Angelo Bergamonti

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Bergamonti's 350 cc MV Agusta of the 1970 season
500 cc Paton with two-cylinder four-stroke engine

Angelo Bergamonti (born March 18, 1939 in Gussola (CR) , Italy , † April 4, 1971 in Bologna ) was an Italian motorcycle racer .

Bergamonti, known as "Berga", was known for his daring, courageous driving style and was extremely difficult to come to terms with defeat. He was therefore often compared to Ray Amm , who was said to have the same virtues and who died in a similarly tragic way.

Career

Angelo Bergamonti began racing motorcycle races in the second half of the 1950s. In 1965, he won on a 175- cc - Moto Morini , the Italian Junior Championship and the title in the National Hill Climb Championship, which he successfully defended the following year.

In 1967 Bergamonti became Italian road motorcycle champion in both the 250 and 500 classes. He drove the 250 cc title on a single cylinder -Morini and is so far the last Italian champion in the history of the manufacturer of Casalecchio di Reno , the 500 title he won on the two-cylinder - four stroke - Paton . In the same year the Italian made his debut on Paton with third place in the 500 cc race for the Grand Prix of Nations in Monza in the motorcycle world championship . Bergamonti seemed as him in 1967 a serious accident at the end of the season on the way to a successful international career Montjuïc circuit in Spanish Barcelona , from which he recovered only slowly stopped.

At the Spanish Grand Prix in 1969 in Jarama Bergamonti succeeded on the Paton place behind Giacomo Agostini , 1970, he was on a single-cylinder two-stroke - Aermacchi Italian 125cc champion. These achievements finally prompted MV Agusta , the dominant manufacturer of the time, to sign him as number two behind Agostini from the 1970 Nations Grand Prix . Bergamonti thanked them with second place in both the 350 and 500 races at this and the two following events of the Italian championship in Imola and Ospedaletti . At the last round of the season of the World Cup, the Spanish Grand Prix in Montjuïc, he achieved his only two Grand Prix victories in the two highest displacement categories, each with new lap records, with Agostini abstaining. The Northern Italian finished the overall World Championship ranking in the 500cc class as third behind Agostini and New Zealander Ginger Molloy . During this time, Angelo Bergamonti also developed personally and learned to accept second places.

Bergamonti started the 1971 season with two wins in the Italian championship. He won the 350cc race in Modena and the 500cc race in Rimini , beating his teammate Giacomo Agostini in each case.

Deadly accident

Angelo Bergamonti

Angelo Bergamonti had a serious accident on April 4, 1971 during the run of the Italian 350 cm³ championship in Riccione , which took place on the Circuito Internationale Perla Verde Dell'Adriatico , a course consisting of closed public roads, in heavy rain. The races had originally been planned for the previous weekend, but since it had been pouring rain, the event was postponed to the first weekend in April.

On April 4th the weather conditions seemed better, but during the day it started to rain again. The races started anyway. Bergamonti got off to a bad start in the 350cc race and was overtaken by a number of competitors. After a few laps he had fought his way back to second position and was just about to catch up on the leading Giacomo Agostini. The route included the Lungomare , a straight line along the Adriatic coast that was separated from the sidewalk by a small wall . On the seventh lap, Angelo Bergamonti fell in a puddle in the roundabout in front of the start-finish straight , slid about 200  m and then hit this poorly secured wall with his head. His helmet broke and the Italian suffered severe traumatic brain injury and several broken arms and legs . That same evening, shortly before midnight , Angelo Bergamonti died of these injuries in Bellaria Hospital in Bologna .

The race director Bruno Ronci had to answer for negligent homicide . In fact, experts came to the conclusion that the race should have been stopped because of the bad weather conditions. Angelo Bergamonti left behind his pregnant wife and two daughters. His death led to the ban on all motorcycle races on temporary street courses in Italy . Alberto Pagani became his successor in the MV factory team .

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personal data
SURNAME Bergamonti, Angelo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Gussola
DATE OF DEATH April 4th 1971
Place of death Bologna