Rubén Xaus

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Rubén Xaus, Brands Hatch, 2007

Rubén Xaus (born February 18, 1978 in Sant Cugat del Vallès , Catalonia Spain ) is a former Spanish motorcycle racer .

Xaus was considered a tough and spectacular driver, which made him very popular with the fans.

Career

Beginnings

Rubén Xaus got his first motorcycle, a 25 cc - Montesa , given the age of five by his father, who himself had once denied motorcycle racing. He immediately taught him to ride a motorcycle, and Xaus trained very intensively with motocross machines in the following years . However, at the age of 14, his father convinced him to switch to road racing. That is why he started in the Catalan 125 cc road championship from 1992 , and in the following year he won the Catalan 80 cc Supermoto Championship.

In 1994, Xaus started on large-volume four - stroke machines for the first time and contested the Open Ducados Supersport Series in Spain, finishing in 17th place. The following year he was there on the third overall improve, he also participated in the Thunder Bike Trophy of the FIM in part and denied in Honda team Fortuna Pons five 250 cc Grands Prix, without, however, can drive points.

In 1996 the Spaniard finished sixth in the Thunderbikes and in 1997 switched to the Supersport World Series , which he competed on Honda and finished in 17th overall. This year, Xaus was also able to win the 24-hour race on his home track, the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. In 1998 Rubén Xaus started for Team Alpha Technik on a Suzuki GSX-R 750 in the German Pro Superbike series and finished it in sixth place overall. He also contested his first Superbike World Championship races on Suzuki .

In the 1999 season, Xaus drove on Yamaha in the Dee Cee Jeans team again in the Supersport World Championship, where he achieved fifth place this time. At the run in Misano , he clinched his first victory. In 2000 Rubén Xaus became official Ducati - works driver in the Supersport class and started on a Ducati 748 . He immediately got to grips with the two-cylinder engine and won the second World Championship round of his career in Assen . In the overall ranking he came seventh this year.

Superbike World Championship

For the 2001 season Rubén Xaus then switched to the Superbike World Championship , where he drove a Ducati 996 R factory machine alongside Troy Bayliss in the Ducati Infostrada team . His performance improved continuously, until the middle of the season he was regularly in the top ten and also crashed a few times. At the first race in Oschersleben , Xaus was able to celebrate his first podium finish with second place behind world champion Colin Edwards . He even won the second race of the day and thus became the first Spanish rider ever to win a run in the Superbike World Championship. In the world championship, which team-mate Bayliss was able to win, the Spaniard came in sixth.

In the 2002 season , Xaus continued to race for Ducati Infostrada , again as a team-mate of Troy Bayliss, on the new 998 F02 . At the second run in Phillip Island , Australia , he made it onto the podium twice. He achieved a total of ten podium positions this season and was in the top ten in every race in which he crossed the finish line, which in turn earned him sixth place in the World Championship standings.

For the 2003 season , Briton Neil Hodgson replaced Troy Bayliss, who had migrated to MotoGP, at Xaus' side in the Ducati factory team, which this year started as the Fila Ducati team. Not only were team mates and names new, but also the bike. The Italian manufacturer used its completely new 999 F03 for the first time . The new Ducati turned out to be highly superior to the Japanese competition and won 20 of the 24 races of the season. Rubén Xaus achieved seven wins and a total of 15 podium positions and only had to admit defeat to his team-mate Hodgson in the overall standings.

Rubén Xaus, Donington, 2005

MotoGP class

For the 2004 season, the duo Xaus-Hodgson switched to the MotoGP class, where they drove a Desmosedici GP3 from last year from Ducati as part of the D'Antin team . The team suffered from a chronic lack of funds and could hardly afford test drives. Rubén Xaus got on better with his bike this year than his team-mate Hodgson and was regularly in the points. The Spaniard set the first exclamation point at the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello , where he was in the top group for a long time in the rain and finished fifth. At the 13th race of the season, the Grand Prix of Qatar in Losail , Xaus even achieved his first podium finish with third place and thus the first ever for Ducati this season. With 77 points, he finished eleventh in the overall standings and was named Rookie of the Year .

