Rubén Xaus

Rubén Xaus Moreno (born 18 February 1978 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish 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 him to hang over the bike in an unusual way.

Early years His father, who competed in amateur mountain bicycle races, gave Xaus his first motorcycle at the age of five, a Montesa 25cc. At the age of 14, he was racing dirt-bikes, but his father convinced him to turn his attentions towards road racing. Xaus took part in the 125cc Catalan Championship, the 125cc Solo Moto Criterium, and that same year he took victory in the 80cc Catalonia Supermoto Championship.

In 1994, Xaus competed in the Open Ducados Supersport series in Spain – finishing 17th place, improving to third the following year. In 1995, he entered the FIM Thunderbike trophy and contested four 250cc Grand Prix. Xaus finished sixth in Thunderbike in 1996, moving to World Supersport in 1997 taking 17th overall.

In 1998, Xaus rode in the German Pro-Superbike series, taking sixth place overall. In , he finished fifth in the Supersport World Championship, taking his first ever victory at Misano. In , he rode one of the official Ducati factory team Supersport bikes, finishing seventh and taking one victory.

Superbikes For , Xaus moved to the factory Ducati Superbike team in partnership with then-champion Troy Bayliss. He struggled early in the season, with a best result of fifth from the first eight meetings. However, in race 2 at Oschersleben he became the first Spaniard ever to take victory in the Superbike World Championship. A pair of seconds at Assen (helping Bayliss to clinch the title) and a second win at Imola gave him sixth in the championship. Sixth place in was followed by fifteen podiums and seven victories in , finishing runner up to teammate Neil Hodgson.

MotoGP Xaus made his move into the MotoGP World Championship in 2004 as part of the satellite D'Antin Ducati team. The team was grossly under funded and could not afford testing time, but Xaus adapted better to the situation than teammate Hodgson. Consistent points-scoring performances and a first podium at Qatar saw him snap up the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title and 11th place overall in the championship standings. In 2005, he moved to the Fortuna Yamaha Team to ride alongside his friend Toni Elías. But a more pronounced power delivery and difficult chassis and Xaus's charging/forced riding style meant he looked a different rider to the one of 2004. He crashed numerous times, finishing 16th overall with a best finish of tenth .

By season

SeasonClassMotoRaceWinPodPoleFLapPtsPlcdWCh 2004 MotoGP GP4 16 0 1 0 0 77 11th – 2005 MotoGP Yamaha YZR-M1 16 0 0 0 0 52 16th – Total 32 0 1 0 0 129 0

Return to Superbikes For , Xaus returned to the Superbike World Championship, with a ride for the new Italian satellite Ducati team Sterilgarda Berik, alongside team owner Marco Borciani. He twice set the fastest lap, but his fast charges often ended in crashes, and he was only 14th overall.

Xaus ended the season sixth with a total 201 points, directly behind the former world champion Troy Corser, scoring the team's first victory in Valencia.

For , Xaus was joined by Max Biaggi on a Ducati 1098R for Sterilgarda-GoEleven, under the team management of Borciani. He finished second in race 2 at the season-opening event in Qatar and took a victory at Misano in Race 2 in front of Biaggi and Bayliss, but has had no further podiums. At Donington Park, he believed he had finished third in a race stopped by heavy rain, but found out immediately before the podium celebration that he had been disqualified for not returning to the pits quickly enough after crashing immediately before the race was stopped. He then refused to leave the podium and verbally assaulted the marshals, including the rider who inherited the third spot on the podium - his team-mate Max Biaggi. He finished tenth in the standings.

On 26 June 2008, Xaus signed to ride the BMW S1000RR bike for the factory BMW Motorrad team in the 2009 WSB Championship.

Personal data On 16 March 2007, Xaus married long-term partner Mariona. The wedding was held in Andorra, where the couple live with their daughter Julia Xaus, who was born in November 2006. In January 2009, they had their second daughter Paula Xaus.

Xaus' hobbies include mountain biking, snowboarding and golf. He is 183 cm tall and weighs 74 kg.

