Rubén Xaus

Rubén Xaus
Rubén Xaus
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1978-02-18) February 18, 1978 Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalunya (Spain)
Website	rubenxaus.net

Rubén Xaus (born 18 February 1978 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a retired motorcycle road racer. During his career he competed in both the Superbike World Championship and the MotoGP. He is nicknamed 'Spider-Man', as his lanky frame leads him to hang over the bike in an unusual way.

Early years

His father, who competed in amateur mountain bicycle races, gave Xaus his first motorcycle at the age of five, a Montesa 25cc. Aged 14 he was racing dirt-bikes, but his father convinced him to turn his attentions towards road racing. Xaus took part in the 125cc Catalan Championship, the 125cc Solo Moto Criterium, and that same year he took victory in the 80cc Catalonia Supermoto Championship.

In 1994 he competed in the Open Ducados Supersport series in Spain – finishing 17th place, improving to third the following year. In 1995 he entered the FIM Thunderbike trophy and contested four 250cc Grand Prix. Xaus finished sixth in Thunderbike in 1996, moving to World Supersport in 1997 taking 17th overall.

In 1998 he rode in the German Pro-Superbike series, taking sixth place overall. In 1999 he finished fifth in the Supersport World Championship, taking his first ever victory at Misano. In 2000 he rode one of the official Ducati factory team Supersport bikes, finishing seventh and taking one victory.

Superbikes

For 2001 he moved to the factory Ducati Superbike team in partnership with then-champion Troy Bayliss. He struggled early in the season, with a best result of 5th from the first 8 meetings. However, in race 2 at Oschersleben he became the first Spaniard ever to take victory in the Superbike World Championship. A pair of 2nds at Assen (helping Bayliss to clinch the title) and a second win at Imola gave him sixth in the championship. Sixth place in 2002 was followed by fifteen podiums and seven victories in 2003, finishing runner up to team mate Neil Hodgson

MotoGP

Xaus made his move into the MotoGP World Championship in 2004 as part of the satellite D'Antin Ducati team. The team was grossly under funded and could not afford testing time, but Xaus adapted better to the situation than team mate Hodgson. Consistent points-scoring performances and a first podium at Qatar saw him snap up the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title and 11th place overall in the championship standings. In 2005 he moved to the Fortuna Yamaha Team to ride alongside his friend Toni Elías. But a more pronounced power delivery and difficult chassis and Xaus's charging/forced riding style meant he looked a different rider to the one of 2004. He crashed numerous times, finishing 16th overall with a best finish of 10th .

By season

Season	Class	Moto	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
2004	MotoGP	GP4	16	0	1	0	0	77	11th	–
2005	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	16	0	0	0	0	52	16th	–
Total			32	0	1	0	0	129		0

Superbikes part 2

For 2006 he returned to the Superbike World Championship, with a ride for the new Italian satellite Ducati team Sterilgarda Berik, alongside team owner Marco Borciani. He twice set the fastest lap, but his fast charges often ended in crashes, and he was only 14th overall.

He ended the 2007 season 6th with a total 201 points (next behind the former world champion Troy Corser), scoring the team's first victory in Valencia.

For 2008 Xaus was joined by Max Biaggi on a Ducati 1098R for Sterilgarda-GoEleven, under the team management of Borciani. He finished 2nd in race 2 at the season-opening event in Qatar and took a victory at Misano in Race 2 in front of Biaggi and Bayliss, but has had no further podiums. At Donnington Park he believed he had finished 3rd in a race stopped by heavy rain, but found out immediately before the podium celebration that he had been disqualified for not returning to the pits quickly enough after crashing immediately before the race was stopped. He then refused to leave the podium and verbally assaulted the marshals, including the rider who inherited the third spot on the podium - his team-mate Max Biaggi. With three rounds remaining he lies 10th in the standings.

On 26 June 2008, Xaus signed to ride the BMW S1000RR bike for the factory BMW Motorrad team in the 2009 WSB Championship.^[1][2]

Personal data

On 16 March 2007 Xaus married long term partner Mariona. The wedding was held in Andorra, where the couple live with their daughter Julia, who was born in November 2006.^[3]

Xaus' hobbies include mountain biking, snowboarding and golf. He is 183 cm tall and weighs 74 kg.

Career history

• 2011: 17th, Superbike World Championship, Castrol Honda Honda CBR1000RR
• 2010: 15th, Superbike World Championship, BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000R
• 2009: 17th, Superbike World Championship, BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000R
• 2008: 10th, Superbike World Championship, Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1098
• 2007: 6th, Superbike World Championship, Team Sterilgarda Berik, Ducati 999 F06
• 2006: 14th, Superbike World Championship, Team Sterilgarda Berik, Ducati 999
• 2005: 16th, MotoGP World Championship, Fortuna Yamaha Tech3, Yamaha YZR-M1
• 2004: 11th, MotoGP World Championship, Team D'Antin, Ducati Desmosedici
• 2003: 2nd, Superbike World Championship, Ducati Fila, Ducati 999
• 2002: 6th, Superbike World Championship, Ducati Infostrada, Ducati 998
• 2001: 6th, Superbike World Championship, Ducati Infostrada, Ducati 916
• 2000: 7th, Supersport World Championship, Ducati Infostrada, Ducati 748
• 1999: 5th, Supersport World Championship, Dee Cee Jeans, Yamaha YZF-R6
• 1997: 17th, Supersport World Championship, Honda CBR600

World Superbike Championship

Pos	Rider	Bike	QAT		AUS		ESP		ITA		EUR		SMR		CZE		GBR		NED		GER		ITA		FRA		Pos	Pts	Ref
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2006	SBK	Ducati	15	10	7	8	7	Ret	Ret	15	4	7	9	9	Ret	14	10	10	Ret	5	15	9	Ret	Ret			14th	103

Pos	Rider	Bike	QAT		AUS		EUR		ESP		NED		ITA		GBR		SMR		CZE		GBR		GER		ITA		FRA		Pts	Pos	Ref
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2007	SBK	Ducati	10	9	7	6	Ret	4	1	4	3	Ret	12	13	9		8	7	12	10	4	6	12	6	Ret	6	8	10	6th	201

Yr	Class	Team	QAT		AUS		ESP		NED		ITA		USA		GER		SMR		CZE		GBR		EUR		ITA		FRA		POR		Pos	Pts	Ref
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2008	SBK	Ducati	4	2	4	4	Ret	7	16	4	Ret	7	14	Ret	6	8	4	1	Ret	Ret	DNS	DNS	Ret	8	Ret	12	Ret	5	9	Ret	10th	178

Yr	Class	Team	AUS		QAT		SPA		NED		ITA		RSA		USA		SMR		GBR		CZE		GER		ITA		FRA		POR		Pos	Pts	Ref
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2009	SBK	BMW	19	11	13	10	13	16	14	11	7	9	Ret	Ret	21	16	14	16	15	9	Ret	DNS			12	13	11	12	8	Ret	17th	74

Pos	Rider	Bike	AUS		POR		SPA		NED		ITA		RSA		USA		SMR		CZE		GBR		GER		ITA		FRA		Pos	Pts	Ref
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2010	SBK	BMW	DNS	DNS	10	12	12	11	Ret	10	6	Ret	14	11	10	11	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	17	11	7	9	12	9	Ret	DNS	15th	88

References

External links

• Official WSBK riders page

Sporting positions
Preceded by Régis Laconi Yvan Muller Gilles Panizzi	Race of Champions Nations' Cup 2001 with: Fernando Alonso Jesús Puras	Succeeded by Colin Edwards Jeff Gordon Jimmie Johnson