Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora (born May 17, 1963 in Modena, Italy) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. He won the 1986 125cc World Championship on a Garelli and then the 1991 and 1992 250cc World Championship aboard an Erv Kanemoto tuned Honda.
In 1993 he rose to the blue riband 500cc division as Wayne Rainey's team mate in the Kenny Roberts Yamaha team. In three seasons on the Roberts Yamaha, he displayed flashes of brilliance, finishing as high as 2nd to Mick Doohan in 1994. Cadalora rejoined Kanemoto for the 1996 season, racing a Honda NSR-500. Despite lacking any major sponsors, he still managed to finish the season in third place aboard the Kanemoto Honda. He returned to the Rainey Yamaha squad for a few races in 1997 season then helped develop the new MuZ race bike in 1999. He closed out his career with Kenny Roberts' Modenas team in 2000.
Despite having immense talent, Cadalora was an enigma. He never trained as hard as he could have yet, on any given Sunday he could beat the best riders in the world during a period in Grand Prix history that was rich with talented riders.
Motorcycle Grand Prix Results
| Year | Class | Classification | Machine | Victories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 125cc | 8th | MBA | 0 |
| 1985 | 125cc | 17th | MBA | 0 |
| 1986 | 125cc | 1st | Garelli | 4 |
| 1987 | 250cc | 7th | Yamaha | 0 |
| 1988 | 250cc | 6th | Yamaha | 2 |
| 1989 | 250cc | 5th | Yamaha | 2 |
| 1990 | 250cc | 3rd | Yamaha | 3 |
| 1991 | 250cc | 1st | Honda | 8 |
| 1992 | 250cc | 1st | Honda | 7 |
| 1993 | 500cc | 5th | Yamaha | 2 |
| 1994 | 500cc | 2nd | Yamaha | 2 |
| 1995 | 500cc | 3rd | Yamaha | 2 |
| 1996 | 500cc | 3rd | Honda | 2 |
| 1997 | 500cc | 6th | Yamaha | 0 |