Juan Bautista Borja (born 3 February 1970) is a former

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

road racer from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Having won the FCIM 125cc European championship in 1992, he first raced on the world stage at the 1993 FIM motorcycle Grand Prix at the

Circuito del Jarama The Circuito de Madrid Jarama - RACE, formerly known as ''Circuito del Jarama'' and ''Circuito Permanente del Jarama'' is a motorsport racetrack located in San Sebastián de los Reyes, north of Madrid. It was home to the Spanish Grand Prix ni ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, but retired on lap 19 in the 250cc class riding a privateer

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 ...

. For

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, he gained a series of one-off privateer rides in the 250cc class, starting with an

Aprilia Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle and Scooter (motorcycle), scooter manufacturer in Noale, Italy, founded by Alberto Beggio. History Early days Aprilia, named after the Pre-war automobile, pre-war Lancia Aprilia, was founded after the Seco ...

at the 1994 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, and finishing the season on a Honda, placing him 30th in the championship. Moving to the 500cc class for

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, he rode out the season placing twelfth on the ROC-

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

. He then spent two seasons on the ELF 500 ROC sponsored by

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

and then

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, placing 14th in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and 17th in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

on an under-developed and hence unreliable bike. For

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

he moved to the well backed Movistar Honda Pons riding the

Honda NSR500 1993 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix">1993 Japanese Grand Prix The Honda NSR500 is a road racing motorcycle created by HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) and debuted in 1984 for the Grand Prix motorcycle racing's 500 cc class. Honda won ...

, but unreliability meant he finished the season in 32nd. Improved factory support in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

meant that he finished 12th. Without a ride for the

2000 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 2000 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 52nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Season summary Kenny Roberts Jr. fulfilled the promise of his 2nd place in 1999 by winning the championship for 2000 with 2 races to spare. ...

, after the crash of

Carl Fogarty Carl George Fogarty (born 1 July 1965), often known as Foggy, is an English former motorcycle racer and one of the most successful Superbike World Championship, World Superbike racers of all time. He also holds the third highest number of rac ...

which ended his racing career, from race six onwards in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

he moved to

World Superbikes Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a Silhouette racing car, silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Su ...

, replacing

Ben Bostrom Benjamin Bostrom (born May 7, 1974) is an American former professional Motorcycle sport, motorcycle racer. From 1995 to 2011 he competed in the AMA Superbike Championship, the World Superbike Championship and the MotoGP world championship. Motor ...

in the works

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...

- Infostrada, finishing the season in 12th. Replaced by younger compatriate

Rubén Xaus 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 ...

for the 2001 season, Borja moved to Spanish privateer team Panavto Yamaha riding the

Yamaha YZF-R7 The Yamaha YZF-R7 or OW-02 (often referred to simply as the R7) is a race Homologation (motorsport), homologation motorcycle made by Yamaha motorcycles, Yamaha in limited production run of only 500 units worldwide. It was designed to compete in t ...

, but a lack of funds and unreliability meant that he finished the season 32nd. For 2002 season he returned to riding a Ducati 998RS for Spanish privateer team Spaziotel Racing, finishing 12th. With the same team but now under the DFX Racing banner, he finished 13th in the 2003 season. In light of their sponsorship from

Sterilgarda Sterilgarda Alimenti Società per Azioni, S.p.A. is an Italian dairy produce company, based in Castiglione delle Stiviere in the Province of Mantua. History Sterilgarda was formed in 1969 by a group of local dairy farming entrepreneurs to take a ...

for the 2004 season, the DFX team choose Italian rider Marco Borciani. Unable to find a team or sponsorship, Borja was forced to retire at the age of 34.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borja, Juan 1970 births Living people People from Marina Baixa Sportspeople from the Province of Alicante Spanish motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders