Rubén Xaus

Infobox Superbike rider


Name = Rubén Xaus
Caption = Rubén Xaus
Nicknames =
Nationality = flagicon|Spain Spanish
Birthdate = birth date and age|1978|02|18
Birthplace = Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalunya (Spain)
Website = [http://www.rubenxaus.net/ rubenxaus.net]
Current team = Sterilgarda Go Eleven
Bike number = 111
Race Starts = 130
Race Wins = 10
Podiums = 38
Poles = 1
Fastest laps = 13
Points =
Last season = 2008
Last position = 5th (68pts)

Rubén Xaus (born 18 February, 1978 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a motorcycle road racer, presently competing in the Superbike World Championship. For 2009 he joins the new factory BMW team, his first ever campaign in WSBK on anything other than a Ducati. He was runner-up in this series in 2003, and spent the next two years in MotoGP with mixed results. He is nicknamed 'Spiderman', 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 WorldSS|1999 he finished fifth in the Supersport World Championship, taking his first ever victory at Misano. In WorldSS|2000 he rode one of the official Ducati factory team Supersport bikes, finishing seventh and taking one victory.

uperbikes

For SBK|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 Oschesleben 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 to in the championship. Sixth place in SBK|2002 was followed by fifteen podiums and seven victories in SBK|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 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/4375955.stm] .

uperbikes part 2

For SBK|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 SBK|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 SBK|2008 Xaus is joined by Max Biaggi on a Ducati 1098R for Sterilgarda-GoEleven. He finished 2nd in race 2 at the season-opening event in Valencia and took a victory at Misano, but has no further podia. At Silverstone he believed he had finished 3rd in a race stopped by rain, but found out immediately before the podium celebration that he had been excluded 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 those around him, including the rider who inherited the third spot on the podium - his team-mate Max Biaggi [http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wsbk/news/168803-0/sterilgarda_apologise_for_xaus_behaviour.html] . 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. [citeweb|url=http://www.worldsbk.com/pubb_EN/news_ext.php?id=2360|title=Ruben Xaus signs with BMW Motorrad Motorsport|publisher=World Super Bikes|date=2008-06-26|accessdate=2008-06-30] [ [http://www.carolenash.com/insidebikes/bike-sport/xaus-agrees-to-bmw-switch.htm Insidebikes World Superbike News] ]

Personal data

On 16 March, 2007 Xaus married long term partner Maria. The wedding was held in Andorra, where the couple live with their daughter Julia, who was born in November 2006 [ [http://www.worldsbk.com/details.php SBK - Official Site - News ] ] .

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

Career history

*SBK|2007: 6th, Superbike World Championship, Team Sterilgarda Berik, Ducati 999 F06
*SBK|2006: 14th, Superbike World Championship, Team Sterilgarda Berik, Ducati 999
*MGP|2005: 16th, MotoGP World Championship, Fortuna Yamaha Tech3, Yamaha YZR-M1
*MGP|2004: 11th, MotoGP World Championship, Team D'Antin, Ducati Desmosedici
*SBK|2003: 2nd, Superbike World Championship, Works Team Ducati 999
*SBK|2002: 6th, Superbike World Championship, Works Team Ducati 998
*SBK|2001: 6th, Superbike World Championship, Works Team Ducati 916
*WorldSS|2000: 7th, Supersport World Championship, Works Team Ducati 748
*WorldSS|1999: 5th, Supersport World Championship
*WorldSS|1998: 51st, Superbike World Championship
*WorldSS|1997: 17th, Supersport World Championship

References

External links

* [http://www.rubenxaus.net rubenxaus.net] Official website
* [http://www.sterilgardaberik.com Team Sterilgarda berik website]