Pierfrancesco 'Frankie' Chili, (born 20 June 1964 in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy) is a former

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

racer who competed in the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

and the 250 cc and 500 cc classes in

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

. In September 2020 he confirmed he was suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. In the World Superbike championship he had a record number of starts, as well as 10 poles and 17 wins. He retired at the end of the season. Chili also won the 125cc European Championship in 1985.

500 cc

Chili spent several years on a Gallina HB

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

, with some works backing. He won the

1989 Nations motorcycle Grand Prix The 1989 Nations motorcycle Grand Prix was the fifth race of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 12–14 May 1989 at the Misano circuit, located near the town of Misano Adriatico (Province of Rimini) in ...

when most of the top riders didn't race due to the track being too slippery due to rain, but was generally upper-midfield at best. His best championship finish was 6th in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

250 cc

He stepped down to 250s, finishing 3rd overall in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Superbike World Championship

He switched to the

in on a private

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...

, taking a win at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

and 3 further podiums, as well as the fastest lap in four races, en route to eighth overall. Curiously, in each of - he won race two at

after crashing in race one. In he took two wins as well as his first two poles, coming sixth in the championship. He was seventh-placed in , taking three wins and three poles but only three more podiums. Results in on a factory

were an improvement - Chili won five races to come fourth place overall, his best ever finish. However, at

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

he battled too hard with

Carl Fogarty Carl George Fogarty (born 1 July 1965), often known as Foggy, is an English former motorcycle racer and one of the most successful Superbike World Championship, World Superbike racers of all time. He also holds the third highest number of rac ...

(also on a factory-backed bike, although a separate team), falling on the final lap, and was sacked at the end of the year. In he raced for

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...

, coming sixth with two more wins. His first win came in race two at the A1-Ring, after crashing while leading the first race. In he repeated the ten podiums and fourth place overall of , although with only a single win as

Colin Edwards Colin Edwards II (born February 27, 1974), nicknamed the "Texas Tornado", is an American former professional Motorcycle sport, motorcycle racer who retired half-way through the 2014 season. He is a two-time List of Superbike World champions, Wo ...

dominated. Over the next two years he made the podium just three times, coming seventh and eighth in the series. Although he was only seventh again, represented something of a resurgence for a rider nearing forty years of age; with five third places and one win. The year was even better for the PSG-1

team, fifth overall with another nine podiums. In he moved to the Klaffi Honda team with rookie Max Neukirchner, coming tenth overall. was ruined by a broken pelvis, which caused him to miss several races. Following his retirement he became team manager of the Guandalini Racing team in World Superbikes for the 2009 seasonSmrz to stay with Guandalini
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Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

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

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

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

References

External links

FrankieChili.com
- Official site
Superbike racing statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chili, Pierfrancesco 1964 births 500cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders Italian motorcycle racers Living people Sportspeople from Bologna People with Parkinson's disease