Cecchinello developed an interest in motorcycle racing from an early age. Working summer jobs, he saved enough money and, with help from his father Luciano, purchased a Honda NS125 to begin his career. At sixteen he also worked as a mechanic for Team Italia, which competed in the European Championship. In 1989, at eighteen and with his father's approval, he began racing in the Italian Sports Production Championship aboard a Honda 125 NSR. In only his third race, at Monza, he took his first victory, and he went on to finish as Italian runner-up that year — behind Max Biaggi — in the Sports Production category.
In 1991, Cecchinello made his debut in the 125cc European Championship with Team Italia, finishing 10th overall. By 1993 he had earned the European runner-up title in the 125cc class, and that same year he made his first appearance in the FIM World Championship. In 1994, the GIVI team offered him a World Championship ride on a Honda RS 125cc, and he scored his first world championship points. In 1995, Team Pileri gave him another European opportunity aboard a Honda 125 KIT; Cecchinello won eight of the eleven rounds on the calendar to become the 125cc European Champion.
Having established his team in parallel with his racing activities, Cecchinello continued to compete as a rider through the late 1990s and into the early 2000s. He recorded his first 125cc World Championship race victory at the Jarama circuit in Spain in 1998. In both 2001 and 2002, he finished the 125cc World Championship in fourth place overall aboard an Aprilia RS125. He achieved one further career highlight by winning the 125cc race at the 2003 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello before formally ending his riding career and dedicating himself entirely to team management.
In 1996, while still an active rider, Cecchinello founded the LCR Team — Lucio Cecchinello Racing — to compete in the 125cc World Championship class. The team began as a single-entry operation and expanded to two bikes by 1998. Alongside riders such as Japanese racer Noboru Ueda and others, the LCR squad grew in profile through the late 1990s.
In 2001, the team switched from Honda to Aprilia machinery in the 125cc class. In 2002, LCR expanded by running additional machinery in the 250cc class, providing future MotoGP champion Casey Stoner with his first full-time 250cc World Championship ride. When Cecchinello retired from riding after 2003, Stoner continued with the team and Randy de Puniet became a key rider.
In 2006, LCR made a significant step by entering the MotoGP premier class with Honda machinery, retaining Casey Stoner as their sole rider. The team achieved its first MotoGP podium and first pole position with Stoner that debut season, before he departed at the end of the year to join the factory Ducati team. Carlos Checa joined for 2007, followed by Randy de Puniet for 2008 through 2010. Toni Elias rode for the team in 2011, and MotoGP champion Stefan Bradl signed a two-year deal from 2012.
Cal Crutchlow became a prominent figure in the LCR stable during the mid-2010s. He secured the team's first premier class victory at the 2016 Czech Republic Grand Prix in wet conditions — ending a 35-year drought for British riders in the top class since Barry Sheene's 1981 Swedish Grand Prix win — and added another win at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix. Crutchlow extended his contract through 2019. From 2020 onward, Takaaki Nakagami became a cornerstone of the team alongside a succession of partners including Alex Marquez (2021) and Alex Rins (2023).
Cecchinello is a member of the IRTA Committee (International Road Racing Teams Association), which represents teams in negotiations with MotoGP organiser Dorna and the FIM. The riders he has managed or developed include Casey Stoner, Randy de Puniet, Cal Crutchlow, Toni Elias, Carlos Checa, Eugene Laverty, and Takaaki Nakagami, among others. His trajectory — from self-funded club racer to European champion to World Championship race winner and team principal — makes him one of the most distinctive figures in the modern history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.