article by Nicola Pucci
Too little is said about Luigi Taveri when remembering the great champions of the past. But it is best not to forget that this Swiss boy from Horgen (Canton Zurich), born in 1929, holds a record that is not even remotely comparable, that of having been able to score points in all the classes of the world championship. Sidecar included, which saw him debut in 1949 alongside his older brother Hans, taking eighth place on his home circuit of Bremgarten.
Effectively, Taveri’s career is among the longest and most rewardingalbeit after that first approach the Swiss only in 1953 did he return to compete in the world championship on a permanent basiswho moved on to riding motorcycles in 1951 and became the national champion among juniors in the 350 class the following year with a Velocette. And if the first seasons did not see him excel in the pay of AJS and Norton (1953 and 1954 in the 350 class and sidecar), Moto Guzzi (1954 in the 250 class) and MV Augusta (1954 in the 500 class), here from 1955, definitively committed to the Varese company, he only doubled his commitment in the 125 and 250 classes, winning on his debut in Spain with the eighth liter and in Assen with the larger displacementthe first successes of a career that will see him pass first under the checkered flag 30 times and reach the podium 89 times.
However, in order to avoid simply reeling off an infinite sequence of results, we would like to focus attention on the engine capacity that more than the others brought fame and money to Taveri, namely the 125and then, remembering that in the 50cc class between 1962 and 1966 he added 6 victories, finishing second in the standings in 1965 (behind the English Ralph Bryans) and third in 1962 and 1966, who in the 250 class won 2 times and was second in 1956 (beaten by Carlo Ubbiali) and third in 1960, who in the 350 class collected 3 podiums and was third in 1963, who in the 500 class boasted a fourth place in France in 1954 and who with the sidecar added 1 point in 1954 finishing sixth alongside Hans Haldemann in Switzerland, making room for the most beautiful and glorious adventure of the Swiss centaur.
The success on his debut in 125 on the Montjuic circuit in Barcelona, distancing Romolo Ferri and Carlo Ubbiali by over 30″ announces a first season as protagonist at the end of which Taverithen second in France, at the Tourist Trophy and in Germany always behind the champion from Bergamo, also riding an MV Augusta, finally he finishes in second position also in the drivers’ ranking, 26 points against Ubbiali’s 32.
In the following three yearstwo spent in the service of the MV Augusta and the third riding a Ducati, Taveri is consistently among the fastest, achieving success at Ulster in 1957 by beating Tarquinio Provini and finishing three consecutive times in third place in a final ranking which rewards Ubbiali and Provini himself.
Taveri’s performances in 1959 and 1960who alternates riding MZ, Ducati and MV Augusta, they are not equal to the previous ones, and undoubtedly not even faithful to his ambitionsfinishing no better than fourth and sixth in the drivers’ standings with the corollary of three podium finishes, however Honda offered him a contract and from 1961, until the end of his career in 1966, he put his services, and all his talent as a top-class motorcyclist, at the service of the Japanese company. Crowning his pursuit of that world title he had always dreamed of.
After having finished 1961 in third place behind teammate Tom Phillis and Ernst Degnerrenewing the appointment in Belgium and Sweden with a victory that had been missing since 1957, the following year Taveri found himself battling with the other two Hondas of the Rhodesian Jim Redman and the British Tommy Robb, putting together a series of 6 consecutive victories which allowed himalso thanks to the serious accident that occurred to Kunimitsu Takahashi, who after winning the first two races in Spain and France was forced to miss the rest of the season, to become world champion, 48 points against Redman’s 38 and Robb’s 30.
And if in 1963 the Suzuki of New Zealander Hugh Anderson finally proved to be more competitive, relegating the Swiss to second place in the general classification, 38 points against 54with two victories in Spain and Monza, the following year the Honda rider took a resounding revenge, dominating a season in which he added five successes (Spain, France, Tourist Trophy, Finland and Monza) and four second places, finally totaling 46 points against Redman’s 36 and 34 by Anderson himself which earned him his second world title.
To complete the one-two-three world championship in the 125 class, Taveri had to wait two more years, 1966when he showed up at the start of what would be his last season of his career on the back of a 1965 that was truly stingy with satisfaction, having finished in fifth place in a championship once again dominated by Hugh Anderson.
The oceanic is not competitive this time to defend the eighth-liter title, so that’s it a new rival for Taveri is on the horizon, the 23 year old Englishman Bill Ivy, who rides a Yamaha and is in his second season in the world championship. The Swiss champion, who has been competing for 37 years, was defeated in his debut match in Spain, crossing the finish line 18″ behind, but already in Hockenheim he is the fastest of the lotovertaking teammate Ralph Bryans and taking the lead in the rankings. In Assen the two contenders gave rise to a close challenge which ultimately rewarded Ivey, but Taveri’s two successes at the Sachsenring and in Brno, with the English driver only third in both races, in addition to the second place in Finland behind Phil Read and another victory in Ulster, effectively awarding the Swiss the world title. To whom all that remains is the seal oflast victory in the last race of his career, in Monza on 11 September 1966.
Dreams, for Luigi Taveri, have turned into reality, and now yes, it’s time to hang up the helmet. With the stigmata of the winner.