Johnny Cecotto
Cecotto in 1978
Nationality	Venezuelan
Born	(1956-01-25)25 January 1956 (age 69) Caracas, Venezuela
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1975–1980 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 13 7 433

Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known asJohnny Cecotto, is aVenezuelan former professionalGrand Prix motorcycle racer andauto racer.^[1] He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youngest motorcycleroad racing world champion at the age of 19.^[2] Despite the auspicious beginning to his motorcycle racing career, he suffered numerous injuries and mechanical problems which curtailed his success in motorcycle Grand Prix racing.^[2]

At the age of 24, Cecotto turned his attention to auto racing where he reached the pinnacle of the sport as aFormula One driver. He later became a successfulTouring Car racer. He is the last of a select group of competitors who competed at the highest level in motorcycle and auto racing, which includesJohn Surtees andMike Hailwood among others.^[3]

Cecotto was born inCaracas, Venezuela to Italian immigrant parents.^[4] His father was a motorcycle shop owner and former motorcycle racer who had won the Venezuelan national championship on a 500ccNorton.^[4] He followed his father's career path and began motorcycle racing at a young age, first competing on aHonda CB750 and aKawasaki triple before gaining the support of the Venezuelan Yamaha importer.^[2]

Cecotto rode a Yamaha TZ350 to win the 1973 Venezuelanroad racing national championship at the age of 17.^[4] After the death ofJarno Saarinen at the1973 Nations Grand Prix, Cecotto adopted a new helmet color scheme with two pointed red stripes that was based on Saarinen's helmet colors, in honor of the fallen rider.^[5] He would keep the helmet design through the remainder of his career.^[5]

Cecotto successfully defended his title by reclaiming the Venezuelan national championship in 1974, and also won the 1974 South American motorcycle road racing championship, a one-race event held at theInterlagos Circuit nearSão Paulo,Brazil.^[3][5] In his first international racing outside of South America, he finished 35th overall at the Daytona 200 on a Yamaha 350cc, and suffered a mechanical failure after only 5 laps at the Imola 200.^[5]

Cecotto rose to international prominence at the 1975Daytona 200 motorcycle race with one of the more inspired rides in the history of the event.^[3][6] At the time, the Daytona 200 was considered one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world, attracting world champions such asGiacomo Agostini andBarry Sheene.^[7] He arrived at Daytona as an unknown rookie aboard an unmodifiedYamaha TZ750 sponsored by Venemotos, Yamaha's Venezuelan importer.^[6]

The unheralded teenager promptly raised his profile by qualifying on the front row shared with pole-sitterKenny Roberts,Gene Romero,Teuvo Lansivuori andSteve Baker.^[8] As Cecotto took his place on the starting grid, race officials noticed a puddle of fluid developing beneath his motorcycle.^[8] 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.^[6] 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.^[6] With an impressive display of riding ability, Cecotto passed half the field of competitors on the first lap alone.^[8] Two laps later, he was up to 26th place.^[8] By the fifth lap he was in 18th place and by the end of the tenth lap he was in tenth place.^[8] 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 a third place behind the eventual winner Gene Romero and second place Steve Baker.^[3][6][8] On the event of the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 200 in 1991, theAmerican 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.^[6]

One month after his Daytona performance, Cecotto traveled to Europe where he continued his meteoric rise with a victory at the prestigiousImola 200 F750-championship race after Agostini's engine seized while American championKenny Roberts withdrew due to a wrist injury.^[9][10]

Cecotto continued his impressive streak by scoring a double victory in the first world championship Grand Prix race of his career.^[1] At the season openingFrench Grand Prix held at thePaul Ricard Circuit, he set the fastest lap time en route to winning the 250cc race and, followed that performance by leading the 350cc race from start to finish to win by a 25-second margin over the seven-time 350cc world champion Agostini.^[1] He had originally planned to compete in two or three European events but, after his performance at the French Grand Prix, he gained full sponsorship for the remainder of the season aboard an ex-Agostini TZ350.^[2] He went on to win three more races and defeated Agostini, for the350cc World Championship.^[1] At the age of nineteen, he was the youngest ever world champion untilLoris Capirossi won the 1990 125cc world championship at the age of 17.^[2][11] He was competitive in the 250cc world championship with two victories however, a crash at theGerman Grand Prix and then engine problems for his motorcycle left him in fourth place in the final standings.^[1]

