Umberto Masetti (4 May 1926 – 28 May 2006) was an Italian professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1949 to 1958, most prominently as a member of the Gilera factory racing team where he won the and 500cc world championships. Masetti was the first Italian to win the 500cc World Championship.
Career Masetti was born in Borgo delle Rose, in the province of Parma.
He debuted in the Grand Prix motorcycle World Championship in 1949 aboard a Moto Morini, in the 125cc class. In the same year he also raced a Benelli in the 250cc class and a Gilera in the 500cc class.
In 1950, Masetti won the Grands Prix of Belgium and the Netherlands and defeated Geoff Duke for the 500cc World Championship. In 1952, still with Gilera, he was again World Champion, again taking victories in Belgium and the Netherlands.
In 1953 he raced in the 250cc class for NSU, but an accident at Imola prevented him from taking part for much of the season. In 1954 Masetti was again in the 500cc class with Gilera. In 1955 he divided his time between the 250cc and 500cc classes, this time for the MV Agusta factory, with whom he raced for until 1958. That year, after an unsuccessful season in the 500cc class, he retired from motorcycle competition.
Masetti then lived in Maranello, where he died in 2006.
Motorcycle Grand Prix results 1949 point system: Position 1 2 3 4 5 Fastest lap Points 10 8 7 6 5 1 Points system from 1950 to 1968: 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 Points Rank Wins1949 125cc Moto Morini SUI5 NED- NAT2133rd0 250cc Benelli IOM- SUI- ULS- NAT3 7 10th 0 1950 500cc Gilera IOM- BEL1 NED1 SUI2 ULS6 NAT2281st2 1951 500cc Gilera ESP1 SUI4 IOM- BEL- NED- FRA- ULS3 NAT2213rd1 1952 500cc Gilera SUI- IOM- NED1 BEL1 GER- ULS- NAT2 ESP2281st2 1953 250cc NSU IOM- NED- GER- ULS- SUI- NAT6 ESP- 1 15th 0 1954 500cc Gilera FRA- IOM- ULS- BEL- NED- GER- SUI- NAT2 ESP- 6 10th 0 1955 250cc MV Agusta IOM- GER- NED2 ULS3 NAT6 11 5th 0 500cc MV Agusta ESP3 FRA4 IOM- GER- BEL- NED3 ULS- NAT1193rd1 1956 350cc MV Agusta IOM- NED- BEL5 GER- ULS- NAT8 2 14th 0 500cc MV Agusta IOM- NED- BEL4 GER2 ULS- NAT- 9 6th 0 1957 350cc MV Agusta GER4 IOM- NED- BEL- ULS- NAT- 3 10th 0 500cc MV Agusta GER- IOM- NED- BEL- ULS- NAT5 2 15th 0 1958 500cc MV Agusta IOM- NED- BEL- GER- SWE- ULS- NAT3 4 13th 0
References