The history of racing is filled with stories of great
rivalries, but one of the most enduring is the all-out battle between Gilera
and MV Agusta.
In The Gilera-MV Agusta Rivalry 1950-1966, authors Raymond
Ainscoe and Gianni Perrone detail the on and off-track story of this legendary
contest at its very peak.
The book features a wealth of rarely-seen photographs,
profiles of some of the great names of the period – like Geoff Duke, Les Graham
and John Surtees - and a detailed, well-researched and thoroughly readable
account of a great rivalry.
We relive some of the great showdowns from Grand Prix racing
and the Isle of Man TT as we explore one of the great motorcycle racing
rivalries.
The foreword is written by Alfredo Milani, a leading works
Gilera rider during this epic era.
Raymond Ainscoe has been writing about classic racing for
almost three decades, his work appearing in many magazines and books. In
addition he wrote the script for the Great Italian GP Racers programme,
produced by Duke. As well as writing about classic racing machines, Raymond
regularly joins parades and races for classic bike, usually on a Gilera.
Gianni Perrone raced successfully for more than 20 years,
before becoming a collector of classic machines, including the four cylinder
125cc Ducati and the ex-Gilera Argentina
500cc “quattro”. He has contributed articles to numerous classic bike magazines
and remains an active participant in revival meetings across Europe.