In 1976, Cecotto returned to the Daytona 200, now with full support from the Yamahafactory racing team.^[12] The race turned into a battle between Cecotto and his Yamaha teammate, Kenny Roberts.^[12] Their grueling pace proved too much for their tires and on the 33rd of the 52 laps Roberts slowed with a worn rear tire.^[12] Nine laps from the end, Roberts' tire blew apart, almost making him lose control before he limped back into the pits.^[12] Cecotto's pit crew attempted to wave him into the pits with three laps remaining to check on his tire but, he ignored their signal and continued on to win the race.^[12][13][14] Afterwards, his shredded tires showed how close he was to suffering the same fate as Roberts.^[12][15]

Cecotto moved up to the premier 500cc class riding a year-oldYamaha YZR500 for a Yamaha-supported satellite team operated under the Venemotos team banner.^[15] Suzuki'sBarry Sheene was expected to be his main competitor for the1976 world championship.^[16] He began the season with a promising second-place finish behind Sheene at the season-openingFrench Grand Prix however, Cecotto struggled to come to grips with the Yamaha, falling 13 times in subsequent races.^[11][16] He failed to score any further points after the French round and shortly after the Italian Grand Prix, he gave up on the 500cc class completely to concentrate on defending his 350cc title.^[2] He finished the 500cc season in a disappointing 20th place as Sheene won the 500cc world championship.^[1] He also lost his 350cc crown in a tight battle withHarley-Davidson mountedWalter Villa.^[1]

While Cecotto possessed a natural riding ability, some observers speculated that he had won too early in his career without fully understanding how he had accomplished it.^[16] Yamaha Team Manager and former world championRod Gould said, "I think Cecotto was going fast and didn't really know why. Now he doesn't know why he's going slower and crashing."^[16] Cecotto's results were also affected by the Venemotos team's disorganization and lack of preparation. According to his Yamaha factory mechanic Vince French, on several occasions, the team failed to file official race entry forms or failed to secure garage space thus delaying vital practice time.^[15] On other occasions, the team failed to provide equipment required by race organizers causing further delays.^[15]

At the beginning of the1977 season, Cecotto was badly injured in a deadly four rider accident at theAustrian Grand Prix that claimed the life of Swiss riderHans Stadelmann.^[17] He recovered from his injuries in time for theSwedish Grand Prix where he finished in second place, 2.9 seconds behind winner Barry Sheene.^[18] Cecotto then won two consecutive races with victories at theFinnish Grand Prix and theCzechoslovak Grand Prix where he also won the 350cc Grand Prix.^[1] Despite missing most of the season due to injuries, he still ranked fourth in the final championship standings.^[1]

Cecotto began the1978 season by winning the Imola 200 for a second time but, he faced a new rival for the world championship with the arrival of Kenny Roberts.^[9] Although he scored four podium finishes including a narrow victory by 1/10ths of a second over Roberts at the1978 Dutch TT, he failed to score consistent results and suffered four mechanical failures, as Roberts won the world championship ahead of Sheene and the third placed Cecotto.^[1][19] He was more successful in the1978 Formula 750 world championship, where despite four victories by Roberts, Cecotto was able to score three victories along with three second-place finishes to secure the championship.^[20]

Cecotto suffered a badly broken kneecap at the1979Austrian Grand Prix at theSalzburgring and missed half the season due to his injuries.^[11] He rejoined the championship for the final four races but, with his injuries still causing him pain, he failed to score consistent results as, Roberts won his second consecutive 500cc world championship.^[1] Although he won 5 races in the1979 Formula 750 world championship, his inconsistent results relegated him to third place in the final standings.^[21]