Currently In 2024, Xaus introduced BRL Europe https://www.baggereurope.com/ where he manages the series and also competes in it using bagger motorcycles.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1995 250cc Honda AUS MAL JPN SPA GER ITA NED FRA GBRRet CZE23 BRA16 ARGRet EURRet NC 0 MotoGP Ducati RSARet ESPRet FRA14 ITA5 CAT6 NED7 BRA12 GER11 GBR11 CZERet PORRet JPN9 QAT3 MAL13 AUS11 VALRet 11th 77 2005 MotoGP Yamaha SPA18 POR10 CHN10 FRA12 ITA14 CAT10 NED12 USA11 GBRRet GER13 CZE18 JPN10 MAL15 QAT14 AUS12 TUR14 VAL15 16th 52

Supersport World Championship Races by year Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts 1997 Honda SMRRet GBRRet GER19 ITA14 EUR12 AUT15 NEDRet GERDNS SPA15 JPN15 INA5 17th 20 1999 Yamaha RSARet GBRRet SPARet ITA2 GERRet SMR1 USA23 EUR2 AUTRet NED3 GER2 5th 101 2000 Ducati AUS23 JPN18 GBRRet ITA6 GER2 SMRRet SPA18 EUR7 NED1 GER4 GBRRet 7th 77

Superbike World Championship Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1998 Suzuki AUS AUS GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA GER15 GER16 SMR SMR RSA RSA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED JPN JPN 51st 1 2001 Ducati SPARet SPA8 RSA9 RSA5 AUSRet AUSC JPN18 JPN22 ITARet ITA6 GBR7 GBR10 GER19 GER6 SMR10 SMR6 USA7 USA10 EUR6 EUR12 GER2 GER1 NED2 NED2 ITA1 ITA2 6th 236 2002 Ducati SPA5 SPARet AUS3 AUS3 RSA3 RSA2 JPNRet JPN9 ITA6 ITARet GBR8 GBR3 GER3 GER3 SMRRet SMRRet USA2 USA19 GBR5 GBR6 GERRet GER5 NED4 NEDRet ITA3 ITA3 6th 249 2003 Ducati SPA2 SPA2 AUS2 AUS2 JPN4 JPN4 ITA7 ITARet GERRet GER5 GBR3 GBR3 SMR1 SMR1 USARet USA1 GBRRet GBR4 NED1 NED2 ITA1 ITA1 FRA2 FRA1 2nd 386 2006 Ducati QAT15 QAT10 AUS7 AUS8 SPA7 SPARet ITARet ITA15 EUR4 EUR7 SMR9 SMR9 CZERet CZE14 GBR10 GBR10 NEDRet NED5 GER15 GER9 ITARet ITARet FRADNS FRA 14th 103 2007 Ducati QAT10 QAT9 AUS7 AUS6 EURRet EUR4 SPA1 SPA4 NED3 NEDRet ITA12 ITA13 GBR9 GBRC SMR8 SMR7 CZE12 CZE10 GBR4 GBR6 GER12 GER6 ITARet ITA6 FRA8 FRA10 6th 201 2008 Ducati QAT4 QAT2 AUS4 AUS4 SPARet SPA7 NED16 NED4 ITARet ITA7 USA14 USARet GER6 GER8 SMR4 SMR1 CZERet CZERet GBRDNS GBRDNS EURRet EUR8 ITARet ITA12 FRARet FRA5 POR9 PORRet 10th 178 2009 BMW AUS19 AUS11 QAT13 QAT10 SPA13 SPA16 NED14 NED11 ITA7 ITA9 RSARet RSARet USA21 USA16 SMR14 SMR16 GBR15 GBR9 CZERet CZEDNS GER GER ITA12 ITA13 FRA11 FRA12 POR8 PORRet 17th 74 2010 BMW AUSDNS AUSDNS POR10 POR12 SPA12 SPA11 NEDRet NED10 ITA6 ITARet RSA14 RSA11 USA10 USA11 SMRRet SMRRet CZE5 CZERet GBR17 GBR11 GER7 GER9 ITA12 ITA9 FRARet FRADNS 15th 96 2011 Honda AUS16 AUS10 EUR12 EUR10 NED8 NED14 ITA15 ITA12 USARet USA18 SMR11 SMR8 SPA16 SPARet CZERet CZEDNS GBR GBR GER GER ITA17 ITA11 FRADNS FRADNS POR POR 17th 49