Honda’s Groundbreaking Move: Joan Mir and Luca Marini React to Romano Albesiano’s Appointment as Technical Director

"Highly intriguing and significant": Joan Mir and Luca Marini respond to Honda's decision to hire Albesiano.

"Romano is fully aware of his contributions to Aprilia and the major advancements they achieved."

Joan Mir and Luca Marini, riders for Repsol Honda, expressed their approval of Honda Racing Corporation's daring decision to appoint Romano Albesiano from Aprilia as their new MotoGP technical director starting in 2025.

Albesiano is set to become the first non-Japanese individual to occupy a top design role at HRC.

Since 2013, with Gigi Dall'Igna joining Ducati, Aprilia's technical leadership has been under the guidance of Albesiano. During his tenure, the RS-GP has transformed from a backmarker in the MotoGP lineup to a contender capable of securing pole positions, podium finishes, and race victories.

Joan Mir, who secured the world championship title with Suzuki in 2020, has struggled to secure a top ten finish in a Grand Prix since he started racing with Honda at the beginning of the previous year. The Spanish rider is optimistic that the strategies and methods employed by Albesiano to revitalize Aprilia's performance can now be applied to improve the RC213V.

Mir expressed his thoughts on the Albesiano announcement, stating, "I find this move both intriguing and crucial." He added, "Given the role he will assume, I believe it's a commendable choice by HRC to adopt this strategy and enhancement."

"Having someone like him, who possesses extensive experience and was in a similar position to ours about five years ago—when they weren't very competitive—brings immense value. He fully understands the steps and significant progress made with Aprilia."

"Aprilia operates on a much smaller scale than HRC, which allows them to respond more quickly. They plan to share this information with HRC, and it's likely that this will lead to improvements on their end as well."

"To further utilize the expertise of technicians in Japan, we need to improve. The Japanese team is excellent, but we need to shorten the response time between each development phase."

"Often, we request something, and when it finally comes, it's just a minor detail. This likely isn't the most effective approach to narrowing the gap with the leading competitors."

Albesiano is set to take over the position from Ken Kawauchi, who had collaborated with Mir during their time together at Suzuki. It is anticipated that Kawauchi will become part of the Honda MotoGP testing squad.

According to Mir, within HRC, personnel are being rearranged to maximize their potential. They likely believe that Ken's role in advancing the bike's development will be extremely beneficial.

Marini: Aprilia Offers 'Unmatched Grip' at Lean Angles Between 60 and 40 Degrees

Despite Kawauchi's ongoing significant role in the MotoGP initiative, Luca Marini, a team member, pointed out that Albesiano is set to enhance the existing engineering group even more.

Marini, who joined Repsol Honda after Marc Marquez left, expressed that Romano is expected to contribute significantly with his expertise and insights.

"The team at Aprilia has done an outstanding job in recent years, and I'm thrilled about this development. Our plan is to welcome him warmly from the start, aiming to create a family-like environment with our Japanese colleagues. I believe he will be an invaluable asset to our team."

Marini mentioned that they plan to retain the current personnel, including the same engineers. He also noted that Romano would be an addition to the team, providing extra insights and information to help everyone collaborate towards a shared objective.

"I believe that Honda's overall philosophy, which has been developed over many years, is unlikely to change. We excel in numerous areas, and our focus will be on enhancing our strengths. In certain aspects, the bike performs exceptionally well, thanks to the outstanding work done by the Japanese team."

"We could benefit from better coordination and communication at times. It's important to have more direct interaction between the garage and Japan, ensuring everyone is in sync and communicating frequently."

"However, I believe that since I got here at the start of the season, there have been many positive changes, and I'm feeling very optimistic about it."

Marini believes that Honda has managed to reduce their performance gap with Ducati by nearly 50%, yet there remains significant progress to be made.

"We initially lagged behind Ducati by 2 seconds per lap, but we've managed to reduce that gap to about 1 second now. However, it's still insufficient," Marini stated.

Everyone shares the same goal: to achieve success again as quickly as possible. We're all putting in a strong effort and performing well, and I believe that things will improve next year.

Marini highlighted the need for improved edge grip during acceleration, an aspect he hopes Albesiano can enhance on the RC213V.

He explained that Aprilia's most significant advantage this season is its edge grip, particularly during the initial lift of the bike from a lean of 60 degrees to 40 degrees when exiting a corner.

"The grip in that Aprilia section is unmatched across the grid. If he can assist us in achieving and comprehending that level of traction, it would significantly enhance our performance."

Albesiano is set to manage HRC's MotoGP initiative and the ongoing enhancement of the Honda RC213V, beginning in 2025. This implies that his initial on-track involvement with Honda is expected during the Sepang Shakedown test in January.

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