He is the last of a select group of competitors who competed at the highest level in motorcycle and auto racing, which includes John Surtees and Mike Hailwood among others.

[4] He followed his father's career path and began motorcycle racing at a young age, first competing on a Honda CB750 and a Kawasaki triple before gaining the support of the Venezuelan Yamaha importer.

[6] The unheralded teenager promptly raised his profile by qualifying on the front row shared with pole-sitter Kenny Roberts, Gene Romero, Teuvo Lansivuori and Steve Baker.

[3][6][8] 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.

[6] 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.

[9][10] Cecotto continued his impressive streak by scoring a double victory in the first world championship Grand Prix race of his career.

[1] 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.

[2][11] 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.

[16] He began the season with a promising second-place finish behind Sheene at the season-opening French Grand Prix however, Cecotto struggled to come to grips with the Yamaha, falling 13 times in subsequent races.

[11][16] He failed to score any further points after the French round and shortly after the Italian Grand Prix, he gave up on the 500cc class completely to concentrate on defending his 350cc title.

[1] While Cecotto possessed a natural riding ability, some observers speculated that he had won too early in his career without fully understanding how he had accomplished it.

[1] Cecotto began the 1978 season by winning the Imola 200 for a second time but, he faced a new rival for the world championship with the arrival of Kenny Roberts.

[20] Cecotto suffered a badly broken kneecap at the 1979 Austrian Grand Prix at the Salzburgring and missed half the season due to his injuries.

[23] He had a promising start as he scored a sixth place in only his second race; however, the team suffered from lack of funding and he was forced to sit out the final two rounds.

[24] While qualifying for the British Grand Prix, he crashed heavily at Westfield, breaking both of his legs, which effectively ended his Formula One career.

His sixth place at Long Beach stood as the best result for a Venezuelan driver until Pastor Maldonado's victory in the Spanish Grand Prix 29 years later.

After recovering from his injuries, Cecotto returned to competition in the flourishing Group A Touring Car category for the famed Schnitzer Motorsport BMW team, with his best finish being 2nd at the 1985 Spa 24 Hours with Dieter Quester and Markus Oestreich.

He then traveled to Australia where he finished second in the 1985 James Hardie 1000 at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, driving the BMW 635 CSi he drove at Spa, jointly winning the races "Rookie of the Year" award with his co-driver Roberto Ravaglia.

Usually co-driving with defending European Touring Car Champion Thomas Lindström, Cecotto finished 8th in the championship with two wins (Hockenheim and Zolder), two second and two third placings.