Claudio Castiglioni lost his long battle against cancer on the morning of August 17 at the age of 64.
Well aware of his health problems, Castiglioni had named his son, Giovanni, president of MV Agusta upon final closure of its association with Harley-Davidson and the return of MV Agusta under full control of the Castiglioni family. He kept for himself the title of honorary president and had remained very active in the company until last spring, when his health sharply declined and he flew to a clinic in the U.S. for what was regarded as very advanced chemotherapy. Though I always received reassuring messages about Castiglioni’s recovery after the treatment, I never had a chance to meet with him once he returned to Varese.
Castiglioni’s passion for motorcycling led him first to create the Cagiva racing team back in the 1970s and then acquire the H-D/Aermacchi premises in Schiranna (Varese) when Harley pulled out of its Italian branch. He later established the Cagiva Group, which soon after acquired Ducati, Husqvarna and Moto Morini. He focused much of his attention and managerial capabilities on Ducati, creating the legendary 916 and making it the dominating machine in World Superbike.
At that time, all branches of the Cagiva Group were rather successful in the sport and on the market. When times went sour, Castiglioni sold Ducati and Moto Morini, but he was able to acquire MV Agusta—his life-long love affair. With the assistance of Massimo Tamburini and ever-faithful H-D/Aermacchi chief racing engineer Ezio Mascheroni, he gave life to the new MV Agusta legend. Despite his difficult health conditions, Castiglioni devoted his last energies to the MV Agusta F3 project, working side-by-side with his men to the final definition of the project.
Castiglioni will be remembered by all of those who worked for MV Agusta as an accessible boss, who would treat all as member of his own family, who would go down in the mess hall for a quick lunch with them and then back to work. He will be dearly missed by all for his always-positive personality and loving passion for MV Agusta. In such a sad moment, the upbeat note is in that his son, Giovanni, has inherited the best aspects of Claudio’s personality and passion.
Godspeed, Claudio.
No related posts.
