Official Johnny Cecotto Fansite Reports

Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing on July 6th in Francorchamps, Belgium 1975 Seeing Johnny Cecotto for the very first time It’s   a   long   time   ago   but   it   seems   to   be   like   it   was   yesterday   to me.   Although   I   was   only   12   years   old   by   then   it   was   a   day   in my   life   that   would   change   it   for   lifetime.   Since   two   months Johnny   Cecotto   had   come   to   my   attention   and   today   we   were going   to   visit   the   Grand   Prix   motorcycle   racing   of   Belgium   at the   circuit   of   Spa   Francorchamps.   I   have   to   say   I   don't   really recall   everything   of   this   day   because   it's   such   a   long   time   ago but   some   things   stayed   on   my   mind   though.   It   was   going   to be   the   very   first   time   I   was   going   to   visit   a   motorcycle   race   in my   life.   I   was   only   twelve   years   old   but   I   definitely   knew   I   was going    to    see    Johnny    Cecotto    racing    today.    I    went    to    Spa Francorchamps   with   my   brother   and   my   dad   and   our   friends Theo   and   Ton   Konings.   I   remember   it   was   a   long   way   drive   and   it   was   very   crowded   as we   got   in   the   neighbourhood   of   Spa.   On   the   circuit   there   was   a   massive   crowd   and   I didn't   see   that   much   because   I   was   such   a   small   boy   at   that   time.   I   only   could   hear   the motorcycles    of    the    50cc    and 125cc passing by at the straight. They   sounded   like   noisy   sewing machines.   As   the   250cc   started at     14.15     hours     people     got fascinated   because   there   was   a big    battle    going    on    between Rougerie,      Villa      and      Johnny Cecotto.    Luckily    some    people who    had    build    a    kind    of    a standing   got   me   up   there   and   I could    see    a    little    more. Lap     after     lap     these     3 passed   by   and   it   was   an enormous      speed      they had   on   the   uphill   corner of    L'eau    Rouge.    It    was fascinating     to     see     and Cecotto   in   his   colourful   outfit   and   machine   impressed   me   even   more   every   time he   came   by.   As   the   race   went   on   people   got   more   amazed   about   this   tremendous battle   and   in   the   last   lap   everyone   got   standing   up   and   I   couldn't   see   much anymore.   The   man   behind   the   speaker   got   crazier   as   they   got   closer   to   the   finish. As   the   crowd   began   to   yell   when   they   passed   the   line   I   knew   that   Johnny   Cecotto had   won   the   race   and   the   speaker   confirmed   my   thoughts.   He   had   overtaken   Villa   and   Rougerie   in   the   very   last   corner   at   La   Source.   It   looked   like almost   everyone   who   was   present   there   was   a   fan   of   Cecotto   and   so   I   couldn't   see   a   thing   of   the   victory   ceremony.   It   just   was   too   crowded   and everyone   tried   to   see   a   glimpse   of   Johnny   Cecotto.   But   I   didn't   care   that   much   because   Cecotto   had   won   and   that   made   my   day.   For   sure   Johnny Cecotto   was   going   to   stay   my   idol   now!!   We   didn't   want   to   get   in   trouble with   getting   home   so   decided   to   go   away   as   the   500cc   was   still   going   on.   I didn't   care   much   as   for   Cecotto   had   done   his   race   for   the   day   and   wasn't going   to   be   in   action   any   more.   Though   I   still   do   remember   clearly   this heavy   noise   of   the   500cc   MV   Agusta's   of   Phil   Read   and   Gianfranco   Bonera. The   Yamaha's   and Suzuki's   sounded   a lot   sharper   and   as far    as    I    could    see they    looked    much nicer   than   the   MV Agusta,   well   at   least   in   my   opinion   back   then.   But   more   important   to   me   was   that   when   we walked   back   to   the   parking   lot   through   the   crowd   I   found   a   program   magazine   of   this Belgian   Grand   Prix.   As   I   took   it   with   me   and   looked   at   it   there   was   a   one   page   poster   inside of   Johnny   Cecotto.   What   a   possession   that   was   to   me,   it   was   my   first   Cecotto   poster!   But then   my   mother,   without   knowing,   threw   it   away   some   years   later   while   she   was   cleaning the   house   and   so   I   lost   it.   At   that   time   I   was   very   sad   about   it.   I   did   buy   myself   another   copy some   30   years   later   in   2005.   When   I   look   at   it   and   also   while   writing   this   it   gives   me   great feelings   of   a   very   long   time   ago.   These   kind   of   things   are   experiences   that   people   don't   ever forget again in their lives. And this was such kind of thing for me for sure.