Roberto Colanino (President and CEO of the Piaggio Group): “Beggio was a great entrepreneur, a visionary, capable of making a dream come true. »
Roman Albesian (Aprilia Racing Manager): “Starting from nothing, he made Aprilia a world-class manufacturer. »
Max Biaggi: “He put passion at the service of his skills. In competition, he was like a father to me. »
Piaggio Group and Aprilia affectionately and respectfully commemorate Ivano Beggio, founder of Aprilia, who passed away overnight at the age of 73.
To Roberto Colanino, Chairman and CEO of the Piaggio group (of which Aprilia has been a part since 2004), “Ivano Beggio was able to combine the skills and courage of an entrepreneur with creativity and a true passion for motorcycles. He was a visionary ahead of his time and the extraordinary combination of these factors allowed him to create, practically from scratch, one of the most brilliant stories in the Italian motorcycle industry, thus making a dream come true. Continuing to compete and improve the Aprilia brand around the world is the best way to honor his memory. »
Roman Albesian, competition director of Aprilia: “You have to think about the champions that Aprilia has hatched and the victories it has reaped to understand the importance of Ivano Beggio’s project. Thinking about challenging the Japanese on the track, taking on the world's biggest manufacturers from scratch and ultimately winning, is to unite the mind and soul. Great management skills and a lot of love for our world. »
The world champion Max Biaggi, who started his brilliant career with Ivano Beggio and Aprilia in 1992, also remembers him: “Ivano Beggio was part of my life as an athlete, a sort of father regarding competition for me. He gave me his confidence and a competition bike when, after winning the European Championship, also on Aprilia, I was a little more than a boy. It was a courageous choice, but also an intelligent one. And these are the two aspects that I remember most clearly about Ivano Beggio – knowing how to put a lot of passion at the service of his skills in order to always find the strength and energy for an extra step. It also played a role in my many victories with Aprilia. »
Ivano Beggio, born in 1944, began his passion for two wheels in his father's artisanal Aprilia bicycle factory, innovating and diversifying production, with the introduction of motorcycles and scooters.
In 1975 he created a small team for the production of racing motorcycles which, thanks to technical-productive innovations, quickly made a name for itself and won the Italian motocross championship in the 125 and 250 cc categories in 1977. From 1980, Aprilia began mass-producing small-displacement motorcycles (50 and 125 cc), then launched high-performance, aesthetically and technologically innovative models on the urban mobility market: in 1991 the Scarabeo, the first large-wheel scooter on the European market, in 1992 the first two-stroke with catalytic silencer, in 1993 the first scooter with a license plate, before entering the large displacement motorcycle sector in 1998 with the RSV Mille.
In the Grand Prix World Championship, where it debuted in 1985 in the 250 class, Aprilia brought success to champions like Max Biaggi, Marco Simoncelli, Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Alvaro Bautista, Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri, Manuel Poggiali and Alessandro Gramigni.
With 294 Grand Prix wins in the World Grand Prix Championship from 1987 to today, Aprilia holds the record for the most victories of any European manufacturer in the history of the greatest motorcycle competition. These victories are complemented by no less than 54 world titles: 38 in the Grand Prix World Championship (20 in the 125 category and 18 in the 250 category), 7 in Superbike (Rider/Constructor double in 2010,2012, 2014 and 2013, Manufacturer in 9) and 7 in the Off-Road disciplines (2 in Supermoto and 1000 in Trial). Aprilia's shelf of trophies also includes the 2005 Superstock 4 FIM Cup, won with the RSVXNUMX RF of Lorenzo Savadori, who currently rides for Aprilia in World Superbike alongside Eugene Laverty.
Paddock-GP translation
