Manuel Poggiali

Manuel Poggiali
Manuel Poggiali at Assen in 2008
Nationality	San Marino
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1998 - 2006, 2008 First race 1998 125cc Imola Grand Prix Last race 2008 250cc Czech Republic Grand Prix First win 2001 125cc French Grand Prix Last win 2004 250cc Brazilian Grand Prix Team(s) Gilera, KTM, Aprilia, Derbi Championships 125cc: 2001 250cc: 2003 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 131 12 35 11 7 1111

Manuel Poggiali (born February 14, 1983) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion from San Marino. He was the 2001 125cc World Champion, and the 2003 250cc World Champion. He scored 12 race wins, 11 pole positions, and 35 podium finishes.^[1] He often struggled with motivation and the mental side of racing, and this contributed to his early retirement from the sport.^[2]

Poggiali began racing Minibikes in 1994, and made his first Grand Prix starts in 1998, also winning the Italian 125cc Championship that year. He went into the 125cc World Championship fulltime in 1999, and showed promise over the next two years, scoring a first podium at Assen in 2000. In 2001 he improved to win the title on a Gilera. He remained in the class in 2002, scoring 7 podia in the first 8 races but failing to defend his title, losing out to Arnaud Vincent.

For 2003 he moved up to 250s, and followed Freddie Spencer and Tetsuya Harada in winning the title at his first attempt, including victories in the season's first two races. He had a disappointing 2004 however, finishing only 9th overall with just three podium results.

For 2005 he returned to 125s, again looking like a shadow of his former self, failing to take a single podium.^[3] In 2006 he raced in the 250cc class for the KTM team, but they did not renew his contract for 2007. Although he received some offers from 125cc, 250cc, and Superbike teams, he decided to refuse the offers and take a sabbatical, hoping to get better offers in 2008. He made his return to racing after announcing that he would ride for Campetella Racing alongside Fabrizio Lai.^[4] He decided to retire midseason after losing enthusiasm.

He is also a footballer, he played some matches over the last years for Pennarossa, a football club of San Marino.

Complete Grand Prix motorcycle racing results ^[5]

Points system from 1993 onwards:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Points	25	20	16	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	Rank	Wins
1999	125cc	Aprilia	MAL 12	JPN 18	ESP 9	FRA NC	ITA 13	CAT NC	NED 13	GBR NC	GER 11	CZE	IMO 8	VAL NC	AUS 9	RSA NC	BRA 7	ARG NC		46	17th	0
2000	125cc	Aprilia	RSA	MAL	JPN	ESP 9	FRA 8	ITA NC	CAT NC	NED 3	GBR NC	GER NC	CZE 12	POR NC	VAL 14	BRA NC	PAC 11	AUS 5		53	16th	0
2001	125cc	Gilera	JPN 5	RSA 2	ESP NC	FRA 1	ITA 3	CAT 3	NED NC	GBR 3	GER 3	CZE NC	POR 1	VAL 1	PAC 2	AUS 2	MAL 2	BRA 5		241	1st	3
2002	125cc	Gilera	JPN 3	RSA 1	ESP DSQ	FRA 2	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 2	GBR 3	GER 4	CZE 5	POR NC	BRA 3	PAC 2	MAL 4	AUS 1	VAL 7		254	2nd	4
2003	250cc	Aprilia	JPN 1	RSA 1	ESP 4	FRA NC	ITA 1	CAT NC	NED 4	GBR 2	GER 8	CZE 3	POR 2	BRA 1	PAC 3	MAL 2	AUS 9	VAL 3		249	1st	4
2004	250cc	Aprilia	RSA 4	ESP NC	FRA NC	ITA 3	CAT NC	NED 7	BRA 1	GER NC	GBR NC	CZE 9	POR 7	JPN 17	QAT	MAL	AUS 3	VAL NC		95	9th	1
2005	125cc	Gilera	ESP 6	POR 5	CHN 12	FRA 10	ITA 6	CAT 6	NED 8	GBR 25	GER 11	CZE 8	JPN 6	MAL 8	QAT 7	AUS 13	TUR 11	VAL NC		107	10th	0
2006	250cc	KTM	ESP 11	QAT 14	TUR 15	CHN 11	FRA 17	ITA 12	CAT 11	NED 10	GBR NC	GER 13	CZE NC	MAL 11	AUS 13	JPN 12	POR 12	VAL 8		50	14th	0
2008	250cc	Gilera	QAT 14	ESP NC	POR 17	CHN NC	FRA 6	ITA NC	CAT 14	GBR 14	NED NC	GER NC	CZE DNS	RSM -	IND -	JPN -	AUS -	MAL -	VAL -	16	19th	0

References

1. ^ "Manuel Poggiali to leave racing at 25 years of age". http://www.twowheelsblog.com/post/603/manuel-poggiali-to-leave-racing-at-25-years-old. 
2. ^ "Poggiali puts his racing career to an end". http://www.moto-live.com/motogp/en/headlines/news/detail/080827155843.shtml. 
3. ^ "Manuel Poggiali - a very modern enigma". http://motorsportthoughts.blogspot.com/2006/10/manuel-poggiali-very-modern-enigma.html. 
4. ^ "MotoGP: Manuel Poggiali to make 250GP comeback in 2008". http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2007/november/nov12-18/nov1907motogpmanuelpoggialitomake250gpcomebackin2008/?&R=EPI-97117. 
5. ^ Manuel Poggiali career statistics at MotoGP.com

External links

• manuelpoggiali.com Official website
• poggiali.com Official fan club
• Manuel Poggiali at www.f1network.net

Preceded by Marco Melandri	250cc Motorcycle World Champion 2003	Succeeded by Dani Pedrosa
Preceded by Roberto Locatelli	125cc Motorcycle World Champion 2001	Succeeded by Arnaud Vincent

Persondata
Name	Poggiali, Manuel
Alternative names
Short description	Sammarinese motorcycle racer
Date of birth	February 14, 1983
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death