Just outside Austin, Texas, MotoGP pilots test the power of racing bikes on the Circuit of the Americas, a 5.5-kilometer track known for its challenging hairpin turns and a 41-meter elevation change. Fans cheer on their favorite riders, such as Spaniard Marc Marquez, Australian Jack Miller and the most recent Italian world champion Francesco Bagnaia. Enthusiastic spectators dream of the thrill of riding one of their machines by makers such as Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and Aprilia. While most of the MotoGP motorcycles are outside the reach of many riders because of their cost and the skill level required to ride them, they are still an important part of the history of the brands and account for their success in reaching customers on more modest machines.
What few spectators are aware of, however, is that before the closed race circuit became the primary place for showcasing the top riders on the top bikes, the open road was where riders tested speed and skill with onlookers lining the roadsides. The two oldest and ongoing motorcycle road races in the world, the Isle of Man TT, which started in 1907, and the Motogiro d’Italia that dates to 1914 still attract enthusiasts excited to see how pilots and bikes perform under real road conditions, but the races have taken modified forms since the early days of their inception. The Isle of Man moved in and out of the Grand Prix circuit to become a tourist trophy race, hence the TT designation. The treacherous event is run on narrow roads across the island on newer motorcycles that reach the current maximum speeds and is known for its extreme risks. There were no deaths in the 2024 edition for the first time since 2012 (Curphey). However, there have been more than 280 total rider fatalities and numerous spectator and marshal injuries and deaths during the race’s history. Today’s Motogiro, instead, is a 6-day time trial and skills ride on predominantly vintage motorcycles designed to pay homage to the early years of racing more than to push boundaries; in fact, one of the current rules is to obey posted speed limits (Motogiro).
This article focuses on the golden age of the Motogiro and related Italian road races, such as the Milano-Taranto (whose first version dates to 1919 when it went from Milan to Naples), because of their influence on the development of motorbike culture in Italy. Currently, Italy leads Europe in per capita sales of two-wheeled vehicles and ranks seventh worldwide behind Asian nations such as Vietnam and Thailand (Statista 14-15). Travelers to Italy often note the prevalence of scooters and motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic, especially in large cities such as Rome and Naples. In the popular imagination, Italy is the land of Vespas where stylish young men and women zip around on cobblestone streets as did Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in the dolce vita era film Roman Holiday. But why did Italy become the land of two-wheeled travel and how did road racing contribute to it?
Numerous scholars and journalists have pointed out that the automobile industry boomed later in Italy than in other parts of Europe (e.g. Friedman; Nehum and Derrick; Mazzanti). Italy’s economic miracle did not begin in earnest until about 1958, much later than in other war-torn nations such as Germany and Japan, also nations with important motorcycle industries. Bicycles and small cylinder motorbikes were much cheaper than cars and thus more in line with what working class Italians could afford. Moreover, the narrow streets and warm climate made Italian towns across the peninsula ideal for this mode of transportation. In a good part of Italy, motorbikes can be ridden year-round. However, it is more than economics or climate that contributed to the popularity of two-wheeled vehicles. Important cultural connections between the sport of road racing and the realities of daily life help account for the spread of motorbike ownership and its integration into Italian culture.
Owning a scooter or motorcycle in Italy today is unremarkable and nearly every resident of Italy has ridden on one. There is little of the discourse of the danger of motorcycles or that of motorcyclists as troublemakers as is prevalent in popular conversations about American motorcycle culture (Stanfield). Images of motorcyclists in outlaw motorcycle clubs date back to the Marlon Brando film The Wild One (1953) and have since been upheld by Hollywood through the 2024 release The Bikeriders. American motorcycle culture is known to Italians but not shared by them.
The popularity of motorcycle road racing, especially during the so-called golden years of the Motogiro from 1953 to 1957, contributed to the flourishing of the Italian motorcycle industry before the economic boom when the automobile became more widespread. Between 1950 and 1960, motorcycles and scooters circulating on Italian roads grew from just under 1 million to nearly 3 million (Sarti 21). In races such as the Motogiro d’Italia and the Milano-Taranto, skilled pilots became popular heroes in the places they sped through on the latest model motorcycles from makers such as Ducati, Moto Guzzi, and Moto Morini. Spectators lined the streets to cheer on their favorite riders, sought their autographs and took photos with them. As Italian journalist Arturo Rizzoli has noted, “When the circus of the Giro Motociclistico d’Italia (to give the race its full name) came to town, workers downed their tools and rushed out of their factories and kids ran out of school. Nobody could resist the appeal of such a magnificent spectacle, especially as Italy was a country where even owning a bicycle was considered a luxury and just seeing a motorbike was a huge attraction (Rizzoli 15).” These motorized machines became the stuff of dreams of children of all ages. What freedom to hop on a Benelli or a Mondial and head into the hills!
