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.

Rubén Xaus
Rubén Xaus
NationalitySpanish
Born (1978-02-18) 18 February 1978 (age 46)
Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalunya (Spain)
Websiterubenxaus.net

Early years

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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

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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

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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 [1].

By season

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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

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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[2]. 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

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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

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Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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Races by year

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(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

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Races by year

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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

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Races by year

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(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

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  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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Sporting positions
Preceded by Race of Champions
Nations' Cup

2001 with:
Fernando Alonso
Jesús Puras
Succeeded by