Àlex Crivillé
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Crivillé at the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix.
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 Spanish |
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Alejandro "Àlex" Crivillé Tapias (born March 4, 1970) is a Spanish former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In 1992 he became the first Spaniard to win a 500cc Grand Prix and, in 1999 he became the first Spaniard to win the 500cc World Championship.
Crivillé was born in Barcelona, Catalonia. He falsified his age in order to start racing at 14 in 1985, the minimum age for a license being 15 in Spain. In that year he won the Criterium Solo Moto, a national series for 75 cc Honda streetbikes.
Crivillé started his international career in the now-defunct 80cc World Championship on team Derbi, taking a 2nd place in his very first race in 1987. He was second overall in 1988 while also dabbling in the 125cc series, which he raced full-time in 1989. He won the 125cc World Championship in his first attempt riding for the JJ Cobas team, claiming 5 victories.
In 1990 he stepped up to the 250 cc class for Giacomo Agostini's team, before returning to the Cobas team a year later. He never won a 250cc race.
Nonetheless, Crivillé joined the Sito Pons team in 500cc for 1992, taking 8th overall, and his first win at Assen in a race missed by Mick Doohan, Wayne Rainey and Wayne Gardner due to injuries. In 1993, he again finished 8th in the championship.1994 was his first year as a full factory Honda rider, as Mick Doohan's team-mate on the Repsol-backed Hondas which would dominate 500cc and MotoGP racing in years to come. Crivillé was fourth in 1995 and 1997, runner-up in 1996 with 11 podium finishes, and 3rd in 1998.
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