mike Hailwood taking the 250 cc and 350 cc crowns and coming within a whisker of dethroning Giacomo Agostini for the 500 cc title. Honda decided to concentrate on the larger classes leaving Suzuki to dominate the 50 cc class with Anscheidt again the champion. The improved Yamahas took
320-479: The last world title for the 33-year-old Italian. In 1976 , he rode both Yamaha and MV bikes in the 500cc class, yet raced only once in the 350cc to win in Assen. For the challenging Nürburgring , he chose the 500cc MV Agusta and took it to victory, winning the last Grand Prix for both himself, the marque and the last for four-stroke engines in the 500cc class. He retired from motorcycle competition after finishing 6th in
340-615: The organisation and safety at the event, with people such as Phil Read in the vanguard of the critics. In certain aspects the comments were justified and resulted in the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme taking the decision that the Isle of Man TT would be withdrawn from the World Championship calendar after the 1976 races. However the decision did cause a high degree of dissatisfaction with many pure road racing fans and resulted in some, not least those on
360-549: The same kind of success in these British motorcycle races- which were 2 of the most difficult motorcycle races in the world at the time. In 1967 he battled Hailwood in one of the most dramatic seasons in Grand Prix history. Each rider had 5 victories before the championship was decided in Agostini's favor at the last race of the season. Agostini dropped a bombshell on the Grand Prix world when he announced he would never again race at
380-708: Was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as a MotoGP Legend, while in 2010, he was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements. Agostini was born in Brescia , Lombardy . His family was from Lovere , where his father was employed in the local town council. The oldest of four brothers, Agostini initially had to steal away to compete, first in hill climb events and then in road racing , as his father did not approve of his son's motorcycle racing career and did everything he could to persuade him not to race. Eventually his father came to terms with his racing and Agostini won
400-467: Was the 19th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of thirteen Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 30 April, with the Spanish Grand Prix , and ended with Japanese Grand Prix on 15 October. 1967 marked a seminal year in motorcycle Grand Prix history as well as the end of an era, with Honda making
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