Claudio Castiglioni passed away
Died yesterday at the age of 64 Claudius Castiglioni. Castiglioni will go down in history as the man who founded the legendary brand MV Agusta revived and resurrected. But Castiglione has not only made his mark on road motorcycles. Motocross GPs Castiglioni entered the motorcycle sector in 1978 Cagiva (Castiglioni Giovanni Varese), his father's company started making motorcycles. In the 80s, Cagiva would make a steep rise in motocross. Cagiva developed a cross range of which the WMX125 would be the best-selling model. It was with the WMX 125 that Cagiva gained fame. In 1984 it seemed Corrado Maddi aiming for the 125cc world title. Maddi would become the first Italian world champion on an Italian motorcycle. A collision with rookie Michele Fanton However, during the qualifications of the last GP of the season it was decided differently.
A year later, Cagiva won its first world title. Not with Maddi but with the Finn Pekka Vekhonen. Cagiva spared no expense because it also secured the services of Cagiva from 1985 onwards Dave Strijbos. A year later, the Ossenaar would become the very first Dutch motocross world champion. Moreover, Strijbos was 18e then the youngest world champion ever. After the 125cc, Cagiva also focused on the 250cc world title. Pekka Vekhonen was active in the quarter liters from 1987 and received Gert-Jan van Doorn as a teammate. Van Doorn's season was quickly thwarted by a nasty wrist injury. Vekhonen, on the other hand, would remain in the running for the world title in the quarter liters for a long time. Only in the very last GP was Vekhonen beaten by Eric Geboers. Dave Strijbos was unable to extend his world title in the 125cc. The Cagiva rider was regularly beaten by his fellow countryman John van den Berk.
In 1988, Cagiva would once again focus on the motocross GPs. But Strijbos could not prevent the young Frenchman Jean-Michel Bayle won the 125cc world title. After 1988, Cagiva stopped competing in motocross. Castiglioni has the Swedish off-road brand a few years earlier Husqvarna added to its business portfolio. From then on, Husqvarna will lead the company in off-road. Dakar Rally Cagiva was not only noticed in the motocross GPs. From the mid-80s it also focused on rally raids with the Cagiva Elephant. The Elefant was the flagship of the Cagiva range and was originally a 750cc Ducati 2° V90 block as power source. After all, Ducati was also part of the Cagiva group during that period. Cagiva takes the French ex-Dakar winner as leader Hubert auriol On. In 1987, Auriol was close to a final victory until he broke his ankle in the penultimate stage and had to give up. The photos of Auriol with a face contorted by pain are sent all over the world. From 1989 the Italian becomes Ed Orioli Cagiva's main rally asset. The Italian will win the Dakar rally with the Elefant in 1990 and 1994.
Is Castiglioni's story complete? No, far from it, because in the 90s Husqvarna will regain greatness under Castiglioni's leadership. Including the historic world title in the 500cc World Championship Jackie Martens in 1993 played an important role in this. Martens would win his world title at the Husqvarna TC510 paving the way for the modern four-stroke. But there are also the two 125cc world titles Alessio Chioddi in 1998 and 1999. And then we haven't even talked about Cagiva's adventure in the 500cc road race GP's with, among others Didier de Radigues, Ducati's dominance of the World Superbike Championship and the resurrection of MV Agusta. We can safely say that rarely has anyone left such a mark on motorcycle history as Claudio Castiglioni. RIP Claudio…
Photo Credits: archive MXMag.be, MV Agusta, Cagiva
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