Roberto Gallina

Roberto Gallina (born 4 January 1940 in La Spezia^[1]) is a former Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racing team owner. His best year was in 1973 when he finished eighth in the 250cc world championship.^[2] After his racing career ended, he started his own racing team which proved to be a successful venture. His team won two 500cc world championships as a team owner in 1981 and 1982 with riders Marco Lucchinelli and Franco Uncini.^[3]

Gallina was also involved in designing his own bike, intended for the World Superbike championship, with the help of Japanese investor Yoshiyuki Hayashi. The bike, called the Gallina Quattro 750, had a custom frame and design and was developed around a heavily modified Suzuki GSX-R750 engine (converted to chain gear drive and with most parts re-cast in magnesium).^[4] The bursting of the Japanese asset bubble hurt Hayashi severely and in the end only ten examples were built, at an overall cost of $2.5 million. Gallina's own finances never recovered.^[5]