Tarquinio Provini

Tarquinio Provini (29 May 1933 – 6 January 2005) was an Italian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was a two-time world champion in road racing. Provini was also a four-time Isle of Man TT winner ^[1] and won 13 Italian national championships.

Tarquinio Provini
Provini at the Dutch TT in 1959
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1933-05-29)29 May 1933 Roveleto di Cadeo, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Died	6 January 2005(2005-01-06) (aged 71) Bologna, Italy
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1954 - 1966 First race 1954 125cc Nations Grand Prix Last race 1966 350cc West German Grand Prix First win 1954 125cc Spanish Grand Prix Last win 1965 250cc Nations Grand Prix Team(s) Mondial, MV Agusta, Moto Morini, Benelli, Kreidler Championships 125cc - 1957 250cc - 1958 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 50 20 39 N/A 23 269

Motorcycling career

Provini was born in Roveleto di Cadeo, Emilia-Romagna, the son of a garage owner, and grew up around engines and machinery. He began riding motorcycles at the age of 10. He began racing in 1949 despite being too young by using his uncle's name on his racing license.^[2] In 1954, he won the Motogiro of Italy. He moved up to the Grand Prix competition in the middle of the 1954 season and won the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of the year. He won the 1957 FIM 125cc World Championship riding for the Italian Mondial factory. In 1958, he won the 250cc World Championship for MV Agusta.^[3]

When MV Agusta quit racing in the smaller classes, Provini signed to race for the Moto Morini factory. In 1963 he waged a season-long battle with Honda's Jim Redman for the 250 world championship. Each rider won four races and the title wasn't decided until the final race in Japan, with Redman winning the championship over Provini by two points.^[4] In 1966, he suffered a serious crash at the Isle of Man TT that broke his back, forcing his retirement. Provini redirected his energies and co-founded the Protar [nl] company which specialized in making scale racing bike models outside Bologna. He died in Bologna in 2005.^[5]

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	Wins
1954	125cc	Mondial	IOM -	ULS -	NED -	GER -	NAT 2	ESP 1								14	4th	1
1955	125cc	Mondial	ESP -	FRA 4	IOM NC	GER -	NED -	NAT -								3	9th	0
1956	125cc	Mondial	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	GER 3	ULS -	NAT 2								10	4th	0
1957	125cc	Mondial	GER 2	IOM 1	NED 1	BEL 1	ULS 2	NAT -								30	1st	3
	250cc	Mondial	GER -	IOM NC	NED 1	BEL -	ULS -	NAT 1								16	2nd	2
1958	125cc	MV Agusta	IOM NC	NED 3	BEL 3	GER 2	SWE 4	ULS -	NAT -							17	4th	0
	250cc	MV Agusta	IOM 1	NED 1	BEL -	GER 1	SWE -	ULS 1	NAT -							32	1st	4
1959	125cc	MV Agusta	IOM 1	GER 2	NED -	BEL 2	SWE 1	ULS -	NAT 5							28	2nd	2
	250cc	MV Agusta	IOM 1	GER -	NED 1	BEL -	SWE -	ULS -	NAT -							16	2nd	2
1960	250cc	Moto Morini	IOM 3	NED -	BEL -	GER -	ULS -	NAT -								4	9th	0
1961	250cc	Moto Morini	ESP -	GER 3	FRA 4	IOM -	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	ULS -	NAT 4	SWE -	ARG -			10	6th	0
1962	250cc	Moto Morini	ESP -	FRA -	IOM -	NED 3	BEL -	GER -	ULS -	DDR -	NAT 2	ARG -				10	5th	0
1963	250cc	Moto Morini	ESP 1	GER 1	IOM -	NED 3	BEL 3	ULS 2	DDR -	NAT 1	ARG 1	JPN 4				42	2nd	4
1964	50cc	Kreidler	USA -	ESP -	FRA 6	IOM 8	NED -	BEL -	GER -			FIN -		JPN -		1	13th	0
	250cc	Benelli	USA -	ESP 1	FRA -	IOM NC	NED 4	BEL 5	GER 5	DDR -	ULS -		NAT -	JPN -		15	5th	1
1965	250cc	Benelli	USA -	GER -	ESP -	FRA -	IOM 4	NED -	BEL -	DDR -	CZE -	ULS -	FIN -	NAT 1	JPN -	11	7th	1
	350cc	Benelli		GER -			IOM NC	NED -		DDR -	CZE -	ULS -	FIN -	NAT 3	JPN -	4	13th	0
1966	350cc	Benelli	GER 2	FRA -	NED -	DDR -	CZE -	FIN -	ULS -	IOM -	NAT -	JPN -				6	11th	0

References

1. Tarquinio Provini career profile at iomtt.com
2. Translated Provini profile from Italian web site
3. Tarquinio Provini career statistics at MotoGP.com
4. 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. ISBN 1-874557-83-7
5. Translated from Italian obituary

External links