Closed circuit motorcycle track racing had taken place at the Monza racetrack since the early 1920s. The first international competition, the Motorcycle Grand Prix of Nations, was held there on September 8, 1922, when Amedeo Ruggeri won the 1000cc class on a Harley Davidson and Ernesto Gnesa captured the smaller class on a 350cc Garelli two-stroke. The prewar races, however, were accessible only to well-to-do Italians because of the costs of traveling and paying the ticket fee (Lodi). The road races, in contrast, were completely free to anyone who could find a spot alongside the routes. The long stretches through the country made a short trip to catch a glimpse of the riders, a possible family outing. Already in the 1910s, short road races had appeared in various parts of Italy (Mansueti). Gnesa, for example, won a 315 km race in 1912 in the Valtellina in northern Italy on a 334cc Bucher produced in Milan (Cascina Gobba). Despite sometimes poor weather conditions, residents came out to enjoy the spectacle and the road races proved popular.
Road racing did not disappear during the years of fascism and World War II. The Milano-Taranto was called the Mussolini Cup and ran from 1937 to 1940, returning with an official edition again as the Milano-Taranto in 1950. People clearly had a thirst for the races to resume and took to the streets as the war came to an end, “once the war was over, the desire for motorcycling, for challenges, for adventure, was in the DNA of those who loved motorbikes and it came back stronger than before. The echo of the war had not yet died down and the city of Tortoreto (Teramo) was already organizing the first city circuit as early as August 1945 (Milano-Taranto).” The Motogiro came back in 1953 after a longer hiatus. Motorcycle manufacturers quickly realized they had an opportunity to reach the public with new motorbikes used for the races as they sought to recover from the hardships of the wartime era.
The postwar races extended from the few hundred kilometers of earlier competitions to more than 2000 km over multiple days and brought thousands of spectators out to the streets and town squares in cities, towns, and villages throughout the country. Fans anxiously awaited news about the routes to know when and where the riders might pass near their towns. They came out in droves to participate in the excitement. A description of the 578-km third leg of the race on 1 April 1953 mentions huge crowds of people alongside the Lungomare (coastal road) in Bari early at the start of the race on day three, and then again at the end of the day in the Marches where, “the crowd of spectators waited, hopeful and champing at the bit for the arrival of the winner of the previous stages (Pionava 68).” The road races gained even more popularity than the track races. In addition to costs, closed tracks had become less accessible during the war. The Monza racetrack was transformed into a depository for military vehicles, and it wasn’t until the early 1950s that new race tracks appeared in Lazio and then in Emilia-Romagna (Lodi). Postwar efforts focused on repairing roads and transportation systems so Italians could get back to work. By 1953, road conditions had improved along with people’s spirits and many Italians were using two-wheels to make their commutes to work. The roads, albeit still often rough, were deemed suitable for high-speed passage.
Race onlookers saw first-hand how the new bikes looked, sounded, smelled, and performed on Italian roads and they got to inspect them up close during breaks in the race days. It was a perfect way for makers to impress fans, who would then share their experiences with friends and families, while regional and national reporters filled the papers with photos and stories of adventure. The live action of the Motogiro offered a taste of motorcycling that no show room or trade fair ever could. The Italian press, such as the daily paper Stadio, referred to the 1953 edition of the Motogiro as “the event of the century,” and noted its importance in bringing the spectacle of motorcycling back to the nation, “A good 33 brands, 115 Moto Clubs from across Italy and more than 400 riders have responded to our call: the Giro has mobilized the industry, galvanized motorcycling associations, and has fueled the flames of enthusiasm of hundreds and hundreds of Centaurs…the Giro has its success assured just as it is beginning (Pionava 33).” Television in Italy did not become widespread until after 1954 with the creation of RAI, Radiotelevisione italiana, which meant that live spectator sports such as the road races could count on a large following from people seeking low-cost entertainment to enjoy in the company of others.
