Today in motorcycle history, January 19, 1949

Champion motorcycle racer Otello Buscherini is born in Romagna, Italy.   Buscherini could have been mistaken for a horseracing jockey not a motorcycle jockey.  Weighing barely 110lbs, he was well-known for his nerves of steel, though some would call it recklessness, when racing.   His racing career began in 1966 on a Minarelli and then moved to a Malanca to win the Italian Hill Climb title in 1968 and 1969.  By 1972 he'd won the Italian 50cc Championship, but a bad crash in a 125cc race at Brno, Czech Republic, resulted in the need for a lengthy recuperation.   Finally recovered, he returned in 1974 to win the Italian 125cc Championship on a Malanca and moved up to the 350cc class winning at Brno on a Yamaha-Diemme.   The next year at the GP of Nations at Mugello in the 250cc event, his Yamaha crashed at the Arrabiata Uno corner and Otello was struck by his own bike.  On May 16, 1976 Otello Buscherini died from chest injuries suffered in the crash.