Former World Champion Franco Uncini Named Grand Prix Safety Officer

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

The International Motorcycling Federation has named Franco Uncini the FIM Grand Prix Safety Officer and circuit inspector. The 1982 500cc Grand Prix World Champion (pictured on the left above) takes over for the retired Claude Danis (right in the photo) to oversee safety in MotoGP.

The now 58-year-old Uncini won the 1982 World Championship for Roberto Gallina‘s factory-backed Suzuki. After retiring as a racer in 1985, Uncini managed Ducati‘s factory World Superbike team for Doug Polen‘s 1992 championship-winning campaign.

Uncini first worked in a safety advisory capacity in 1993 after being Grand Prix racers appointed him the IRTA rider safety delegate. Part of his duties involved working with Danis, making Uncini a logical choise as Danis’ successor.

Danis joined the FIM’s road racing commission in 1991, later serving as chairman from 1993-2010. Danis also represented the FIM with the Grand Prix Race Direction. The FIM released a statement thanking Danis for his role in making improvements in the name of safety.

[Source: FIM]

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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