Luca Cadalora (born 17 May 1963) is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer who is the 125 cc World Champion, and 250 cc World Champion and 8-time Premier Class race winner. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1984 to 2000.

Racing career Born in Modena, Emilia Romagna, Cadalora began his professional motorcycle racing career in 1984, riding an MBA in the 125cc world championship. In 1986, he won the 125cc World Championship while riding for the Garelli factory racing team. His success earned him a promotion to the 250cc class with Giacomo Agostini's Marlboro Yamaha factory racing team in 1986. In 1991, Cadalora switched to the Rothmans Honda factory racing team and won the 250cc World Championship aboard an Erv Kanemoto-tuned Honda NSR250.Luca Cadalora profile at crash.net He successfully defended his title with Honda in 1992, claiming his third world championship.

In 1993, Cadalora rose to the premier 500cc division as Wayne Rainey's teammate in the Kenny Roberts-Yamaha team. In three seasons on the Roberts Yamaha, he displayed flashes of brilliance, finishing as high as second to Mick Doohan in 1994. Cadalora rejoined Kanemoto for the 1996 season racing a Honda NSR500. Despite lacking any major sponsors, he still managed to finish the season in third place aboard the Kanemoto-Honda.

For the 1997 season, Cadalora got a contract as official Yamaha rider in the new Promotor Racing team backed by an Austrian businessman. However, after few races the team failed due to financial problems. WCM rescued the team with the help of a Red Bull sponsorship and Cadalora ended the season in sixth place. At the beginning of the 1998 season, WCM and Cadalora lost Yamaha official support. He returned to the Rainey-Yamaha works team for a few races to replace an injured Jean-Michel Bayle, then helped develop the new MuZ race bike. In 1999, he was again with MuZ. Cadalora finished his career with Kenny Roberts' Modenas team in 2000.

Cadalora retired with 34 Grand Prix victories in three different classes.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By class ClassSeason1st GP1st Pod1st WinRaceWinPodiumsPoleFLapPtsWChmp 125cc 1984–1986 1984 Nations 1984 Germany 1986 Germany 25 4 9 6 5 153 1 250cc 1987–1992 1987 Japan 1987 Spain 1988 Germany 87 22 39 15 19 950 2 500cc 1989, 1993–2000 1989 Great Britain 1993 Great Britain 1993 Great Britain 83 8 24 8 6 827 0 Total 1984–2000 195 34 72 29 30 1930 3

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts 1984 125cc MBA NAT SPA GER FRA NED GBR SWE RSM 8th 27 1985 125cc MBA SPA GER NAT AUT NED BEL FRA GBR SWE RSM 17th 4 1986 125cc Garelli SPA NAT GER AUT NED BEL FRA GBR SWE RSM BWU 1st 122 1987 250cc Yamaha JPN SPA GER NAT AUT YUG NED FRA GBR SWE CZE RSM POR BRA ARG 7th 63 1988 250cc Yamaha JPN USA SPA EXP NAT GER AUT NED BEL YUG FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA 6th 136 1989 250cc Yamaha JPN AUS USA SPA NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA 5th 127 500cc Yamaha JPN AUS USA SPA NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA 27th 8 1990 250cc Yamaha JPN USA SPA NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE HUN AUS 3rd 184 1991 250cc Honda JPN AUS USA SPA ITA GER AUT EUR NED FRA GBR RSM CZE VDM MAL 1st 237 1992 250cc Honda JPN AUS MAL SPA ITA EUR GER NED HUN FRA GBR BRA RSA 1st 203 1993 500cc Yamaha AUS MAL JPN SPA AUT GER NED EUR RSM GBR CZE ITA USA FIM 5th 145 1994 500cc Yamaha AUS MAL JPN SPA AUT GER NED ITA FRA GBR CZE USA ARG EUR 2nd 174 1995 500cc Yamaha AUS MAL JPN SPA GER ITA NED FRA GBR CZE BRA ARG EUR 3rd 176 1996 500cc Honda MAL INA JPN SPA ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT BRA AUS 3rd 168 1997 500cc Yamaha MAL JPN SPA ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER BRA GBR CZE CAT INA AUS 6th 129 1998 500cc Yamaha JPN MAL SPA ITA FRA MAD 22nd 10 Suzuki NED GBR GER CZE IMO CAT AUS MuZ ARG 1999 500cc MuZ Weber MAL JPN SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE IMO VAL AUS RSA BRA ARG 20th 14 2000 500cc Modenas RSA MAL JPN SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL BRA PAC AUS 27th 3

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2000 Ducati RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN JPN GBR GBR ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR SPA SPA USA USA EUR EUR NED NED GER GER GBR GBR NC 0

References