In the earlier years of the Motogiro and other road races, especially during the 1920s, mass produced motorbikes dominated. In fact, Motogiro organizers were lenient with manufacturers to get them to participate in their races without having to make big investments (Mansueti). Most of the small cylinder motorcycles, with displacements of not more than 175cc, were juiced up versions of regular street models. Despite the interest in their motorbikes, many of the manufacturers lacked the resources to invest in racing bikes and, during the postwar era, used what materials and parts they had available, with uncertain expectations and results. In the first races of the 1950s, Ducati entered several riders on their small Cucciolo, a 50cc, that ended up winning second place overall in the under 75cc category. It was a bike fans could relate to as well since many Italians owned at least a bicycle and used it to get to work (Lodi). What if they attached a small motor to their own bicycle to be able to go longer distances in a short time? The Cucciolo was followed by Ducati’s 98cc, which became the brand’s first “real” winning motorcycle and showed the public what a small, rugged machine could do.
△ Ducati Cucciolo (1946–58), Ducati Museum in Bologna, Italy. [Fig.1 & 2]
Energized by the performance of these early models and their potential larger appeal, Ducati then put more resources into creating what became an emblematic Motogiro bike, the 100 Gran Sport known as the “Marianna” (because produced in a Marian year).[1] The model won the 1955 100cc class. Designed by the now celebrated Ducati engineer Fabio Taglioni, the motorcycle underscored the link between suitability for road racing and the potential for production for the public. Livio Lodi, Curator of the Ducati Museum in Bologna explains, “If you make a motorcycle that wins, people identify with it. People saw the Marianna win and they wanted it (Lodi).” Taglioni was, in fact, charged with making a victorious bike. He designed the Marianna in just 40 days based on ideas from popular British motorbikes of the time. Lodi notes that Ducati legend holds that the engineer even went six months without pay to see his idea come to fruition. It was a success for him and for Ducati, which could now easily compete for a piece of the market alongside the older Italian makers. Ducati won again in the 100cc class the following year and captured the 125cc class as well with what became the 125 GP Desmo. This motorcycle featured the maker’s special valve system known as desmodromic. The Gran Sport proved to be a motorcycle that could win the endurance races; it twice captured the Milano-Taranto and held the top six spots in a later Motogiro (Ducati Museum).
△ Ducati 125 Gran Sport “Marianna” (1955), Ducati Museum in Bologna, Italy. [Fig.3 & 4]
Road racing success was important to the development of the idea of brand reliability for motorcycles with a displacement larger than 50cc. Makers put out more bikes that could be produced on an industrial scale for the commercial market. The engines were simple and could be fixed in a hurry on the side of a road during a race, something that appealed to riders looking into a long-term transportation investment. Pilots carried a small tool kit and a few parts that could be interchanged easily if the motorcycle misbehaved during the race. Help from mechanics was generally only available at the start and finish lines so racers had to learn to do some wrenching on their own if they wanted to make it to the next stage. Spectators saw this aspect as well. Motors that were easy to understand and reach meant a quick fix. This translated to the public, too, when they imagined that recovering from a breakdown on the way to work wouldn’t prevent them from losing wages or risk being fired (Lodi).
Manufacturers reached important conclusions about the potential crossover between the road races and daily use. Production soon escalated across the industry with MV Agusta and Gilera adapting closed circuit race bikes for the long-distance Motogiro and Milano-Taranto races in 1957 (Rizzoli 44) and translating them for the public. Other popular bikes included the Rumi 125 Sport, which was made between 1951 and 1958 and appeared in the Milano-Taranto. The cost of this motorcycle declined from 235,000 lire to 185,000 (roughly 1300 Euros today) as more units were sold and improvements made to production (Sarti 228). Note that the average salary for a factory worker at the time was about 86,000 lire per month and 115,000 for a white-collar worker (800 and 1000 Euros respectively).[2] Buying a new motorcycle was expensive but feasible.
The motorcycles were a big draw for the crowds, of course, but so were the riders. Here, too, there was an accessibility to road racing that meant nearly anyone could imagine himself (generally a “he”) joining in the competition. Although the manufacturers put together their own teams of highly skilled riders, private individuals could enter the race for a fee of 8000 lira (the equivalent of about 95 Euros today), which gave them the opportunity to collect prize money from a pool of 2,120,000 lira (about 25 thousand of today’s Euros) as well as compete for various trophies, cups, and even magazine subscriptions. They could also hope to attract the attention of the major brands and be asked to join their teams. Independent rider Leopoldo Tartarini, for example, won the 1953 Motogiro on a Benelli Leoncino and was then asked to ride for them. Being on a team meant taking in a respectable middle-class salary; pilots made about 10 times more than mechanics in the 1950s. Some riders, such as Paolo Campanelli, noted that road racing was a way out of poverty in the lean times of the early 1950s, “there were seven kids in my family and, without a profession, times were very hard…you tried to get a good result in order to earn a bit of money (Rizzoli 137).” The thrill of victory held extra appeal for anyone going through a rough economic period.
