Mario Lega (born 20 February 1949) is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer and telephone technician. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between and , most prominently as a member of the Morbidelli racing team where he won the 250cc World Championship.

Motorcycle racing career Lega was born on 20 February 1949 in Lugo, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He began his motorcycle racing career in 1966 in the Italian Cadet Championship class. He won the 1970 Italian Junior National Championship riding a Yamaha TD2 and was promoted to the Senior Class in 1972. Although he raced motorcycles professionally, his main occupation was as a telephone technician for the Italian state-owned telecommunications company, SIP, where he continued to be employed throughout his motorcycle racing career.

At the age of 24, Lega scored his first World Championship points with a fourth place at the Yugoslavian Grand Prix. In , he won the 350cc Italian National Championship and finished second to Giacomo Agostini (MV Agusta) at the 1974 350cc Nations Grand Prix.

In , Giancarlo Morbidelli asked Lega to join the Morbidelli team as a substitute rider, replacing the injured Paolo Pileri in the 250cc World Championship. The 1977 season was one of the most competitive in years with seven different race winners in the first seven races of the year. Lega scored a surprise victory over Takazumi Katayama at the 250cc Yugoslavian Grand Prix for the only win of his World Championship career. His victory in Yugoslavia vaulted him into the championship points lead prompting Morbidelli to ask Lega to remain on the team for the remainder of the season. Lega scored three more podiums to clinch the 1977 250cc World Championship, ending the three-year reign of the Harley-Davidson-owned Aermacchi team and their rider Walter Villa. He also won the 350cc Italian National Championship for the second time in 1977.

Lega returned to the Morbidelli team for the 250cc World Championship. He scored two podium results however, the season was dominated by the Kawasaki team of Kork Ballington and Gregg Hansford riding the Kawasaki KR250. Lega ended the season ranked seventh in the championship.

In 1979 Lega returned to the Italian national championship as well as the European Endurance Championship where he teamed up with Víctor Palomo on a Ducati to place eighth place in the overall standings. He retired after the 1979 season and continued his career with the SIP telephone company. Lega later wrote for La Gazzetta dello Sport, commentating on Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing results

Points system from 1969 onwards: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Points Rank Wins 250cc Yamaha FRA- AUT- GER- IOM- YUG4 NED- BEL- CZE10 SWE- FIN- ESP- 9 22nd 0 350cc Yamaha FRA- AUT- GER- NAT8 IOM- YUG- NED- CZE- SWE- FIN- ESP- 3 36th 0 500cc Yamaha FRA- AUT- GER- IOM- YUG- NED- BEL- CZE7 SWE- FIN- ESP- 4 34th 0 350cc Yamaha FRA- GER- AUT- NAT2 IOM- NED- BEL- SWE- FIN- CZE- 12 18th 0 250cc Yamaha FRA- ESP- GER- NAT6 IOM- NED- BEL- SWE- FIN- CZE- YUG- 5 26th 0 350cc Yamaha FRA- ESP- AUT- GER- NAT- IOM- NED- FIN- CZE- YUG7 4 32nd 0 250cc Morbidelli VEN9 GER- NAT2 ESP5 FRA4 YUG1 NED5 BEL3 SWE2 FIN7 CZE3 GBR- 85 1st 1 350cc Morbidelli VEN- GER- NAT2 ESP- FRA- YUG- NED- SWE11 FIN- CZE- GBR- 12 19th 0 250cc Morbidelli VEN6 ESP6 FRA- NAT- NED10 BEL6 SWE7 FIN3 GBR- GER- CZE3 YUG7 44 7th 0 350cc Yamaha VEN- AUT- FRA- NAT10 NED- BEL- SWE- FIN- GBR- GER- CZE- YUG- 1 27th 0Sources:

References