Luigi Taveri (19 September 1929 – 1 March 2018) was a Swiss professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1954 to 1966. Taveri is notable for being a three-time 125cc road racing world champion. Although he specialised in the smaller engined machines, Taveri is the only competitor to have scored points in six Grand Prix classes: 50cc, 125cc, 250cc, 350cc, 500cc and Sidecars. In 2016, he was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.

Racing career

Taveri made his world championship debut in the 1954 season, racing in the 500 cc class on a Norton motorcycle. In 1955, he took his first win in the 125 cc race at the Spanish Grand Prix. He took one more win in 1955, in the 250 cc class at the Dutch TT.

Taveri participated in the Isle of Man TT on several occasions from 1955 to 1966 with three victories and several second places amongst his results.TT Career Summary iomtt.com. Retrieved 11 March 2018Isle of Man TT, detailed race results iomtt.com, Retrieved 11 March 2018

During his career, Taveri rode for MV Agusta, and became a works rider for Ducati, MZ, Kreidler and in 1961 for Yamaha. His final Grand Prix victory at the 1966 125cc Italian Grand Prix came 11 years and 133 days after his first win, marking one of the longest winning careers in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing history. Over his racing career, Taveri had 30 victories and 89 podiums in all classes, including three Isle of Man TT victories. After retiring from competition, he continued in the sport by demonstrating historic machines.

Taveri died on 1 March 2018 of complications from a stroke at the age of 88.Luigi Taveri: adieu grand petit homme

Motorcycle Grand Prix results Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points 8 6 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Points Rank Wins1954 250cc Moto Guzzi FRA- IOM- ULS- NED- GER- SUI4 NAT- 3 13th 0 500cc Norton FRA4 IOM- ULS- BEL- NED8 GER- SUI- NAT- ESP- 3 17th 0 Sidecar Norton IOM- ULS- BEL- GER- SUI6 NAT- 1 10th 0 1955 125cc MV Agusta ESP1 FRA2 IOM2 GER2 NED- NAT- 26 2nd 1 250cc MV Agusta IOM- GER4 NED1 ULS- NAT- 11 4th 1 1956 125cc MV Agusta IOM- NED2 BEL4 GER- ULS- NAT4 12 3rd 0 250cc MV Agusta IOM- NED2 BEL2 GER2 ULS1 NAT4 26 2nd 1 1957 125cc MV Agusta GER5 IOM3 NED3 BEL2 ULS1 NAT3 22 2nd 1 250cc MV Agusta GER5 IOM2 NED- BEL- ULS- NAT- 8 7th 0 1958 125cc Ducati IOM- NED2 BEL6 GER- SWE2 ULS2 NAT5 20 3rd 0 350cc Norton IOM- NED6 BEL- GER- SWE- ULS- NAT- 1 15th 0 1959125cc MZ IOM2 144th0 Ducati GER- NED- BEL3 SWE- ULS- NAT3 250cc MZ IOM- GER- NED- BEL- SWE- ULS- NAT5 2 13th 0 1960 125cc MV Agusta IOM3 NED- BEL- ULS5 NAT- 6 6th 0 250cc MV Agusta IOM8 NED3 BEL3 GER5 ULS6 NAT- 11 3rd 01961 125cc Honda ESP- GER5 FRA5 IOM2 NED- BEL1 DDRDSQ ULS6 NAT3 SWE1 ARG- 30 3rd 2 250cc Honda ESP- GER- FRA- IOM- NED- BEL- DDR- ULS- NAT- SWE2 ARG- 6 10th 01962 50cc Honda ESP3 FRA3 IOM2 NED9 BEL3 GER4 DDR4 NAT6 FIN1 ARG- 29 3rd 1 125cc Honda ESP3 FRA4 IOM1 NED1 BEL1 GER1 ULS1 DDR1 NAT2 FIN2 ARG- 48 1st 6 250cc Honda ESP- FRA- IOM- NED- BEL3 GER- ULS3 DDR- NATNC ARG- 8 8th 01963 50cc Honda ESP- GER- FRA- IOM- NED- BEL- FIN- ARG- JPN1 8 8th 1 125cc Honda ESP1 GER4 FRA3 IOM4 NED3 BEL3 ULS3 DDR4 FIN2 NAT1 ARGNC JPNNC 38 2nd 2 250cc Honda ESP5 GERNC IOMNC NEDNC BEL4 ULSNC DDR5 NAT3 ARG- JPN5 13 5th 0 350cc Honda GER- IOM- NED3 ULS3 DDR2 FIN5 NATNC 16 3rd 01964 50cc Honda USA- ESP6 FRA- IOM- NED- BEL- GER- FIN3 JPN- 5 7th 0 125cc Honda USA- ESP1 FRA1 IOM1 NED- GER2 DDR2 ULS2 FIN1 NAT1 JPN2 46 1st 5 250cc Honda USA- ESPNC FRA2 IOMNC NED- BEL- GER6 DDR- ULSNC NAT6 JPN4 11 6th 0 1965 50cc Honda USA- GER2 ESP4 FRA2 IOM1 NED3 BEL3 JPN1 32 2nd 2 125cc Honda USA- GERNC ESPNC FRANC IOM2 NED5 DDR- CZE- ULS- FIN- NAT- JPN2 14 5th 0 1966 50cc Honda ESP1 GER4 NED1 IOM2 NAT3 JPN- 26 3rd 2 125cc Honda ESP2 GER1 NED2 DDR1 CZE1 FIN2 ULS1 IOM8 NAT1 JPN- 46 1st 5

References