A HISTORY OF CHAMPIONS Coinciding with the launch of the new Repsol Champions campaign, we take the opportunity to have a look at the 41 titles won, from the very begginings to the present day Do not miss the special spot on the Repsol Champions Maybe you were not born when Ángel Nieto flew around the tracks on his red bullets (balas rojas). Perhaps you never saw “Aspar” winning in the 80s, and it could even have seemed boring when Doohan won everything in sight in the 90s or you missed Valentino Rossi starting out in MotoGP. However, when one thinks of these riders and many other champions from Spain, or from other countries, an image of them easily comes to mind. So if you look into these stories, and into others starring Alex Crivillé, or Carlos Sainz, one realises that all of them, apart from being great champions, have something in common. Looking at the black and white images, or thinking of those heros from earlier times and those racing now, one sees that Repsol is always there. The Repsol colours are a a guarantee of success and synonymoous with it, its energy has taken its riders and drivers to the top of the world. From the old white R on a blue background and a red circle so characteristic on the fairing used by Nieto, to the beautiful orange and blue bikes ridden by Pedrosa, Hayden and Marc Coma himself, the most recent of our champions, Repsol has always been alongside the best riders in the world. Its colours will stay imprinted in our mind and linked to victories and successes of the riders who wore them when racing all over the world. Whether on four wheels or on two, Repsol has fuelled the the world of motoring for almost the last 40 years. 40 years can bring a lot of things and in this time 33 world titles have been won as well as 6 victories in the Dakar. The first to win this type of championship was, of course, Ángel Nieto in 1969. Nieto was proclaimed World 50cc Champion after winning two Grands Prix. Two years later, on 26th September 1971 at the circuit of Jarama Nieto had just lost the 50cc title after falling on the final curve just a few minutes before, but after receiving some stitches on his knee the 12+1 went for broke and won the 125cc world title for the first time in this category. This was just a first step because in 1972 he won the two categories. The same year Derbi decided to leave this championship and did not return until the 80s. After that riders like Jorge Martínez “Aspar”, Champi Herreros and Álex Crivillé, won more trophies thanks to the red bullets and the Repsol painted on the rear of their bikes. In 1988 “Aspar” won the title in two categories: 80cc and 125cc and when Sito Pons won the the title in 250cc on his NSR 250 wearing the colours of CAMPSA, later to become Repsol. Criville makes history One year later, when Sito Pons carried off his second crown, the world discovered a new star in 125cc: Álex Crivillé. The nen de Seva won the title with JJ-Cobas, and once again Repsol was there. Crivillé is without a doubt one of the greatest riders to come out of Spain and was backed by Repsol to win the most prestigious title in the world of motorcycling: the World 500cc Championship. The Spanish rider was the teammate of one of the greatest ever riders that racing has ever known, Mick Doohan. Together they were the stars of spectacular races between 1995 and 1998 when the Repsol Honda Team was always on the podium. The Australian was World Champion those four years, and when he fell in practice at Jerez in 1999 he had to retire from competition. Álex Crivillé took over from him and was the first ever Spaniard to be crowned World 500cc Champion. That same year another Repsol rider won the World 125cc Championship; Emilio Alzamora won a hard fought campaign with some spectacular races although he was not rewarded with a victory. Two years later in 2001, the 500cc category saw a new champion, Valentino Rossi who became champion of the top category and once again Repsol was present, just like in 250cc, where the deceased Daijiro Kato managed to walk away with the title. The two following years Rossi won the title in the top category, this time astride the impressive 990cc and he coincided with the new boy in town Dani Pedrosa, who won the 125cc title majestically. The Spaniard, today with the Repsol Honda MotoGP Team, also won the 250cc title demonstrating that he is one of the best riders around. The Repsol colours have been at the pinnacle of the motorcycling world together with Nicky Hayden, thanks to the MotoGP title he won in the very close 2006 season. The odyssey of the Dakar However Repsol is not only present in the world of motorcycling, it has also backed the only Spanish WRC winner: Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver won two titles with help from Repsol in 1990 and 1992, and in 1995, his ex teammate Colin McRae, took the Repsol colours back to the top of the rally world. For many years Repsol sought to win the toughest race in the world, the Dakar. That dream and all the efforts made were finally rewarded in 2004 when a Spaniard won for the first ever time. Nani Roma was the name of the winner riding a KTM Repsol he was crowned the king of the Dakar at the Pink Lake. The following year he moved to cars and it was his teammate, Stéphane Peterhansel, who turned out to be the winner. The Frenchman also managed to win in 2007, and in 2006 his compatriot and teammate in the Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart, Luc Alphand, was the winner. Now, Marc Coma is the champion and recently won the crown for the third consecutive year, something he can add to his important victory in the Lisbon-Dakar 2006. This long list is completed with another new recently crowned World Champion and his teammates. Toni Bou signed for the Repsol Montesa HRC team a year ago, and in his first season he is no more and no less the World Indoor and Outdoor Trial Champion. He was proclaimed absolute king of the speciality in 2007, following in the steps of his teammate Takahisa Fujinami, World Outdoor Trial Champion in 2004, and Laia Sanz, Feminine World Trial Champion in 2004, 2005 and 2006. It is a long time since Ángel Nieto won the first of his titles with the little R on his red fairing, a logo that everybody can associate with Repsol and the Spanish rider himself. Today these colours tint the memories of many talented riders, hard work and unlimited amounts of enthusiasm having won an astounding forty-one World Championships. A figure that increases year by year, without a break, and which stays in the memory linked to the red orange and blue colours of Repsol. MOTORCYCLING: 50cc: 1969: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 1971: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 1972: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 1975: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 1976: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 1977: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 80cc: 1988: Jorge Martínez “Aspar” (Derbi) 125cc: 1971: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 1972: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 1979: Ángel Nieto (Derbi) 1986: Jorge Martínez “Aspar” (Derbi) 1987: Jorge Martínez “Aspar” (Derbi) 1988: Jorge Martínez “Aspar” (Derbi) 1989: Alex Crivillé (JJ-Cobas) 1999: Emilio Alzamora (Honda RS 125) 2003: Dani Pedrosa (Honda RS 125) 250cc: 1988 / 1989: Sito Pons (Honda NSR 250) 2001: Daijiro Kato (Honda NSR 250) 2005: Dani Pedrosa (Honda RSW 250) 500cc: 1995 / 1996 / 1997 / 1998: Mick Doohan (Honda NSR 500) 1999: Alex Crivillé (Honda NSR 500) 2001: Valentino Rossi (Honda NSR 500) MotoGP: 2002 / 2003 Valentino Rossi (Honda RC211V) 2006: Nicky Hayden (Honda RC211V) RALLIES: 1990 / 1992 Carlos Sainz (Toyota Celica) 1995: Colin McRae (Subaru Impresa 555) *1996 / 1997: World Champion in 2 litre category, SEAT Ibiza Kit Car (not for drivers, only makes) TRIAL: 2004 outdoor: Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa Cota) 2007 indoor and outdoor: Toni Bou (Montesa Cota) 2004 / 2005 / 2006: Laia Sanz (Montesa Cota) CROSS COUNTRY RALLIES: World: 2005 / 2006 / 2007: Marc Coma (KTM 690 Rally) Rally Dakar: Motorbikes: 2004: Nani Roma (KTM 690 Rally) 2006: Marc Coma (KTM 690 Rally) Cars: 2005 / 2007: Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi Montero) 2006: Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi Montero)