The manufacturers were interested in selling motorbikes to the public and encouraged interactions between racers and regular riders and admirers. They arranged opportunities for signing autographs at the beginning and end of race days and encouraged public appearances on their winning motorcycles (Mansueti). Sometimes, however, an enthusiastic Motogiro competitor took it too far, as did Emilio Mendogni, who was scolded by Afonso Morini of Moto Morini for waving back at the crowds along the route during a race. Morini told Mendogni he was not out there to “take a stroll with his money (Rizzoli 107)” and to focus on the road. Tensions that mounted when riders were fired or switched teams to seek more money or opportunities contributed to the lore of the Motogiro. Fans followed their stories with interest. There were not all the related sponsorships or lavish salaries attached to modern GP racing, of course, but winning riders enjoyed the media spotlight and hero status.[3]
The danger of the Motogiro contributed to its mystique as well but both riders and the public responded to the risks with a certain fatalism. Winning rider Francesco Villa explained, “In those days, the relationship with death was something altogether different, both for the riders, who sped around in between walls without any kind of protection, and for the public. I remember in some parts, the spectators sat on walls on the side of the road and, heedless of the potential danger, they often sat in places where they had to pull their feet away when we came along, otherwise we would have run over them (Rizzoli 137).” The onlookers wanted to be as close to the action as possible. The riders were there to race and potentially win and collect prize money. The manufacturers wanted to have their bikes cross the finish line in good standing. They chose their pilots carefully, excluding individual riders who rode well but were known for having drinking problems or pilots with bigger egos than skills. Serious accidents or deaths tended to reflect badly on the motorcycles more than on the pilots and left the public wondering how the machines had failed them. Very few of the professional team riders died in the Motogiro, one to three in most of the 1950s race years, but there were, not surprisingly, accidents of varying seriousness.
Nonetheless, a major blow to the sport came when disaster struck on the roads in 1957. During the Mille Miglia (Thousand Mile) auto race, a Spanish driver for Ferrari went off course and into the crowd, killing himself and nine spectators and injuring twenty more. The Italian government immediately put a ban on all road racing that was held until the late 1960s, when limited time trial races supervised by the FMI (Federazione Motociclistica Italiana) were allowed, including a version of the Motogiro. The taste for road racing had not gone away despite the Mille Miglia tragedy. The vintage bike tribute format has been at the core of the structure of the Milano-Taranto and Motogiro races since they were again re-organized in 1987 and 1989 respectively (Mansueti). Both events, labeled “historical re-enactments,” feature several categories of motorcycles based on the size and year produced and allow a limited number of participants, usually not more than 200 riders. Some of the pilots are looking to capture the sensations of their predecessors by understanding the challenges of long competitions in the saddle. Other riders want to see the backroads of Italy and commune with other vintage bike enthusiasts. The modern versions attract Italians and non-Italians with a shared passion. Townspeople come out to see them go by and the traditional news and social media cover the spectacle, often reflecting on the heritage of the early races and their motorcycles and pilots (Motogiro website).
Author Simon Vaukins has written of the importance of the Isle of Man TT to Manx identity, arguing that it has shaped a sense of pride similar to that of the Tour de France. Despite some of the inconveniences of the race on its residents, a vast majority, about 85% of the Manx population, say the TT should be supported because it is so integral to the island’s economic, political, and social life (188). This is despite several spectator injuries and deaths, including as recently as 2007 when rider Marc Ramsbotham crashed, killing two onlookers (Robertson). Of course, a small island provides a much different context than Italy, but the idea of the heritage of the TT is also relevant in the case of the Motogiro and Milano-Taranto. The legacy of road racing continues in Italy. Even non-riders can appreciate the “made in Italy” motorcycle brands that continue to hold special meaning for their nation’s racing history. And commuters and casual riders feel a little of the excitement of the pilots of the past as they traverse many of the same roads for work or pleasure. Motorbikes are part of Italian cultural identity and an integral part of daily life that has held on since this “golden age” of the 1950s.
