Xavier Vierge Zafra (born 30 April 1997) is a Spanish
motorcycle racer
Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Oth ...
, contracted to race for
Honda Racing Corporation
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is a division of the Honda Motor Company formed in 1982. The company combines participation in motorcycle races throughout the world with the development of racing machines. Its racing activities are an important ...
in the
2022 Superbike World Championship
The 2022 Superbike World Championship is the 35th season of the Superbike World Championship. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (born 16 October 1996) is a Turkish motorcycle racer competing in the Superbike World Championship aboard ...
.
Career
Early career
Born in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Vierge was the
2015 FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship runner-up, winning six races, finishing in second three times, and in third place once, out of the eleven races that year.
Moto2 World Championship
Tech 3 Racing (2015–2017)
In the same year, he made his debut in the
2015 Moto2 World Championship as the permanent replacement for
Ricard Cardús in the
Tech3
Tech3 is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP class World Championship under the name Tech3 GasGas Factory Racing. They also compete in the Moto3 World Championship under the name Red Bull KTM Tech3 and the MotoE World Cup under the ...
team from the tenth round of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
onwards, but failed to score any championship points.
He was retained by the team for the
2016 Moto2 season, where he scored his first Grand Prix points in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and achieved a best result of 8th in
Sepang. At the end of the season he collected 37 points, and was awarded the Moto2 Rookie of the Year prize, winning it by one point over
Miguel Oliveira
Miguel Ângelo Falcão de Oliveira (; born 4 January 1995) is a Portuguese professional motorcycle racer who competes in the MotoGP World Championship for RNF MotoGP Team, getting the step up from KTM Tech3, .
He stayed with the
Tech3
Tech3 is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP class World Championship under the name Tech3 GasGas Factory Racing. They also compete in the Moto3 World Championship under the name Red Bull KTM Tech3 and the MotoE World Cup under the ...
team for the
2017 season, this time partnered by Australian
Remy Gardner
Remy Christopher Gardner (born 24 February 1998) is an Australian motorcycle racer, best known for winning the 2021 Moto2 World Championship with Red Bull KTM Ajo. He is the son of 1987 premier class world champion, Wayne Gardner.
Career M ...
. At the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
, Vierge was forced to sit out of the race due to a thoracic trauma following a crash in qualifying. In
Assen
Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...
, Vierge suffered a broken arm in free practice and was again forced to sit out the event. He also had to sit out the
next round at Sachsenring and was replaced by
Héctor Garzó
Héctor Garzó Vicent (born 9 June 1998) is a Spanish motorcycle racer, competing in the MotoE World Cup for Tech3 team.
Career Moto3 Junior World Championship
Garzó competed in the 2016 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship without scori ...
. At
Motegi, Vierge claimed his first podium finish in the championship with a second place finish. He ended the season 11th in the standings, with 98 points.
Dynavolt Intact GP (2018)
On 5 August 2017, it was announced that Vierge would join Dynavolt Intact GP for the
2018 season, partnering
Marcel Schrötter, who was also his teammate at Tech3 in the second half of 2015. He took his first pole at
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, and finished the race in second place. At
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, he had a nasty crash in qualifying after a coming together with
Steven Odendaal
Steven Odendaal (born 2 March 1993) is a motorcycle racer from South Africa and the 2016 FIM CEV Moto2 European Champion.
Career
Odendaal made a number of Moto2 World Championship appearances including a full season in with Team AGR Speed Up. ...
, causing him to miss the race and the next weekend at
Silverstone. He would grab a podium with his third place finish at
Phillip Island
Phillip Island ( Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explore ...
, and finish the season in 11th again, with 131 points.
EG 0,0 Marc VDS (2019)
On 22 August 2018, it was confirmed that Vierge would sign for
EG 0,0 Marc VDS for the
2019 season, partnering
Álex Márquez
Álex Márquez Alentà (born 23 April 1996) is a Grand Prix motorcycle rider from Spain racing for Ducati satellite team Gresini Racing MotoGP. He has competed in MotoGP since the 2020 season, having previously become World Champion in the ...
