Rubén Xaus
Rubén Xaus
NationalitySpanish
Born (1978-02-18) 18 February 1978
Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalunya (Spain)
Websiterubenxaus.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 teammate 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 teammate 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 Donington 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 statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

(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 Pos Pts
1995 250cc Honda AUS MAL JPN SPA GER ITA NED FRA GBR
Ret		 CZE
23		 BRA
16		 ARG
Ret		 EUR
Ret		 NC 0
2004 MotoGP Ducati RSA
Ret		 ESP
Ret		 FRA
14		 ITA
5		 CAT
6		 NED
7		 BRA
12		 GER
11		 GBR
11		 CZE
Ret		 POR
Ret		 JPN
9		 QAT
3		 MAL
13		 AUS
11		 VAL
Ret		 11th 77
2005 MotoGP Yamaha SPA
18		 POR
10		 CHN
10		 FRA
12		 ITA
14		 CAT
10		 NED
12		 USA
11		 GBR
Ret		 GER
13		 CZE
18		 JPN
10		 MAL
15		 QAT
14		 AUS
12		 TUR
14		 VAL
15		 16th 52

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos. Pts
1997 Honda SMR
Ret		 GBR
Ret		 GER
19		 ITA
14		 EUR
12		 AUT
15		 NED
Ret		 GER
DNS		 SPA
15		 JPN
15		 INA
5		 17th 20
1999 Yamaha RSA
Ret		 GBR
Ret		 SPA
Ret		 ITA
2		 GER
Ret		 SMR
1		 USA
23		 EUR
2		 AUT
Ret		 NED
3		 GER
2		 5th 101
2000 Ducati AUS
23		 JPN
18		 GBR
Ret		 ITA
6		 GER
2		 SMR
Ret		 SPA
18		 EUR
7		 NED
1		 GER
4		 GBR
Ret		 7th 77

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

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

Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Pts
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
1998 Suzuki AUS AUS GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA GER
15		 GER
16		 SMR SMR RSA RSA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED JPN JPN 51st 1
2001 Ducati SPA
Ret		 SPA
8		 RSA
9		 RSA
5		 AUS
Ret		 AUS
C		 JPN
18		 JPN
22		 ITA
Ret		 ITA
6		 GBR
7		 GBR
10		 GER
19		 GER
6		 SMR
10		 SMR
6		 USA
7		 USA
10		 EUR
6		 EUR
12		 GER
2		 GER
1		 NED
2		 NED
2		 ITA
1		 ITA
2		 6th 236
2002 Ducati SPA
5		 SPA
Ret		 AUS
3		 AUS
3		 RSA
3		 RSA
2		 JPN
Ret		 JPN
9		 ITA
6		 ITA
Ret		 GBR
8		 GBR
3		 GER
3		 GER
3		 SMR
Ret		 SMR
Ret		 USA
2		 USA
19		 GBR
5		 GBR
6		 GER
Ret		 GER
5		 NED
4		 NED
Ret		 ITA
3		 ITA
3		 6th 249
2003 Ducati SPA
2		 SPA
2		 AUS
2		 AUS
2		 JPN
4		 JPN
4		 ITA
7		 ITA
Ret		 GER
Ret		 GER
5		 GBR
3		 GBR
3		 SMR
1		 SMR
1		 USA
Ret		 USA
1		 GBR
Ret		 GBR
4		 NED
1		 NED
2		 ITA
1		 ITA
1		 FRA
2		 FRA
1		 2nd 386
2006 Ducati QAT
15		 QAT
10		 AUS
7		 AUS
8		 SPA
7		 SPA
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 ITA
15		 EUR
4		 EUR
7		 SMR
9		 SMR
9		 CZE
Ret		 CZE
14		 GBR
10		 GBR
10		 NED
Ret		 NED
5		 GER
15		 GER
9		 ITA
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 FRA
DNS		 FRA 14th 103
2007 Ducati QAT
10		 QAT
9		 AUS
7		 AUS
6		 EUR
Ret		 EUR
4		 SPA
1		 SPA
4		 NED
3		 NED
Ret		 ITA
12		 ITA
13		 GBR
9		 GBR
C		 SMR
8		 SMR
7		 CZE
12		 CZE
10		 GBR
4		 GBR
6		 GER
12		 GER
6		 ITA
Ret		 ITA
6		 FRA
8		 FRA
10		 6th 201
2008 Ducati QAT
4		 QAT
2		 AUS
4		 AUS
4		 SPA
Ret		 SPA
7		 NED
16		 NED
4		 ITA
Ret		 ITA
7		 USA
14		 USA
Ret		 GER
6		 GER
8		 SMR
4		 SMR
1		 CZE
Ret		 CZE
Ret		 GBR
DNS		 GBR
DNS		 EUR
Ret		 EUR
8		 ITA
Ret		 ITA
12		 FRA
Ret		 FRA
5		 POR
9		 POR
Ret		 10th 178
2009 BMW AUS
19		 AUS
11		 QAT
13		 QAT
10		 SPA
13		 SPA
16		 NED
14		 NED
11		 ITA
7		 ITA
9		 RSA
Ret		 RSA
Ret		 USA
21		 USA
16		 SMR
14		 SMR
16		 GBR
15		 GBR
9		 CZE
Ret		 CZE
DNS		 GER GER ITA
12		 ITA
13		 FRA
11		 FRA
12		 POR
8		 POR
Ret		 17th 74
2010 BMW AUS
DNS		 AUS
DNS		 POR
10		 POR
12		 SPA
12		 SPA
11		 NED
Ret		 NED
10		 ITA
6		 ITA
Ret		 RSA
14		 RSA
11		 USA
10		 USA
11		 SMR
Ret		 SMR
Ret		 CZE
5		 CZE
Ret		 GBR
17		 GBR
11		 GER
7		 GER
9		 ITA
12		 ITA
9		 FRA
Ret		 FRA
DNS		 15th 96
2011 Honda AUS
16		 AUS
10		 EUR
12		 EUR
10		 NED
8		 NED
14		 ITA
15		 ITA
12		 USA
Ret		 USA
18		 SMR
11		 SMR
8		 SPA
16		 SPA
Ret		 CZE
Ret		 CZE
DNS		 GBR GBR GER GER ITA
17		 ITA
11		 FRA
DNS		 FRA
DNS		 POR POR 17th 49

References

  1. ↑ "Ruben Xaus signs with BMW Motorrad Motorsport". World Super Bikes. 2008-06-26. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  2. ↑ Insidebikes World Superbike News Archived 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ SBK – Official Site – News
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