Notes
[1] A Marian year is a year designated by the Vatican in which Mary, the mother of Jesus, is to be especially revered.
[2] My calculations are based on the FXTOP historical currency converter https://fxtop.com/en/historical-currency-converter.php.
[3] During my Motogiro participation in 2021, I was struck by how many town residents greeted us with food, drinks and other goodies at our checkpoint stops and asked questions or took photos of us and our motorcycles. I may have even helped sell a few Benellis!
References
Bianchi, Luigi and Marco Masetti. Motociclismo racconta la storia della Ducati. Pero (MI): Edisport Editoriale, 1997.
Cascina Gobba. “Primi campionati italiani motociclistici alla Gobba.” Website of Cascina Gobba, la storia di una cascina e dei suoi abitat, http://www.lagobba.it/ 2024.
Curphey, Tom. “Isle of Man TT 2024: Organisers Issue Latest Update on Injured Riders.” Isle of Man Today, 10 June 2024, https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-tt-2024-organisers-issue-latest-update-on-injured-riders-695664/.
Ducati Museum Website. https://www.ducati.com/us/en/heritage/bikes/. Accessed 15 June 2024.
Friedman, Alan. Agnelli: Fiat and the Network of Italian Power. New York: New American Library, 1989.
Lodi, Livio. Museum Curator. Interview with Author. Ducati Museum, Bologna, Italy, 29 January 2024.
Mansueti, Massimo. Organizer of the Motogiro d’Italia. Interview with Author, Moto Club L. Liberati – P. Pileri, Terni, Italy, 21 January 2022.
Mazzanti, Davide. Vespa: Style in Motion. San Francisco: Piaggio, 2004.
Milano-Taranto. Website https://www.milanotaranto.com/storia/. Accessed 20 February 2024.
Motogiro d’Italia Website. “Rules Excerpt.” https://www.motogiroitalia.it/en/rules-excerpt/. Accessed 14 June 2024.
Nahum, Andrew and Martin Derrick. Ferrari: Under the Skin. London: Phaidon Press, 2017.
Palmieri, Raimondo. Libero Liberati….un uomo, una leggenda. Terni: Morphema Editrice, 2016.
Piersanti, Maela and Federica Lorusso. La Storia. Le Emozioni. I 100 Anni. Il Motogiro d’Italia Terni: Madè Pubbliche Relazioni, 2014.
Pionava, Giorgia. Motogiro d’Italia 1953: la rinascita del motociclismo. Modena: Edizioni Il Fiorino, 2010.
Rizzoli, Arturo. Motogiro: la sfida temeraria. Photos by Walter Breveglieri. Bologna: Minerva 2007.
Robertson, Tony. “TT Horror: How Many Deaths Have There Been During the Isle of Man TT?” The Sun UK Edition, 7 June 2024, https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/28231010/isle-of-man-tt-deaths/.
Sarti, Giorgio. Il grande libro delle moto italiane anni 50-60. Vimodrone (MI): Giorgio Nada Editore, 2006.
Stanfield, Peter. Hoodlum Movies: Seriality and the Outlaw Biker Film Cycle, 1966-1972. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2018.
Statista. Motorcycles: Market Data and Analysis. Market Insights Report. December 2023.
Vaukins, Simon. The Isle of Man TT Races: Motorcycling, Society and Identity. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014.
Image Attributions
[Fig.1 & 2] + [Fig.3 & 4] Photographs by Wendy Pojmann.
Wendy Pojmann, Ph.D. is Professor of History at Siena College in Albany, New York. Her latest book, Espresso: The Art & Soul of Italy, was published by the Bordighera Press in 2021. She is the author of many books and articles on women, immigration and feminism in Italy. Dr. Pojmann is a regular contributor to The Vintagent: A Motorcycle Arts Foundation Production. She is currently working on a longer project about motorcycle culture in the US and Italy. In 2021, she competed in the Motogiro d’Italia.
Great historical story. Fast forward to 2024 and Ducati has turned the motorcycle Roadracing world upside down. While the four leading Japanese manufacturers–Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki–dominated motorcycle racing world wide for many years, Ducati is now the most successful brand at the top level of the sport–MotoGP–and this year’s World Champion will have ridden a Ducati in front of weekend audiences at the tracks in some cases over 200,000.