For the 2005 season Rubén Xaus moved to the Fortuna Yamaha team, where he rode with his friend and compatriot Toni Elías . This year, with the Yamaha YZR-M1, he had the machine with which Valentino Rossi had become world champion in the works team in the previous year . Nevertheless, Xaus couldn't get along with this motorcycle, mainly because of its very harsh riding style, and therefore caused a lot of crashes. His best placings were four tenth places. With 52 points he was finally 16th in the overall ranking.

Rubén Xaus, Brands Hatch, 2007
Rubén Xaus, Brands Hatch, 2007

Return to the superbikes

For the 2006 season Rubén Xaus then returned to the Superbike World Championship and to Ducati. He started for the Sterilgarda Berik team on a 2005 factory machine. However, the Spaniard was unable to build on his earlier performances and only ended up 14th in the overall standings after a few crashes.

Rubén Xaus also competed for the Sterilgarda team in the Superbike World Championship in the 2007 season . He again piloted a Ducati machine from last year. His best results were a win in the first race in Valencia and a third place in the first race in Assen. After a season that was constant for his standards with only three retirements in 25 races, Xaus took sixth place in the overall standings, leaving Ducati factory driver Lorenzo Lanzi behind.

For the 2008 season , Xaus was confirmed in the Sterilgarda team, which was now called Sterilgarda Go Eleven . Xaus drove one of the completely new 1200 cc Ducati 1098 RS 08 , his new team mate was the four-time 250 cc world champion Max Biaggi . Right from the start there was a rivalry between the two that was fierce on the track. After four successful races at the start of the season, the Catalan was now third in the World Cup. However, this was followed by a number of failures and back placements that left him behind. In June it became known that Xaus was driving the BMW factory machine in 2009 , shortly afterwards he celebrated the only race win of the season in the second race in Misano, while Biaggi in second made the Sterilgarda success perfect. Rubén Xaus retired in the following two races in Brno , and he was also unable to score any points at Brands Hatch . During the rainy race weekend in Donington , there was an uproar between Xaus and team-mate Biaggi. The Spaniard fell in third place in the first race. Since the run was canceled on the same lap, Xaus would actually have been third. However, as stipulated in the regulations, he did not make it to the pits with his motorcycle within five minutes and was therefore subsequently removed from the ranking. Believing that he had finished third, Xaus went to the award ceremony, but when Biaggi was proclaimed third, he verbally abused his teammate, but later apologized publicly for it. In the overall standings, the Spaniard took tenth place with 178 points.

From the 2009 season , Xaus competed for the BMW works team, which had recently entered the Superbike World Championship. The Catalan received a contract with the Munich manufacturer up to and including 2010. His new team-mate is the Australian Troy Corser .

In the 2011 season Xaus started for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team and finished his last season with a total of 49 points in 17th place overall.

Ruben Xaus ended his active racing career in 2011 at the age of 33 and has been working as a consultant for the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Bimota ever since .

Results

Web links

Commons : Rubén Xaus  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Rubén Xaus on the official website of the Motorcycle World Championship (English).
  • Rubén Xaus on the official website of the Superbike and Supersport World Championship

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Official: Xaus 2009 and 2010 at BMW. www.motorsport-total.com, June 26, 2008, accessed June 26, 2008 .
  2. ↑ Johannes Orasche: Misano: Xaus in run 2, Bayliss secret winner. www.motorsport-total.com, June 29, 2008, accessed March 6, 2009 .
  3. ^ Johannes Orasche: Biaggi: Scandal with team colleague Xaus. www.motorsport-total.com, September 8, 2008, accessed March 6, 2009 .
  4. ↑ Johannes Orasche: Sterilgarda-Ducati: Sorry for Xaus. www.motorsport-total.com, September 18, 2008, accessed March 6, 2009 .
  5. ↑ Official: Corser drives at BMW. www.motorsport-total.com, September 25, 2008, accessed October 4, 2008 .
  6. ↑ Xaus becomes a Bimota consultant. www.motorsport-total.com, December 12, 2011, accessed March 30, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Xaus, Rubén
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH Sant Cugat del Vallès