Today in motorcycle history, July 24, 1905

 


                                     

  Moto Guzzi madman, Omobono "The Black Devil" Tenni is born in Tirano, Italy.

 

 

  Omobono won his first race at 19 on a borrowed Moto Guzzi.  For the next several years he would continue racing borrowed two-wheeler's.  Then in 1931 a local motorcycle racing club pooled their money and bought him a Velocette KTP 350.   Tenni paid them back by a third place finish at Monza in the Italian Grand Prix followed by a victory at the Grand Prix Reale of Rome.

  In 1932, he won a race at Rapallo against Moto Guzzi's star rider, Pietro Ghersi.  His gutsy performance earned him a spot on the Moto Guzzi team for the 1933 season.  For the 1934 season, Moto Guzzi developed a new 500cc V-twin and Tenni rode it to victory at the Italian Grand Prix ahead of his team-mate Stanley Woods.  He would go on to win the 1934 Italian 500cc National Championship. 

  At Tenni's first Isle of Man TT in 1935 he was fighting with the course, riding hard, closing in on his team-mate Woods, when he crashed in a fog bank on the mountain section.  He picked up his bike, pulled off his helmet and, whamm-o!, his hair comes bursting out.  It was here that he came to be known as the Black Devil referring both to the color of his hair and his maniacal riding style.  He would again capture the 500cc Italian National Championship in 1935.

  The highlight of his career was winning the Lightweight at the 1937 Isle of Man TT, becoming the first Italian to win the TT.

  He suffered serious injuries in the 1938 and 1940 seasons then his racing career was put on hold by World War II.  After the war, he began racing again, claiming his fourth Italian 500cc Championship for Moto Guzzi in 1947. 

  Omobono Tenni had 47 victories racing for Moto Guzzi in the period from 1933 to 1948.