Gianni Leoni
Gianni Leoni ( * March 1, 1915; † August 15, 1951 in Belfast, Northern Ireland ) was an Italian motorcycle racer.
- 2.1 Title
- 2.2 In the World Motorcycle Championship
Career
Gianni Leoni made her debut at the Grand Prix of Nations 1949 in Monza in the Motorcycle World Championship. ³ He started the final race of the inaugural season in the classes up to 125 to 250 and to 500 cm. In the eighth liter class of Italians celebrated on FB Mondial right away his first Grand Prix victory. In the quarter-liter category he was on Moto Guzzi second behind the Benelli drivers Dario Ambrosini and in the half-liter class, he finished fourth.
1949 Leoni denied two of the three discharged 125 cc World Championship races. He was second at the Dutch TT in Assen and again won the Nations Grand Prix, which behind his teammate Bruno Ruffo won him the runner-up title in the eighth liter class.
In the season 1951 Leoni started at 125cc for FB Mondial and the 250s for Moto Guzzi. He won the opening race eighth liter in Spain and was third in the TT. In the quarter-liter class he finished third in Switzerland and second in France.
Fatal Accident
Gianni Leoni accident on August 15, 1951 Training for Ulster Grand Prix difficult. He and his Moto Guzzi team-mate Sante Geminiani and Enrico Lorenzetti circled in training the quarter-liter class close together lying to about 16.5 -mile Clady Circuit. After a few rounds Geminiani and Lorenzetti went unnoticed by Leoni in the box, to swap their machines. After about four kilometers solo flight Leoni was the absence of his team-mates, and the Italians decided, probably worried that an accident could have happened to turn around and drove on the track in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, Geminiani and Lorenzetti had left the box again and were in full speed on the track. The two were not prepared for the oncoming driver, so a collision was inevitable.
Gianni Leoni and Sante Geminiani tried probably both still dodge, but it went in the same direction and thrust at a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour with their heads together. Geminiani was about 40 feet through the air and was dead on the spot Leoni stood for a moment after the accident again, but stopped along unconscious and died the same day in a hospital in Belfast. Enrico Lorenzetti, who drove about 100 meters behind Geminiani could still slow down and drove only at low speed into the accident site. He escaped with minor injuries.
Despite this tragic accident, the Moto Guzzi team withdrew not from the Grand Prix. The following day the works driver Bruno Ruffo won the 250 cc race at the Ulster Grand Prix.
Gianni Leoni survived by his wife and a daughter. In the 125cc class, he was posthumously Vice World Champion. Overall, he played in his career, nine championship Grands Prix. He celebrated three victories and eight podium finishes.