Johnny Cecotto

Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youngest motorcycle road racing world champion at the age of 19. Despite the auspicious beginning to his motorcycle racing career, he suffered numerous injuries and mechanical problems which curtailed his success in motorcycle Grand Prix racing.

Motorcycle racing history Early career Cecotto was born in Caracas, Venezuela to Italian immigrant parents. His father was a motorcycle shop owner and former motorcycle racer who had won the Venezuelan national championship on a 500cc Norton. He would keep the helmet design through the remainder of his career. At the time, the Daytona 200 was considered one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world, attracting world champions such as Giacomo Agostini and Barry Sheene. He arrived at Daytona as an unknown rookie aboard an unmodified Yamaha TZ750 sponsored by Venemotos, Yamaha's Venezuelan importer. As Cecotto took his place on the starting grid, race officials noticed a puddle of fluid developing beneath his motorcycle.

Cecotto continued his impressive streak by scoring a double victory in the first world championship Grand Prix race of his career. He was competitive in the 250cc world championship with two victories however, a crash at the German Grand Prix and then engine problems for his motorcycle left him in fourth place in the final standings. The race turned into a battle between Cecotto and his Yamaha teammate, Kenny Roberts. Their grueling pace proved too much for their tires and on the 33rd of the 52 laps Roberts slowed with a worn rear tire. Afterwards, his shredded tires showed how close he was to suffering the same fate as Roberts.

Cecotto moved up to the premier 500cc class riding a year-old Yamaha YZR500 for a Yamaha-supported satellite team operated under the Venemotos team banner. He failed to score any further points after the French round and shortly after the Italian Grand Prix, he gave up on the 500cc class completely to concentrate on defending his 350cc title. He recovered from his injuries in time for the Swedish Grand Prix where he finished in second place, 2.9 seconds behind winner Barry Sheene. Cecotto then won two consecutive races with victories at the Finnish Grand Prix and the Czechoslovak Grand Prix where he also won the 350cc Grand Prix. He was more successful in the 1978 Formula 750 world championship, where despite four victories by Roberts, Cecotto was able to score three victories along with three second-place finishes to secure the championship.

Cecotto suffered a badly broken kneecap at the 1979 Austrian Grand Prix at the Salzburgring and missed half the season due to his injuries.

As a result of Roberts' success for the Yamaha team along with Cecotto's inconsistent performances, Yamaha withdrew their factory support for Cecotto after the 1979 season. Nevertheless, his performance garnered enough attention that he was offered a seat in Formula One. He had a promising start as he scored a sixth place in only his second race; however, the team suffered from lack of funding and he was forced to sit out the final two rounds. While qualifying for the British Grand Prix, he crashed heavily at Westfield, breaking both of his legs, which effectively ended his Formula One career. His sixth place at Long Beach stood as the best result for a Venezuelan driver until Pastor Maldonado's victory in the Spanish Grand Prix 29 years later.

Touring cars

After recovering from his injuries, Cecotto returned to competition in the flourishing Group A Touring Car category for the famed Schnitzer Motorsport BMW team, with his best finish being second at the 1985 Spa 24 Hours with Dieter Quester and Markus Oestreich. He then traveled to Australia where he finished second in the 1985 James Hardie 1000 at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, driving the BMW 635 CSi he drove at Spa, jointly winning the races "Rookie of the Year" award with his co-driver Roberto Ravaglia. During practice for the James Hardie, Cecotto professed surprise when told by former motorcycle racing rival Gregg Hansford, who was driving an Alfa Romeo GTV6 in the race, that they raced motorcycles at Mt Panorama as well as cars, claiming that he would think twice before racing a bike there (Hansford was at the time the 350cc motorcycle lap record holder for the 6.172 km (3.835 mi) circuit).

In 1986, Cecotto joined Belgian based factory backed RAS Sport Volvo team in the renamed (for 1986 only) FIA Touring Car Championship driving a turbocharged Volvo 240T. Usually co-driving with defending European Touring Car Champion Thomas Lindström, Cecotto finished eighth in the championship with two wins (Hockenheim and Zolder), two second and two third placings. He also drove a 240T to victory at the 1986 Guia Race held during the Macau Grand Prix, as well as winning the 1986 InterTEC 500 held at Fuji in Japan alongside Swedish driver and Volvo teammate Anders Olofsson.

After Volvo pulled out at the end of the 1986 season, Cecotto re-joined BMW and competed in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship driving a BMW M3 for the Italian CiBiEmme team alongside joint 1985 ETCC champion Gianfranco Brancatelli. The pair won the third round of the championship, the 500 km de Bourgogne at Dijon-Prenois, before being the first WTCC registered car to finish the first Australian round, the 1987 James Hardie 1000. Although Cecotto and Brancatelli only finished in seventh place at Bathurst, as the first registered car to finish they were awarded first place points. In 1989, he captured the Italian Touring Car Championship. Cecotto finished in eighth place with Brancatelli in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship with 158 points.

From 1988 to 1992, Cecotto competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM, German Touring Car Championship). Driving a Schnitzer Motorsport BMW M3, he finished as runner up in the 1990 season. He also participated in endurance racing, winning the 1990 24 Hours of Spa, the 1992 24 Hours of Nürburgring and the 1997 Mil Milhas Brasil. In 1994 and 1998, he won the German Super Tourenwagen Cup Championship for BMW. In 1995, he raced in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BMW. In 2001 and 2002, he switched to the Irmscher Opel Omega and won the German V8Star Series Championship two years running.

Later life Cecotto currently devotes most of his time to supporting the professional auto racing career of his sons, Johnny Cecotto Jr. and Jonathan Cecotto.

Racing record

Motorcycle Grand Prix results Source:

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results Source: (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 1987 CiBiEmme SportBMW Motorsport BMW M3 MNZ JARovr:8cls:6 DIJovr:1cls:1 NUR SPA BNOovr:5cls:3 SIL BATovr:7cls:3 CLDovr:4cls:2 WEL FJIovr:6cls:3 8th 158 Despite finishing 7th outright at Bathurst, as the highest placed registered WTCC car Cecotto was awarded 1st place points for the round.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results Source: (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete German GT Cup results Source: (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car12345678 Pos Pts 1993 BMW Team FINA Warsteiner BMW M3 GTR BER ZOL NÜR NÜRDNF SLZ AHL NÜR ZAN 1st 130

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results Source: (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete British Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pos Pts 1995 BMW Motorsport Team BMW 318i DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 OUL1 OUL2 BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 SIL KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 SNE1 SNE2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 12th 49

Complete Italian Superturismo Championship results

24 Hours of Le Mans results Source: Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1981 BMW Italie-France Team BMW Motorsport Philippe Alliot Bernard Darniche BMW M1 Gr.5 Gr.5 277 16th 5th 1996 Team Bigazzi Team BMW Motorsport Nelson Piquet Danny Sullivan McLaren F1 GTR GT1 324 8th 6th 1998 Team BMW Motorsport Pierluigi Martini Joachim Winkelhock BMW V12 LM LMP1 43 DNF DNF

Complete Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1985 / Goold Motorsport Roberto Ravaglia BMW 635 CSi C 163 2nd 2nd 1987 BMW Motorsport CiBiEmme Gianfranco Brancatelli BMW M3 2 154 7th 3rd 1992 Benson & Hedges Racing Tony Longhurst BMW M3 Evolution A 142 4th 4th