without Cecotto, officials discovered that the fluid was only water overflowing from the radiator and posed no safety hazard. Officials allowed Cecotto re-enter the race however, by then he was in last place. With an impressive display of riding ability, Cecotto passed half the field of competitors on the first lap alone. Two laps later, he was up to 26th place. By the fifth lap he was in 18th place and by the end of the tenth lap he was in tenth place. On the 50th lap, he caught and passed Agostini for third place before his motorcycle began to overheat, forcing him to reduce his pace and settle for a third place behind the eventual winner Gene Romero and second place Steve Baker. On the event of the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 200 in 1991, the American Motorcyclist Association convened a panel of motorcycling press and former racers, who named Cecotto's accomplishment as the top performance in the first 50 years of the race. World champion One month after his Daytona performance, Cecotto traveled to Europe where he continued his meteoric rise with a victory at the prestigious Imola 200 F750-championship race after Agostini's engine seized while American champion Kenny Roberts withdrew due to a wrist injury. Cecotto continued his impressive streak by scoring a double victory in the first world championship Grand Prix race of his career. At the season opening French Grand Prix held at the Paul Ricard Circuit, he set the fastest lap time enroute to winning the 250cc race and, followed that performance by leading the 350cc race from start to finish to win by a 25 second margin over the seven-time 350cc world champion Agostini. He had originally planned to compete in two or three European events but, after his performance at the French Grand Prix, he gained full sponsorship for the remainder of the season aboard an ex-Agostini TZ350. He went on to win three more races and defeated Agostini, for the 350cc World Championship. At the age of nineteen, he was the youngest ever world champion until Loris Capirossi won the 1990 125cc world championship at the age of 17. He was competitive in the 250cc world championship with two victories however, a crash at the German Grand Prix and then engine problems for his motorcycle left him in fourth place in the final standings. Later career In 1976, Cecotto returned