As a result of Roberts' success for the Yamaha team along with Cecotto's inconsistent performances, Yamaha withdrew their factory support for him after the 1979 season.^[5] He went into the1980 season competing as aprivateer aboard aBimota chassis powered by a Yamaha engine in the 350cc class and a production Yamaha in the 500cc class.^[5] He began the year with a victory at the 1980 Imola 200, joining Kenny Roberts as three-time winners of the event.^[10] His world championship campaign started on a positive note when, he scored a victory at the season opening350cc French Grand Prix along with a fourth-place finish in the 500cc race however, after his initial success his motorcycles suffered numerous mechanical failures and, he could do no better than a fourth-place finish in the 350cc championship along with a seventh place in the 500cc championship.^[1] After the 1980 season, he decided to quit motorcycle racing at the age of 24 to pursue an auto racing career.^[5] He retired with twelve 500cc pole positions in 28 starts, giving him one of the highestpole position per start ratios in motorcycle Grand Prix history.

Cecotto made his four-wheeled debut withMinardi in the1980Formula Two Championship. In the1982 Formula Two season, driving for theMarch-BMW team, he won three races and finished the season tied for first place with his teammateCorrado Fabi, but was relegated to runner up by the tie breaker system.^[22] Nevertheless, his performance garnered enough attention that he was offered a seat in Formula One.^[3]

InFormula One, Cecotto participated in 23 races, debuting on March 13,1983 for theTheodore Racing team.^[23] He had a promising start as he scored a sixth place in only his second race; however, the team suffered from lack of funding and he was forced to sit out the final two rounds.^[23] For the1984 season, he joined theToleman racing team withAyrton Senna as his team mate.^[24] While qualifying for theBritish Grand Prix, he crashed heavily at Westfield,breaking both of his legs, which effectively ended his Formula One career. His sixth place at Long Beach stood as the best result for a Venezuelan driver untilPastor Maldonado's victory in theSpanish Grand Prix 29 years later.

After recovering from his injuries, Cecotto returned to competition in the flourishingGroup ATouring Car category for the famedSchnitzer MotorsportBMW team, with his best finish being 2nd at the1985 Spa 24 Hours withDieter Quester andMarkus Oestreich. He then traveled toAustralia where he finished second in the1985 James Hardie 1000 at theMount Panorama Circuit inBathurst, driving theBMW 635 CSi he drove at Spa, jointly winning the races "Rookie of the Year" award with his co-driverRoberto Ravaglia. During practice for the James Hardie, Cecotto professed surprise when told by former motorcycle racing rivalGregg Hansford, who was driving anAlfa Romeo GTV6 in the race, that they raced motorcycles at Mt Panorama as well as cars, claiming that he would think twice before racing a bike there (Hansford was at the time the 350cc motorcycle lap record holder for the 6.172 km (3.835 mi) circuit).^{[citation needed]}

In 1986 he joined Belgian based factory backed RAS SportVolvo team in the renamed (for 1986 only)FIA Touring Car Championship driving a turbochargedVolvo 240T. Usually co-driving with defendingEuropean Touring Car ChampionThomas Lindström, Cecotto finished 8th in the championship with two wins (Hockenheim andZolder), two second and two third placings. He also drove a 240T to victory at the 1986Guia Race held during theMacau Grand Prix, as well as winning the 1986 InterTEC 500 held atFuji inJapan alongside Swedish driver and Volvo team mateAnders Olofsson..^[25][26]

After Volvo pulled out at the end of the 1986 season, Cecotto re-joinedBMW and competed in the1987 World Touring Car Championship driving aBMW M3 for the Italian CiBiEmme team alongside joint 1985 ETCC championGianfranco Brancatelli. The pair won the third round of the championship, the500 km de Bourgogne atDijon-Prenois, before being the first WTCC registered car to finish the first Australian round, the1987 James Hardie 1000. Although Cecotto and Brancatelli only finished in 7th place at Bathurst, as the first registered car to finish they were awarded first place points.^[27][28] In 1989 he captured theItalian Touring Car Championship.^[29][30] Cecotto finished in 8th place with Brancatelli in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship with 158 points.

