Renzo Pasolini

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Pasolini 1969 on a 250 cc Benelli

Renzo Pasolini (born July 18, 1938 in Rimini , † May 20, 1973 in Monza ) was an Italian motorcycle racer .

Pasolini, nicknamed Paso , was known as a humble, kind character. His trademark was his glasses, which he also wore during the races.

The Italian was considered a rain specialist and was extremely popular with the fans. Pasolini was seen as the only rider able to challenge Giacomo Agostini , the dominant driver of the time. The machines on which he started were mostly inferior to those of his competitors, which often forced Pasolini to go over the limit and prevented greater successes.

Career

Beginnings

Renzo Pasolini came in 1938 in Rimini born, his father was also Massimo motorcycle racer and had in 1956 on a 75- cc - Aermacchi a speed world record. In 1949 he moved with his family to Varese in northern Italy, where he lived until his death. Pasolini began his active career at the age of 19 in local motocross races in the Varese area, and in 1958 he won the regional junior championship. In the early 1960s he competed in his first street races with a 175 cm³ Aermacchi and at that time was already competing with the young Giacomo Agostini.

Motorcycle world championship

After he had done his military service in 1963, during which he could not contest any races, Renzo Pasolini rose in 1964 in the motorcycle world championship . He made his debut in fourth place at the Grand Prix of Nations in Monza on a 350 cc Aermacchi. The following year he started as an Aermacchi works driver in the classes up to 250, 350 and 500 cm³. In the Italian championship was Paso 1965 Benelli in the 250cc class second behind Tarquinio Provini , on 350ern he finished third overall.

In the 1966 season , Pasolini on Aermacchi reached third place in the 350cc class behind Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini. In August of the same year he tested for Benelli, where he was supposed to replace Tarquinio Provini, who had a serious accident at the Tourist Trophy . From 1968 Renzo Pasolini started for Benelli. In the first year for the manufacturer from Pesaro he was able to run in the 350cc class behind Agostini and win the title in the Italian championship in both the 250 cm³ and 350 cm³ class.

The 1969 season started problematically for Renzo Pasolini. In training for the Grand Prix of West Germany at the Hockenheimring , he broke his collarbone in a fall , which forced him to take a break of several weeks. In the 250 cc race of the Dutch TT in Assen , he later managed to win his first Grand Prix. After further victories at the GDR Grand Prix at the Sachsenring and in Brno , Czechoslovakia , Paso was able to celebrate fourth place overall in the 250cc class this season. In the Italian championship, he won all the races in which he competed and was able to confidently defend both of his titles. In 1970 Pasolini was third with three second and one fourth place behind Giacomo Agostini and Kel Carruthers World Championship third in the 350 cc class.

For the 1971 season, Renzo Pasolini switched back to Aermacchi, who now started as Aermacchi- Harley-Davidson and also offered him a position as sales manager. Although Pasolini announced that he was considering retiring from his career, he continued to compete in races. The two-cylinder machine from the manufacturer from Varese turned out to be inferior to the Japanese competition from Yamaha and Pasolini only achieved 28th place in the world championship in the 250 cc. 1972 was the most successful year in Pasolini's World Cup career. In the 250 cc class he achieved three victories, whereupon he only had to admit defeat to the Finnish Yamaha rider Jarno Saarinen in the final classification , to whom he was only one point behind at the end of the season. In the 350s he was third after Agostini and Saarinen after a constant season.

In the spring of 1973, Pasolini was able to secure his sixth national championship title on Harley-Davidson with victories in Riccione and Vallelunga - this time again in the 350 cm³ class. In the 250 cc World Championship, in which he competed this year, the start of the season was less promising.

Monza tragedy

On May 20, 1973, Renzo Pasolini was killed in a serious accident on the first lap of the 250 cc race at the Nations Grand Prix in Monza, in which Jarno Saarinen also had a fatal accident. The circumstances of this accident, which is considered to be one of the worst in the history of the motorcycle world championship, have not yet been fully clarified.

On the first lap of the 250cc race, Pasolini's motorcycle, lying in second place, broke to the left in the Curva Grande at around 220 km / h. The Italian was thrown into the lane and was dead on the spot. His motorcycle flew back onto the track in a high arc and hit Saarinen, who was lying directly behind him, on the head. The Finn was thrown about 40 meters through the air and was also fatally injured when it hit the track. The gas leaking from Pasolini's motorcycle set the track and the straw bales on fire on fire, but the twelve other pilots involved in the crash all got away with broken bones , bruises and abrasions .

In the following hours a dispute broke out between the drivers and the race management about the start of the other races, which were finally canceled. That same evening, it was announced at a press conference that Pasolini had caused the fall by a driving error. His team boss at the time, Gilberto Milani, and an expertise prepared by Sandro Colombo assumed a piston jammed as the cause of the accident. Other sources attribute Paso's fall to the dirty track and blame the race management for the accident. In the previous 350cc race, Walter Villa , who contaminated the track with oil due to a technical defect in his Benelli , had failed to take it out of the race and to clean the track in the following 30-minute race break.

Renzo Pasolini left his wife and two children and was posthumously Italian 350 cc champion. In the 51 Grand Prix races of his career, he achieved six wins and 35 podiums.

successes

Ducati Paso

Ducati Paso

In 1985 the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati presented a 750 cc machine that had been designed by Massimo Tamburini and which was called Ducati Paso in memory of Renzo Pasolini .

References

literature

  • Top Speed No. 5 / May 2008

Web links

Commons : Renzo Pasolini  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Pasolini, Renzo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Rimini
DATE OF DEATH May 20, 1973
Place of death Monza