[1] MV Agusta's famous racing machine, the three-cylinder or Tre, had powered Giacomo Agostini to the world champion every year from 1966 to 1972.

In the 1972 season, the Tre was only just powerful enough to beat the newly created competition of two-stroke motorcycles from Yamaha and Suzuki.

The helicopter division of Agusta under Dr. Bocchi, who had previously developed twelve-cylinder engines for Lamborghini and Ferrari, was asked for help.

After the fatal accident in Monza, where Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini died, the 500 cc race was cancelled and Yamaha withdrew for the remainder of the season.

[7] As previously agreed, the top riders stayed away from the Isle of Man TT, meaning the next race would be in Yugoslavia.

However, due to a controversial decision by team leader Magni, the MV drivers were not allowed to drive.

Agostini won in Belgium and Czechoslovakia, but Read still had a comfortable lead in points and Ago was behind Kim Newcombe and Jack Findlay in the rankings.

In the season opening French GP, for the first time in years, there was a battle between three brands, which was won by Phil Read after Agostini dropped out.

In Assen, three brands were on the first row: Yamaha (Teuvo Länsivuori and Giacomo Agostini), MV Agusta (Phil Read) and Suzuki (Barry Sheene).

Phil Read came second there, but his win at the Grand Prix of Finland clinched the world title for MV Agusta again.

[10] A decision of the FIM to reduce the sound volume of the racing machines in the future to 113 dB(A), would be particularly problematic for the four-stroke MV Agusta.

[11] Although they had obtained the first two places in the previous year's world championship, the opposition for the MV Agustas was becoming stronger.

The two-stroke machines had to make fuel stops or mount larger, heavier tanks which favored the MV Agusta four-stroke.

Toracca disliked "second driver" status and forced Read to fight for third place in the opening race, causing them to lose a lot of time to Agostini and Kanaya with their Yamahas.

[13] In 1976, Agostini returned to MV Agusta, as Yamaha officially retired from racing in late 1975; Read, previously No.

[16] After 30 years of motorsport, the new majority shareholder did not want to invest more money in the racing department of the financially troubled company.

A four-cylinder boxer engine with water cooling mounted longitudinally in the frame was in development, but never progressed beyond a prototype.