He will maintain responsibility for the Motorbike Technical Centre for all Piaggio Group brands. In this role, Romano Albesiano, among other things, managed development of the Aprilia RSV4 bike and its 1000cc V4 engine, outstanding technical foundations thanks to which Aprilia Racing has been able to win 4 World Superbike Championship titles.
Noale, 10 October 2013 – The Piaggio Group announces that Romano Albesiano will take responsibility for management of Aprilia sports activities in addition to his current role as head of the Group’s Motorbike Technical Centre. The Piaggio Group has also accepted, with immediate effect, the resignation of Luigi Dall’Igna – wishing him of course all the best for the future – due to the differences in strategic vision with regard to the management of sports activities, as well as in view of the results achieved so far in the 2013 season of the Superbike World Championship.
Born in Carrù (Cuneo, Italy) 50 years ago and a graduate of Turin Polytechnic with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Romano Albesiano began his career with Cagiva Motor S.p.A., where he also participated in the development of the 500 GP bikes during the 1991-94 seasons. From 1995 to 1997 he also worked at Fondmetal Technologies as aerodynamics project leader for the Mercedes AMG vehicles in the DTM championship (finishing in 1st place in 1995 and 2nd place in 2006) and the GT FIA championship.
Returning to Cagiva Motor in 1998, Albesiano rose through the ranks to cover the position of Motor Vehicles R&D manager for the Cagiva and Husqvarna brands, as well as managing the sport operations for the Husqvarna brand, winning two world titles.
Joining the Piaggio Group in 2005 as Aprilia Product Development Manager, Romano Albesiano currently manages the Motorbike Technical Centre which operates for the entire Piaggio Group, a responsibility that he will retain together with his role of leading the Aprilia Racing team of mechanics, also for the purpose of reinforcing the strategy of close cooperation between Piaggio Group factory production and competition operations.
As Motorbike Technical Centre Manager Romano Albesiano also directed development of the Aprilia RSV4 bike and its 1,000 cc V4 engine, an extraordinary technical foundation around which Aprilia Racing was able to achieve the four world title victories that have been won thus far in the World Superbike Championship.
In addition to having developed the current Aprilia brand bike range at Noale which, alongside the RSV4 boasts models such as the Tuono V4, the Caponord 1200 and the Dorsoduro range, Albesiano and his team of engineers have successfully managed revamping the Moto Guzzi product range, which included developing the new generation 750 cc V7 range and the extraordinary Moto Guzzi California 1400 in its Touring and Custom versions, the crowning jewel of the Mandello del Lario “Eagle Brand”.