Loris Reggiani

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Loris Reggiani at the 1992 Japanese Grand Prix on Aprilia

Loris Reggiani (born October 7, 1959 in Forlì , Emilia-Romagna , Italy ) is a former Italian motorcycle racer .

Career

After several successful years in amateur racing, Loris Reggiani made his debut at the 1980 Grand Prix of Nations on a Bimota in the 350 cc class in the motorcycle world championship . In the same season he celebrated his first Grand Prix victory at the Grand Prix of Great Britain with Minarelli in the 125 cc class, in the overall classification of this displacement category he finished sixth at the end of the season.

In the 1981 season Reggiani won the 125 cc races in Yugoslavia and San Marino on Minarelli and was runner-up behind the Spaniard Ángel Nieto , who won the World Championships by superiority. He also won the title in the 125cc category of the Italian championship .

In 1982 and 1983 Loris Reggiani started on Suzuki in the 500 cc World Championship. However, he was not very successful, third place at the 1983 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring is his best result in these two years. In the 1984 season , Reggiani took part in the 250cc World Cup on a Kawasaki , but only came 22nd overall.

For the 1985 season, Loris Reggiani then moved to Aprilia , who made their debut this year in the 250 cc class. For the time being, the Italian manufacturer still used self-made chassis with Rotax engines. In Yugoslavia and San Marino, he was able to celebrate his best results of the season with third places and finished in a strong sixth place in the final standings. In the following year he could only compete in six races due to an injury.

In the 1987 season , Reggiani then ensured Aprilia's first ever Grand Prix victory with his victory at the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano and at the same time the first success of an Italian in a 250cc race since Graziano Rossi in 1979 . With four more podium places, Reggiani finally finished sixth again.

After a disappointing 13th place in the World Championship in 1988 , Loris Reggiani competed in the 1989 season in the 250 cc class on a Honda , but returned to Aprilia after eleventh overall place, which meanwhile also developed and built their own engines.

In the following years, as a works driver, he played a key role in the development of the Aprilia RSV250 , which later became the most successful 250 cc racing motorcycle of the 1990s. Reggiani won six 250cc Grand Prix between 1991 and 1993 and was runner-up behind his compatriot Luca Cadalora in 1992 . The fruits of his hard work were then reaped by Max Biaggi , Loris Capirossi and Valentino Rossi , who between 1994 and 1999 brought the manufacturer from Noale a total of six drivers' world championship titles.

For the 1994 season Loris Reggiani rose with Aprilia in the 500 cc class. The Italians had developed a completely new, very light and agile V2 machine with a displacement of only 400 cc, with which they wanted to try to beat the Japanese competition and their four-cylinder motorcycles. However, it soon became apparent that the Aprilia's performance disadvantage compared to the 500 cm³ machines was too great and the motorcycle was therefore not competitive. After finishing tenth in the World Championship, Loris Reggiani finally ended his active career at the end of the 1995 season .

In his 158 starts in the motorcycle world championship, Loris Reggiani achieved eight wins, 41 podiums, five pole positions and eight fastest laps .

Today Loris Reggiani comments on the broadcasts of the motorcycle world championship on the Italian TV channel Italia 1 .

successes

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Reggiani, Loris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Forlì , Italy