Fonsi Nieto

Alfonso González Nieto (born 2 December 1978 in Madrid, Spain), better known as Fonsi Nieto, is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and the nephew of successful Grand Prix motorcycle road racer Ángel Nieto. After success in the 250cc class he moved to World Superbikes and made one MotoGP start. For 2010 he returned to the Grand Prix scene in the newly formed Moto2 category. Nieto announced his retirement from competition in early 2011 after failing to recover from injuries suffered when racing at Indianapolis in 2010.[1]

Fonsi Nieto
Nieto in 2009
NationalitySpanish
BornAlfonso González Nieto
(1978-12-02) 2 December 1978
Madrid, Spain
Websitefonsinieto.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years2007
ManufacturersKawasaki
Championships0
2007 championship position22nd (5 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
1 0 0 0 0 5
Moto2 World Championship
Active years2010
ManufacturersMoriwaki-Honda
Championships0
2010 championship position18th (45 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
15 0 0 0 0 45
250cc World Championship
Active years19992004
ManufacturersAprilia, Yamaha
Championships0
2004 championship position7th (124 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
95 5 18 12 7 771
125cc World Championship
Active years19971998
ManufacturersAprilia
Championships0
1998 championship position29th (3 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
4 0 0 0 0 3

Early years

He won the Spanish 125cc championship in 1998, and the Spanish 250cc champion in 1999 and 2000, also winning the less prestigious European 125cc title in 1997. In 1999 and 2000 he raced in the 250cc World Championship alongside his domestic commitments, finishing 14th overall on a Yamaha TZ250 with a best result of 6th at Estoril in 2000.

250cc World Championship

He was 4th in the world championship in 2001, with 4 successive 5th places early in the season and a pair of late-season podium finishes.[2] He won 4 races in 2002, finishing 2nd to Marco Melandri. He was then 5th in 2003 with a win at Donington Park, and 7th in 2004.

Superbike World Championship

Nieto at the Assen round of the 2007 season.

In 2005 he entered the Superbike World Championship with the Caracchi Ducati team, finishing 17th overall in the championship. A fourth in Round 4 of the season was the highlight; he only reached the top 10 once more. For 2006 and 2007 he rode for PSG-Kawasaki. His first podium finish came in Race 2 at Assen in 2006, following teammate Chris Walker's victory in the first race. He was also third at Magny-Cours in 2007.[3] He took pole position at Lausitzring in 2007 after finding a dry spell in a wet qualifying session.[4]

In 2007 he also replaced the injured Olivier Jacque in the French Grand Prix making his debut in the MotoGP class, finishing the race in 11th place.

For 2008 he joined Alstare Suzuki, making an immediate impact by winning his first world superbike race in the second race of the opening round in Qatar.[5] He finished the season 7th overall, but lost his 2009 ride as the team scaled back to two riders and retained the less successful Japanese Yukio Kagayama. However, Nieto returned to the team mid-season after Max Neukirchner was injured.

Career statistics

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 18 Pos Pts
1997 125cc Aprilia MAL JPN SPA
16
ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER BRA GBR CZE CAT INA AUS NC 0
1998 125cc Aprilia JPN MAL SPA
15
ITA FRA MAD
14
NED GBR GER CZE IMO CAT
17
AUS ARG 29th 3
1999 250cc Yamaha MAL
22
JPN
14
SPA
18
FRA
12
ITA
17
CAT
Ret
NED
19
GBR
17
GER
18
CZE
17
IMO
18
VAL
15
AUS
16
RSA
15
BRA
17
ARG
14
23rd 10
2000 250cc Yamaha RSA
Ret
MAL
Ret
JPN
22
SPA
16
FRA
16
ITA
9
CAT
18
NED
16
GBR
18
GER
12
CZE
Ret
POR
6
VAL
17
BRA
11
PAC
14
AUS
9
14th 35
2001 250cc Aprilia JPN
11
RSA
5
SPA
5
FRA
5
ITA
5
CAT
5
NED
DNS
GBR
6
GER
10
CZE
7
POR
4
VAL
3
PAC
4
AUS
5
MAL
3
BRA
4
5th 167
2002 250cc Aprilia JPN
13
RSA
3
SPA
1
FRA
1
ITA
3
CAT
3
NED
5
GBR
2
GER
4
CZE
4
POR
1
BRA
Ret
PAC
4
MAL
1
AUS
2
VAL
Ret
2nd 241
2003 250cc Aprilia JPN
6
RSA
7
SPA
7
FRA
4
ITA
2
CAT
2
NED
Ret
GBR
1
GER
2
CZE
6
POR
9
BRA
Ret
PAC
8
MAL
3
AUS
3
VAL
5
5th 194
2004 250cc Aprilia RSA
7
SPA
3
FRA
7
ITA
5
CAT
5
NED
8
BRA
5
GER
8
GBR
5
CZE
Ret
POR
Ret
JPN
Ret
QAT
5
MAL
7
AUS
Ret
VAL
6
7th 124
2007 MotoGP Kawasaki QAT SPA TUR CHN FRA
11
ITA CAT GBR NED GER USA CZE RSM POR JPN AUS MAL VAL 22nd 5
2010 Moto2 Moriwaki QAT
13
SPA
21
FRA
8
ITA
15
GBR
11
NED
Ret
CAT
8
GER
4
CZE
13
IND
DNS
SMR ARA
Ret
JPN
Ret
MAL
19
AUS
12
POR
24
VAL
Ret
18th 45

References

  1. MotoGP official site 7 February 2011. Retrieved 2015-04-04
  2. 125gp-1999-results
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Alvaro Molina
Spanish 125cc Champion
1998
Succeeded by
Jerónimo Vidal
Preceded by
José Luis Cardoso
Spanish 250cc Champion
1999-2000
Succeeded by
Alex Debón
Preceded by
Colin Edwards
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie Johnson
Race of Champions
Nations' Cup

2003 with:
Cristiano da Matta
Gilles Panizzi
Succeeded by
Jean Alesi
Sébastien Loeb
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