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Johnny Cecotto

Johnny Cecotto
Nationality Venezuela Venezuelan
Born (1956-01-25) 25 January 1956 (age 61)
Caracas, Venezuela
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years 19751980
First race 1975 250cc French Grand Prix
Last race 1980 500cc German Grand Prix
First win 1975 250cc French Grand Prix
Last win 1980 350cc Nations Grand Prix
Team(s) Yamaha
Championships 1975 – 350cc
1978 – Formula 750
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
48 14 26 22 7
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 19831984
Teams Theodore, Toleman
Entries 23 (18 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 1
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last entry 1984 British Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years 1981, 1996, 1998
Teams Team Bigazzi SRL, Team BMW Motorsport
Best finish 8th (1996)
Class wins 0

Alberto "Johnny" Cecotto (born January 25, 1956) is a Venezuelan former Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion and Formula One driver. The son of Italian immigrants, he is one of the few people to have competed in both motorcycle and Formula One Grands Prix. His son Johnny Cecotto Jr. is also a professional racing driver.

Cecotto was born in Caracas, Venezuela where his father was a motorcycle shop owner and former motorcycle racer who had won the Venezuelan national championship on a 500cc Norton. He followed his father's career path and began motorcycle racing at a young age, winning the 1973 Venezuelan road racing national championship at the age of 17. He successfully defended his title by reclaiming the national championship in 1974, and also won the 1974 South American motorcycle road racing championship.

Cecotto rose to international prominence at the 1975 Daytona 200 motorcycle race with one of the more inspired rides in the history of the event which, at the time was considered one of the most important motorcycle races in the world, attracting world champions such as Giacomo Agostini and Barry Sheene. He arrived at Daytona as an unknown rookie aboard an unmodified Yamaha TZ750 sponsored by Venemotos, Yamaha's Venezuelan importer. The unheralded teenager promptly raised his profile by setting the fastest lap time during qualifying to claim the pole position. As Cecotto took his place on the starting grid, race officials noticed a puddle of fluid developing beneath his motorcycle. With the start of the race just moments away, the officials made the decision to remove Cecotto and his motorcycle from the grid for safety reasons. As the race was started without Cecotto, officials discovered that the fluid was only water overflowing from the radiator and posed no safety hazard.

Officials allowed Cecotto re-enter the race however, by then he was in last place. With an impressive display of riding ability, Cecotto passed half the field of competitors on the first lap alone. Two laps later, he was up to 26th place. By the fifth lap he was in 18th place and by the end of the tenth lap he was in tenth place. On the 50th lap, he caught and passed Agostini for third place before his motorcycle began to overheat, forcing him to reduce his pace and settle for an third place behind the eventual winner Gene Romero and second place Steve Baker. On the event of the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 200 in 1991, the American Motorcyclist Association convened a panel of motorcycling press and former racers who named Cecotto's accomplishment as the top performance in the first 50 years of the race.


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