, the younger brother of
Marc Márquez
Marc Márquez Alentà (born 17 February 1993) is a Spanish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, who has raced for Honda's factory team since his MotoGP debut in 2013. Born in Cervera, Catalonia, Spain, he is nicknamed the 'Ant of Cer ...
. Vierge replaced
Joan Mir
Joan Mir Mayrata () (born 1 September 1997) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer riding for the Repsol Honda Team, who is best known for winning the 2020 MotoGP World Championship with Suzuki. He is the fourth Spanish rider to win the prem ...
, who moved up to MotoGP with
Suzuki. His place at Dynavolt Intact GP was taken by
Thomas Lüthi
Thomas Lüthi (born 6 September 1986) is a Swiss sporting director at Prüstel GP, and former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He spent 19 years in Grand Prix world championships, becoming one of only six riders to reach 300 race starts, spending m ...
, who returned to Moto2 after one season in the premier class. In the opening race in
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
, also the first race with the new
Triumph
The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...
765cc triple engines, Vierge qualified in second, took the lead at the start, but then fell back to tenth place by the end of the race. In the
next race in Argentina, Vierge took pole position for the second consecutive season, however a problem on the warm-up lap meant he could not start the race. His bad luck continued at
Austin, when he was involved in a first-lap crash at turn one along with
Fabio Di Giannantonio
Fabio Di Giannantonio (born 10 October 1998) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer, riding for Gresini Racing in MotoGP.
Career Early career
Born in Rome, in 2015 Di Giannantonio finished as the runner-up in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup ...
and
Joe Roberts. His unlucky season continued throughout the whole year, his best result being a 4th place finish, and Vierge only finished 13th in the standings, collecting 81 points.
Petronas Sprinta Racing (2020–2021)
After a disappointing 2019, Vierge moved on to the
Sepang Racing Team
The Sepang Racing Team (formerly known as SIC Racing Team) was a Malaysian Grand Prix motorcycle racing team which operated until the end of 2021, and was owned by the Sepang International Circuit. First established in 2015 in the Moto3 class a ...
for the
2020 season, partnering with
Jake Dixon
Jake Curtis Dixon (born 15 January 1996) is a British Grand Prix motorcycle racer competing for GasGas Aspar Team in the 2022 Moto2 World Championship. Dixon is best known for finishing runner-up in the 2018 British Superbike Championship, and ...
. Vierge once again had an underwhelming season, with no podium finishes, a 4th place being his best in Rimini, and one pole position, which he achieved at
Catalunya
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
. He finished the season 10th in the standings with 79 points, but 35 points ahead of Dixon.
Vierge stayed with
Sepang Racing Team
The Sepang Racing Team (formerly known as SIC Racing Team) was a Malaysian Grand Prix motorcycle racing team which operated until the end of 2021, and was owned by the Sepang International Circuit. First established in 2015 in the Moto3 class a ...
for the
2021 season, once again partnering Jake Dixon. He had one podium finish during the season, a 3rd place from
Catalunya
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, and finished 11th in the standings again, with 93 points.
Superbike World Championship
In September, Vierge and
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...
announced that he would be competing in the
Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing.
The championship was founded i ...
for 2022, replacing
Leon Haslam
Leon Lloyd Haslam (born 31 May 1983, in the London Borough of Ealing) is a motorcycle road racer based in Derbyshire, England.
In February 2022, Haslam confirmed he would be racing in British Superbikes for Lee Hardy Racing on a Kawasaki Z ...
. He will be partnered by fellow MotoGP outcast
Iker Lecuona
Iker Lecuona Gascón (born 6 January 2000) is a Spanish motorcycle racer, who currently competes in the 2022 Superbike World Championship for Honda Racing Corporation, on a CBR1000RR-R. He spent two seasons in MotoGP, from to with KTM Tech3.
...
, on the factory Honda ride.
Career statistics
FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship
Races by year
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship
Races by year
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season
By class
Races by year
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Superbike World Championship
By season
Races by year
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
* Season still in progress.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vierge, Xavi
1997 births
Living people
Spanish motorcycle racers
Motorcycle racers from Catalonia
Moto2 World Championship riders
Sportspeople from Barcelona
Superbike World Championship riders