From 1988 to 1992, Cecotto competed in theDeutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM, German Touring Car Championship).^[31] Driving aSchnitzer Motorsport BMW M3, he finished as runner up in the1990 season.^[32] He also participated inendurance racing, winning the 199024 Hours of Spa and the 199224 Hours of Nürburgring.^[33] In1994 and1998 he won the GermanSuper Tourenwagen Cup Championship for BMW.^[34][35][36] In1995 he raced in theBritish Touring Car Championship (BTCC) forBMW.^[37] In2001 and2002, he switched to theIrmscherOpel Omega and won the GermanV8Star Series Championship two years running.^[36][38][39]

Cecotto currently devotes most of his time to supporting the professional auto racing career of his sons,Johnny Cecotto Jr. andJonathan Cecotto.^[40]

Source:^[1]

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Source:^[22]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Source:^[23][24]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)

Source:^{[41][42][43][44][45][46][47]}

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
1985	Schnitzer Motorsport	BMW 635 CSi	MNZ	VAL	DON	AND	BRN	ZEL	SAL 7	NUR	SPA 2	SIL	NOG	ZOL	EST	JAR 7							NA	NA
1986	RAS Sport	Volvo 240T	MNZ 9	DON Ret	HOC 1	MIS 2	AND DSQ	BRN 3	ZEL DSQ	NUR 10	SPA 12	SIL 15	NOG 2	ZOL 1	JAR 3	EST 16							8th	144
1987	CiBiEmme Sport	BMW M3	DON Ret	EST 1	AND	ZOL Ret	ZEL 1	IMO Ret	NOG Ret														15th	80
1988	CiBiEmme Sport	Alfa Romeo 75	MNZ	DON	EST	JAR	DIJ	VAL	NUR	SPA Ret	ZOL	SIL	NOG										NC	0
2000	Team Isert	BMW 320i	MUG 1	MUG 2	PER 1	PER 2	A1R 1	A1R 2	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	HUN 1	HUN 2	IMO 1	IMO 2	MIS 1	MIS 2	BRN 1	BRN 2	VAL 1 6	VAL 2 5	MOB 1	MOB 2	13th	14

Source:^[48][49]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1987	CiBiEmme Sport BMW Motorsport	BMW M3	MNZ DSQ	JAR ovr:8 cls:6	DIJ ovr:1 cls:1	NUR Ret	SPA Ret	BNO ovr:5 cls:3	SIL Ret	BAT ovr:7 cls:3	CLD ovr:4 cls:2	WEL Ret	FJI ovr:6 cls:3	8th	158

† Despite finishing 7th outright at Bathurst, as the highest placed registered WTCC car Cecotto was awarded 1st place points for the round.

Source:^{[50][51][52][53][54]}
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Source:^[55]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Source:^[56]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Source:^[57][58][59]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1981	BMW Italie-France TeamBMW Motorsport	Philippe Alliot Bernard Darniche	BMW M1 Gr.5	Gr.5	277	16th	5th
1996	Team Bigazzi TeamBMW Motorsport	Nelson Piquet Danny Sullivan	McLaren F1 GTR	GT1	324	8th	6th
1998	TeamBMW Motorsport	Pierluigi Martini Joachim Winkelhock	BMW V12 LM	LMP1	43	DNF	DNF

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1985	/Goold Motorsport	Roberto Ravaglia	BMW 635 CSi	C	163	2nd	2nd
1987	BMW Motorsport CiBiEmme	Gianfranco Brancatelli	BMW M3	2	154	7th	3rd
1992	Benson & Hedges Racing	Tony Longhurst	BMW M3 Evolution	A	142	4th	4th

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJohnny Cecotto.

• Johnny Cecotto official fan site
• Johnny Cecotto at Racing-Reference.info
• Johnny Cecotto at DriverDB.com
• Johnny Cecotto at eWRC-results.com
• Johnny Cecotto at MotoGP.com

• 1956 births
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