Althea Racing Team’s founder, Genesio Bevilaqua, passes away
The man behind the WorldSBK title-winning Althea Racing outfit has sadly passed away at the age of 66
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship and the wider motorcycle racing community sends its condolences to the friends, family and colleagues of Genesio Bevilaqua, who has sadly passed away on Tuesday, January 13th.
Genesio was a prominent figure within the WorldSBK paddock with his Althea Racing team, famously claiming the World Superbike in 2011 with Carlos Checa on the Ducati 1098R machine as the Spaniard dominated that year’s action, winning 15 of the 26 races and taking 21 rostrums.
His journey within the paddock began four years prior to that success in WorldSSP, where the Althea Racing team have competed more recently. First starting out as Althea Honda, Katsuaki Fujiwara finished fourth in the standings in the team’s first year. While Genesio’s squad were strong in WorldSSP, the best was yet to come in WorldSBK.
Their first World Superbike campaign came in 2008 with Roberto Rolfo and Giovanni Bussei, before Matthieu Lagrive, Flavio Gentile and Tommy Hill all raced under the Althea banner in 2009. In 2010, Checa and Shane Byrne joined the team and new heights were reached under Genesio’s leadership. Checa claimed eight podiums as he finished third in the standings, behind Max Biaggi and Leon Haslam, before the 2011 season brought unprecedented success when Checa was crowned Champion.
Checa and Davide Giugliano lined up for the team in 2012, although the Spaniard was unable to defend his title; Giugliano, however, had broken into the top ten in his first full season in WorldSBK, having claimed the 2011 STK1000 title with Althea Racing. He finished the 2013 campaign in sixth overall.
In 2016, the team switched from Ducati to BMW machinery with Markus Reiterberger and Jordi Torres competing for the team as the squad finished fourth in the Teams’ Championship, before finishing fifth the year after. In 2016, Raffaele De Rosa claimed the STK1000 title for Althea Racing and made his first WorldSBK appearance with the team. Another change of brand came in 2019, linking up with Midori Moriwaki’s team with limited success.
The Althea name disappeared off the grid for a couple of seasons but returned in WorldSSP – the Championship where it all started – in 2022 in the hands of Federico Caricasulo, who won for the team at Mandalika on the Ducati Panigale V2.
Away from the racetrack, Genesio had a private collection of restored and preserved motorcycles, named Moto dei Miti, which featured a journey through several decades of evolution and competition.
A statement from the team said: “With deep sorrow, the Althea Racing Team announces the passing of Genesio Bevilacqua, which occurred on January 13, 2026. A man of great human and professional value, he left a profound and lasting mark on the history of the team and in the hearts of all those who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. His example and memory will continue to live on. In this time of grief, we join the family with respectful solidarity, expressing our deepest and most heartfelt condolences. Ciao Genesio, our legend who never claimed to be one.”
