Xavi Vierge

Xavier Vierge Zafra (born 30 April 1997) is a Spanish motorcycle racer, contracted to race for Honda Racing Corporation in the 2022 Superbike World Championship.

Career Early career

Born in Barcelona, 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)

Vierge was retained by the team for the 2016 Moto2 season, where he scored his first Grand Prix points in Argentina and achieved a best result of eighth 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.

Vierge stayed with the Tech3 team for the 2017 season, this time partnered by Australian Remy Gardner. At the Italian Grand Prix, Vierge was forced to sit out of the race due to a thoracic trauma following a crash in qualifying. In Assen, 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. 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, and finished the race in second place. At Austria, he had a nasty crash in qualifying after a coming together with Steven Odendaal, 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, 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, the younger brother of Marc Márquez. Vierge replaced Joan Mir, who moved up to MotoGP with Suzuki. His place at Dynavolt Intact GP was taken by Thomas Lüthi, who returned to Moto2 after one season in the premier class. In the opening race in Qatar, also the first race with the new Triumph 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 and Joe Roberts. His unlucky season continued throughout the whole year, his best result being a fourth-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 for the 2020 season, partnering with Jake Dixon. Vierge once again had an underwhelming season, with no podium finishes, a fourth place being his best in Rimini, and one pole position, which he achieved at Catalunya. He finished the season tenth in the standings with 79 points, but 35 points ahead of Dixon.

Vierge stayed with Sepang Racing Team for the 2021 season, once again partnering Jake Dixon. He had one podium finish during the season, a third place from Catalunya, and finished 11th in the standings again, with 93 points.

Superbike World Championship In September, Vierge and Honda announced that he would be competing in the Superbike World Championship for 2022, replacing Leon Haslam. He would be partnered by fellow MotoGP outcast Iker Lecuona, on the factory Honda ride.

Suzuka 8 Hours In 2025, Vierge was unable to compete in the Suzuka 8 Hours due to a work visa issue. Japanese authorities refused to grant a work visa to Vierge, who was scheduled to compete in the Suzuka 8 Hours as a replacement for his injured Honda WSBK teammate, Iker Lecuona.

Career statistics

FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pos Pts 2012 Honda JER NAV ARA CAT ALB1 ALB2 VAL 15th 31 2013 Honda CAT1 CAT2 ARA ALB1 ALB2 NAV VAL1 VAL2 JER 27th 9

FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts 2014 Tech 3 JER ARA1 ARA2 CAT ALB NAV1 NAV2 ALG1 ALG2 VAL 4th 111 2015 Tech 3 ALG1 ALG2 CAT ARA1 ARA2 ALB NAV1 NAV2 JER VAL1 VAL2 2nd 226

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Class Seasons 1st GP 1st pod 1st win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp Moto2 2015–2021 2015 Indianapolis 2017 Japan 110 0 4 3 2 519 0 Total 2015–2021 110 0 4 3 2 519 0

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) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 Honda SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED POR POR POR ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR CZE CZE CZE FRA FRA FRA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR ARG ARG ARG INA INA INA AUS AUS AUS 10th 164 Honda AUS AUS AUS INA INA INA NED NED NED SPA SPA SPA ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR ITA ITA ITA CZE CZE CZE FRA FRA FRA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA 10th 149 Honda AUS AUS AUS SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR CZE CZE CZE POR POR POR FRA FRA FRA ITA ITA ITA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA 11th 137 Honda AUS AUS AUS POR POR POR NED NED NED ITA ITA ITA CZE CZE CZE EMI EMI EMI GBR GBR GBR HUN HUN HUN FRA FRA FRA ARA ARA ARA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA 7th 185 Yamaha AUS AUS AUS POR POR POR NED NED NED HUN HUN HUN CZE CZE CZE ARA ARA ARA EMI EMI EMI GBR GBR GBR FRA FRA FRA ITA ITA ITA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA 14th* 15* Season still in progress.

Suzuka 8 Hours results Year Team Riders Bike Pos 2023 Honda Team HRC Tetsuta Nagashima Takumi Takahashi Honda CBR1000RR-R SP 1st