Tarquinio Provini

Tarquinio Provini (29 May 1933 – 6 January 2005) was an Italian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was a two-time world champion in road racing. Provini was also a four-time Isle of Man TT winner and won 13 Italian national championships.

Motorcycling career Provini was born in Roveleto di Cadeo, Emilia-Romagna, the son of a garage owner, and grew up around engines and machinery. He began riding motorcycles at the age of ten. He began racing in 1949 despite being too young by using his uncle's name on his racing license. In 1954, he won the Motogiro of Italy. He moved up to the Grand Prix competition in the middle of the 1954 season and won the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of the year. He won the 1957 FIM 125cc World Championship riding for the Italian Mondial factory. In 1958, he won the 250cc World Championship for MV Agusta.

When MV Agusta quit racing in the smaller classes, Provini signed to race for the Moto Morini factory. In 1963 he waged a season-long battle with Honda's Jim Redman for the 250 world championship. Each rider won four races and the title wasn't decided until the final race in Japan, with Redman winning the championship over Provini by two points. In 1966, he suffered a serious crash at the Isle of Man TT that broke his back, forcing his retirement. Provini redirected his energies and co-founded the company which specialized in making scale racing bike models outside Bologna. He died in Bologna in 2005.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Points Rank Wins 1954 125cc Mondial IOM- ULS- NED- GER- NAT2 ESP1 14 4th 1 1955 125cc Mondial ESP- FRA4 IOMNC GER- NED- NAT- 3 9th 0 1956 125cc Mondial IOM- NED- BEL- GER3 ULS- NAT2 10 4th 0 1957 125cc Mondial GER2 IOM1 NED1 BEL1 ULS2 NAT- 30 1st 3 250cc Mondial GER- IOMNC NED1 BEL- ULS- NAT1 16 2nd 2 1958 125cc MV Agusta IOMNC NED3 BEL3 GER2 SWE4 ULS- NAT- 17 4th 0 250cc MV Agusta IOM1 NED1 BEL- GER1 SWE- ULS1 NAT- 32 1st 4 1959 125cc MV Agusta IOM1 GER2 NED- BEL2 SWE1 ULS- NAT5 28 2nd 2 250cc MV Agusta IOM1 GER- NED1 BEL- SWE- ULS- NAT- 16 2nd 2 1960 250cc Moto Morini IOM3 NED- BEL- GER- ULS- NAT- 4 9th 0 1961 250cc Moto Morini ESP- GER3 FRA4 IOM- NED- BEL- DDR- ULS- NAT4 SWE- ARG- 10 6th 0 1962 250cc Moto Morini ESP- FRA- IOM- NED3 BEL- GER- ULS- DDR- NAT2 ARG- 10 5th 0 1963 250cc Moto Morini ESP1 GER1 IOM- NED3 BEL3 ULS2 DDR- NAT1 ARG1 JPN4 42 2nd 4 1964 50cc Kreidler USA- ESP- FRA6 IOM8 NED- BEL- GER- FIN- JPN- 1 13th 0 250cc Benelli USA- ESP1 FRA- IOMNC NED4 BEL5 GER5 DDR- ULS- NAT- JPN- 15 5th 11965 250cc Benelli USA- GER- ESP- FRA- IOM4 NED- BEL- DDR- CZE- ULS- FIN- NAT1 JPN- 11 7th 1 350cc Benelli GER- IOMNC NED- DDR- CZE- ULS- FIN- NAT3 JPN- 4 13th 0 1966 350cc Benelli GER2 FRA- NED- DDR- CZE- FIN- ULS- IOM- NAT- JPN- 6 11th 0