How do the MotoGP bikes of today compare to those of three decades ago? That was the question on everyone's minds as Giacomo Agostini was afforded a precious opportunity to ride the 2007 championship-winning Ducati Desmosedici 800 back to back with 1973 and '74 works MV Agusta 500s.
On a chilly Halloween's eve we convened at Monza, Italy, as guests of Italian magazine Motociclismo, which arranged this once-in-alifetime test. On hand was Ducati's test team, with the Desmosedici GP7 normally ridden by Vittoriano Guareschi done up in Casey Stoner livery. So OK, it wasn't really one of Stoner's bikes-those were en route to the final Grand Prix of the season at Valencia, Spain-but it was a dead ringer.
In the garage next door were a couple of MV Agustas, accompanied by the entire crew from Agostini's final championship year, 1972-one of whom, it should be noted, is the father of one of Stoner's mechanics. The two MVs are owned by Elli Ubaldo, owner of the Elly tool company, who reportedly has more than 30 works MVs in his collection.
Stoner was utterly dominant en route to his first world championship, winning 10 of 18 races. But that's nothing compared to Agostini's record. Granted, racing was less competitive then, with less factory involvement, and the Italian was often the best rider on the best bike. But Ago had to beat legends such as Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Jim Redman, and in doing so won a record 15 world championships and 122 GPs. Even more incredibly, he won seven-straight 500 and 350cc world titles on Count Agusta's MVs before the onslaught of Japanese two-strokes ended Italian dominance. Ago shocked the racing world by signing to ride for Yamaha in '74, and became the first rider to win the 500cc championship on a twostroke one year later. Ironically, he was also the last rider to win a race on a four-stroke, when he dusted off his old MV 500 to ride at the daunting Nrburgring in Germany in '76. That race also proved to be his and MV's final GP victories.
Grand Prix racing was much different then.Races were regularly held on blindingly fast public-road circuits, and the Isle of Man TT was a points-paying round of the world championship until '76, when Ago led the movement to have it removed from the calendar on safety grounds. Even purpose-built racetracks were faster and more flowing. A lap of Monza used to consist of long straights and fast corners, whereas today it's dotted with speed-limiting chicanes. So there was more emphasis on high-speed handling and outright top speed than on acceleration and braking, which are the main focal points today.
The works MV Agustas bear little resemblance to the streetbikes sold to the public. They look primitive parked next to the Desmosedici, but they were state-of-the-art in their day. Their inline-four engines are air-cooled and carbureted, but they boast gear-driven DOHC, four valves per cylinder and make a claimed 98 horsepower at 14,000 rpm-more on par with a 903cc Kawasaki Z1 than any period 500. Their frames, while made of steel rather than today's aluminum, aren't simple backbones but rather multi-tube trellises that wrap around the cylinder block like on an '80s Bimota. Suspension is as primitive as it looks, with a spindly right-side-up fork and twin shocks, and the '73 bike had wire wheels and a drum rear brake. But by '74 those had been replaced by mag wheels and discs all around. Tires on both bikes at the test were treaded Michelin Hi-Sports. Slicks weren't used in the GPs until Kenny Roberts and Goodyear arrived on the scene in '78. Top speed was optimistically given as 185 mph.