Alfonso Pons Ezquerra (Barcelona 9 November 1959), better known as Sito Pons, is a Spanish former professional
Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He studied Architecture at the university of Barcelona, He competed in the
FIM
FIM may refer to:
Organizations and companies
* Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation
* Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States
* Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media
* ...
motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1981 to 1991. Pons is notable for winning two consecutive
250cc road racing world championships in
1988 and
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
.
After retiring from competition, Pons created the
Honda
commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
-
Pons Racing team in
MotoGP
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...
, which had as its riders the likes of Alex Criville, Carlos Checa, Joh Kocinski, Alberto Puig,
Loris Capirossi
Loris Capirossi (born 4 April 1973) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, currently serving as Safety Advisor to Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
He is a 9-time Premier Class race w ...
,
Alex Barros, Tohru Ukawa
Max Biaggi
Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi (; born 26 June 1971) is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who achieved six World Championships. With four 250 cc road race titles and two in Superbike Wor ...
and
Troy Bayliss
Troy Andrew Bayliss (born 30 March 1969 in Taree, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian motorcycle racer. During his career Bayliss won the Superbike World Championship three times and a MotoGP race, all with Ducati. He finished his care ...
.
[www.ponsracing.com](_blank)
/ref> He was forced to disband the team before the 2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
season due to a lack of funding.
Pons also turned to auto racing, fielding a team in the World Series by Renault, which was mostly based in United Kingdom. His team won the 2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
championship with driver Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish auto racing, racing and rally driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren. In sportscar racing, Kovalainen won Super GT ...
. Pons returned to motorcycle racing in the 2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
Moto2 championship, fielding riders Sergio Gadea and his son, Axel Pons. His team Pons Racing competed in Moto2 until 2023, having a number of riders like, Pol Espargaro,with whom win the championship in 2013; Aleix Espargaro, Tito Rabat, Maverick Viñales, Alex Rins, Luis Salom, Fabio Quartararo, Edgar Pons, Augusto Fernandez, Lorenzo Baldasarri, Hector Garzo, Aron Canet, Sergio Garcia.
His team competed also in the MotoE category in MotoGP winning the championship in three seasons, with Jordi Torres, two times in 2020 and 2021 and with Mattia Casadei in 2023.
In 1990 he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award
The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...
for his achievements in sports.
Personal life
Pons is the father of three sons, Axel, Edgar
Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear").
Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...
, and Lucas .
Motorcycle Grand Prix results
Points system from 1969 to 1987:
Points system from 1988 to 1991:
( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
See also
*'' Sito Pons 500cc Grand Prix''
References
External links
Pons Racing web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pons, Sito
1959 births
Living people
Spanish motorcycle racers
Motorcycle racing team owners
250cc World Championship riders
500cc World Championship riders
Motorcycle racers from Barcelona
250cc World Riders' Champions