Aspar Team (formerly
ﾃ］gel Nieto Team) is a
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fﾃｩdﾃｩration Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...
team from Spain, competing in the Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE World Championships.
History
The team was created by former
world champion Jorge Martﾃｭnez in 1992, when he was still riding a
Honda RS125R. For 1993 Martﾃｭnez expanded his operations into the 250cc class debuting with
Juan Borja. For the next two seasons the Aspar team switched to
Yamaha TZ125 bikes leaving the 250cc division. In 1996 Aspar started an 18-year relationship with
Aprilia; in those years he fielded riders like
Fonsi Nieto and
Arnaud Vincent before entering the 250cc class again, in 2000 with
Alex Debﾃｳn. Between 2006 and 2011 the Aspar team won four World Championship titles in the 125cc class with
ﾃ〕varo Bautista,
Gﾃ｡bor Talmﾃ｡csi,
Juliﾃ｡n Simﾃｳn
Juliﾃ｡n Simﾃｳn Sesmero (born 3 April 1987) is a Spanish motorcycle racer. He is best known for winning the 2009 125cc World Championship.
Career
125cc World Championship
Born in Villacaﾃｱas, Toledo, Spain, Simﾃｳn began his racing career r ...
and
Nicolﾃ｡s Terol. Riders that competed with the team in the 250cc class included
Toni Elﾃｭas,
Alex de Angelis,
Sebastiﾃ｡n Porto and
Randy de Puniet.
In the season the Aspar team entered the MotoGP class with
Hﾃｩctor Barberﾃ｡, who finished in twelfth place aboard a
Ducati Desmosedici GP10. Simﾃｳn finished in second place in the inaugural
Moto2 campaign, with teammate
Mike Di Meglio finishing in twentieth place. Both riders started the season on Honda-powered RSV Motors frames, switching to a
Suter chassis after two races.
Nicolﾃ｡s Terol finished in second place in the 125cc class while his teammate
Bradley Smith finished fourth, both riding
Aprilia RSA 125 motorcycles.
Barberﾃ｡ remained with the team for , recording a best result of 6th at the
Spanish Grand Prix. The team expanded to two bikes in , switching from Ducati to
ART.
Aleix Espargarﾃｳ and
Randy de Puniet dominated the recently created CRT (Claiming Rule Teams) class for two straight years. In , Aspar entered two
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 ...
bikes, after hiring former World Champion
Nicky Hayden to partner
Hiroshi Aoyama. The duo scored points regularly, but Espargarﾃｳ claimed a 3rd straight title in the CRT class with
Forward Racing. Irishman
Eugene Laverty joined the team in , the last year for Hayden in the World Championship before switching to the
Superbike World Championship.
Before the season began, the team changed their name from Aspar Racing Team to ﾃ］gel Nieto Team, as a tribute by former team principal Jorge Fernandez to his late compatriot
ﾃ］gel Nieto. The team also announced ﾃ］gel's son
Gelete as the new team principal.
Results
;Notes
Season still in progress.
MotoGP results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
;Notes
* Season still in progress.
References
External links
*
{{Moto3 World Teams' Champions
Motorcycle racing teams
Motorcycle racing teams established in 1992
1992 establishments in Spain