When Carlo Ubbiali contested the first-ever 125cc grand prix at Berne in Switzerland, on July 3, 1949, Europe was still bloody and broken from the Second World War. Riders from that era remember travelling to meetings – in beat-up vans or towing their bikes on trailers – through a landscape still pockmarked by six years of conflict. But they didn’t want to think about the past, they only cared about the future.

On that day at Berne, Ubbiali finished fourth aboard an MV Agusta, supplied by the company that had spent the war manufacturing bombers and other military aircraft for the Italian war effort. The terms of the 1947 Paris peace treaties banned Construzioni Aeronautiche Agusta and other Italian aviation businesses from building planes, so Count Domenico Agusta retooled his factory for motorcycle production.

His nine world titles and 39 GP wins were an amazing achievement at a time when simply staying alive was quite a challenge.

The machine Ubbiali rode at Berne was the legendary Italian brand’s first GP bike, a humble little two-stroke that made ten and half horsepower. In fact, the machine was a copy of Germany’s pre-war DKW RT125, the blueprints of which were made available to anyone who wanted them after the war. BSA, Harley Davidson and Moto Morini also built copies of the RT125.

At 19-years-old Ubbiali may well have been the youngest rider on the grid at Berne, because most riders contesting the inaugural season of world championship racing were returning to the sport they’d enjoyed during the 1930s, after fighting in the war.

Ubbiali went on to become the most successful GP rider of the first decade of world championship racing. Even now, only Giacomo Agostini and Ángel Nieto have bettered his nine world crowns, while Mike Hailwood and Valentino Rossi have equalled his accomplishment. This is the measure of the man, who remained less well known than many less successful racers because he never moved beyond the 125 and 250 categories.

His nine world titles and 39 GP wins between 1950 and 1960 were an amazing achievement at a time when simply staying alive was quite a challenge. Ubbiali was a quiet, thoughtful racer, who used his intelligence both to survive and win.

His favourite tactic was to follow the leader, conserving himself and his motorcycle, while studying his rival’s strong points and weak points, before attacking in the closing stages. No wonder they called him The Fox.

Two months after his GP debut Ubbiali briefly returned to his first love – enduros – when he contested the International Six Days trial in Llandrindod Wells, Wales, also on an MV 125. He won a gold medal in that event, despite being hit by a car. Among the British team in the 1949 ISDT was commentator Murray Walker, riding a Norton.

Although at that time most 125 GP bikes were two-strokes, the 1949 125cc world title was won by the only four-stroke in the championship, built by Bolognese brand Mondial. The company’s double-overhead-cam 125 was an important step in grand prix technology, so much so that Soichiro Honda bought one when he first visited Europe in 1954 and took it home to Japan where he was preparing his company’s entry into GP racing.

Ubbiali switched to Mondial in 1950 and won his first GP that August, around the Clady circuit outside Belfast, where he beat team-mate Bruno Ruffo by 65 seconds. This was a memorable race, with only three starters and two finishers.

The following year Ubbiali won his first world title, with victory at Monza and second-place finishes at the Isle of Man TT and Montjuic Park, Spain.