There is set to be a huge shake-up in not one but two MotoGP factories' backroom staff ahead of the start of the 2025 season, with long-standing Aprilia engineering boss Romano Albesiano leaving the team to take up a new role as Honda’s technical boss.
Aprilia, meanwhile, has already itself moved to replace Albesiano with former Ducati and KTM senior figure Fabiano Sterlacchini.
Albesiano has been a key Aprilia figure for a decade, taking over as the technical director of its racing programme from current Ducati boss Gigi Dall’Igna in 2013.
He successfully mentored Aprilia from CRT status at the back of the MotoGP grid to arguably the second-strongest manufacturer in the championship.
During that time, he has been one of the pioneers of MotoGP's aerodynamics development explosion in particular - which has helped Aprilia win races and even feature in outside title contention.
Its best rider season so far has come at the hands of veteran Aleix Espargaro - who will continue as Albesiano's team-mate of sorts, having long signed on as a Honda test rider for 2025 onwards.
It had been Sterlacchini and not Albesiano who had been heavily linked to a move to Honda, since the announcement of his unexpected departure from KTM earlier this season.
That changed on Friday morning at the Japanese Grand Prix, with a pair of announcements around the same time from both Aprilia and Honda.
A space will be created for Albesiano within Honda’s structure by shuffling incumbent Ken Kawauchi - the tech leader behind Suzuki's title-winning GSX-RR - aside to the test team, where he will work closely with both Espargaro and current MotoGP racer Taka Nakagami next season.
The move represents a massive swallowing of pride for the historic Japanese brand as it appoints a European to a senior engineering role for the first time. In doing so, it follows in the footsteps of rival Yamaha after its decision to sign another of Dall’Igna’s proteges, Max Bartolini, to head its project.
However, with Sterlacchini (pictured above) taking over from Albesiano as both Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi join the Aprilia project in 2025, it marks the opportunity for a very successful transition for Aprilia as it replaces one highly-experienced paddock insider with another.
