Real world rides, real world riders

The passing of legends

It had not been widely known that Castiglioni was ill and the news of his passing at such a relatively young age shocked many of us.

Castiglioni was a true giant of the motorcycle world, a man whose vision and passion for creating exotic and exquisite two-wheeled machines changed the way bikers and the rest of the industry looked at what was possible in the modern biking world.

Castiglioni personally elevated the Italian motorcycle industry to its current role as world leader, he excelled with many factories and marques. His own CV of achievement reads like a who’s who of the great bike builders.

After his experience in the family business specialising in metalworking and manufacturing, in 1978 Castiglioni founded the Cagiva company which continually developed new and innovative motorcycles that have influenced the direction of the Italian and world motorcycle markets through the 1980s and 1990s.

Intuitive, tenacious and a true visionary, Claudio Castiglioni wasn’t happy with just the one iconic Italian factory though and pushed on to purchase the historic brands Ducati, Husqvarna and MV Agusta.

Castiglioni and his team gave us some of the most important motorcycles ever built. Some, like the Cagiva Elefant and Mito, redefined the class they appeared in at the time while others, such as the Ducati 916 and Monster, were so forward-thinking as to shift the goalposts completely.

Machines like the MV Agusta F4 and Brutale gave the sort of inspired Italian design flair and passion that transformed motorcycles into works of art.

Racing had always been one of his greatest passions, and Castiglioni’s strides into the world of competition resulted in success at every level of world championship racing. With Cagiva came the titles of World Motocross Champion as well as the triumphs in the most enduring desert race, the Paris-Dakar. Also with Cagiva were the numerous successes in the 500GP class in the hands of riders like Randy Mamola and Eddie Lawson.

Ducati, under his guidance, dominated entire seasons of the World Superbike Championship thanks to models such as the 851 and 916. Carl Fogarty stormed his way to world fame and success with the Italian Ducati company and carved out a large section of history for himself and Castiglioni with a series of stunning rides on the wonderfully beautiful blood-red bikes.

Finally, Husqvarna acquired a number of World Championships in Enduro, Motocross and Supermotard.

At the very centre of Claudio’s personal and professional history there is MV Agusta, to which he dedicated over 15 years creating beautiful motorcycles.

MSL will be looking at some of the greatest creations and highlights of Castiglioni’s amazing legacy next issue.

It has been a sad month for news of the greats.

Not only have we lost Claudio Castiglioni but we also lost Gary Nixon. Nixon was one of those great racing characters who epitomised the era he contested. It was with no argument that Nixon was a favourite rival among his contemporaries such as Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts.

It was also no mistake that Barry Sheene would often show off his friendship to the American by wearing a stars and stripes Nixon T-shirt under his race leathers.

Nixon was one of the legends of the track and continued to be a presence in the racing world right up until his passing on August 5.

Both outstanding men in their own right, Claudio Castiglioni and Gary Nixon will be sorely missed by the worlds they touched with their unique skills.

Tony Carter