Sebastien Tortelli
| Sébastien Tortelli | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | French |
| Born |
19 August 1978 (age 38) Agen, France |
| career | |
| Years active | 1994–2006 |
| Teams | Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, KTM |
| 125cc - 1996, 250cc - 1998 | |
| Wins | 20 |
Sébastien Tortelli (born 19 August 1978 in Agen, France) is a two-time World Champion racer. A longtime factory-sponsored rider, Tortelli has been a top ranked rider in both AMA National and Supercross competition, as well as the European-based Motocross Grand Prix World Championships.
During his early career in Europe on the Grand Prix motocross racing circuit, Tortelli made his Grand Prix debut at the last GP of the 1994 season, just few days after his 16th birthday. In his first GP season, Tortelli claimed some race wins and finished 3rd of the championship. He won the 1996 125cc and to this date is still the younger World champion. He was riding for Jan DeGroot's factory Kawasaki team. Tortelli had caught the eye of the motocross world with his aggression, incredible cornering speed and legendary fighting spirit. He graduated to the 250cc ranks of the GPs in 1997. While that year was plagued by some frightening high-speed crashes, Tortelli claimed several overall victories against perennial Grand Prix champion Stefan Everts. The next season would be much different.
In January 1998, at a one-off Supercross appearance in Los Angeles, Coliseum, California, Tortelli showed his incredible speed to the American public with a surprise victory. Tortelli planned to move to the United States to contest the AMA circuit in 1999, but first, he had a World Championship to win that summer.
In an epic, season-long battle, Tortelli and Everts (most crowned world champion of all time) traded the points lead multiple times, with one rider typically finishing just ahead of the other. The title fight went down to the final round, last race of the Greece GP, and it was Tortelli who shouldered the pressure, won the race and claimed the 1998 250cc World Championship. Everts was left reeling from the defeat, and several seasons would pass before he would again see the same level of success.
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