Repsol Riders. Sebastián Porto
Date of birth: September 12th, 1978Place of birth: Rafaela, ArgentinaAge: 26First race: 1983 Argentinean Bicycle ChampionshipFirst podium finish:   2002 German Grand Prix, 250ccFirst Grand Prix: 1994 Argentinean Grand Prix, 125ccFirst pole position: 2002 Portuguese Grand Prix, 250ccFirst fastest lap: 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix, 250ccFirst Grand Prix victory: 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix, 250ccPole positions: 111 in 2002: POR1 in 2003: GER9 en 2004: ESP/ITA/NED/BRA/GER/CZE/QAT/MAL/AUSPodium finishes: 155 in 2002: GER/CZE/POR/BRA/AUS10 in 2004: RSA/ITA/NED/GER/ING/CZE/POR/QAT/MAL/AUSVictories: 5 in 2004: ITA/NED/ZHE/QAT/AUS 1983: Argentinean Junior Bicycle Champion1988: Argentinean Minibike Championship (Delviso)1991: Argentinean Dirt-Track Champion (Kawasaki 50cc)1992: Argentinean Dirt-Track Champion (Yamaha 125cc)1993: 2nd Argentinean 250 GP Championship (Yamaha)1994: Argentinean 250 GP Champion (Yamaha)1995: 14th Spanish 250 GP Open Championship (Aprilia)1996: 19th 250 World Championship (Aprilia)European 250 GP Champion (Aprilia)1997: 11th 250 GP World Championship (Aprilia)1998: 22nd 250 GP World Championship (Aprilia)2000: 9th 250 GP World Championship (Yamaha)2001: 16th 250 GP World Championship (Yamaha)2002: 5th 250 GP World Championship (Yamaha)2003: 8th 250 GP World Championship (Honda)2004: Runner-up 250 GP World Championship (Aprilia)  Before getting on a bike, the Argentinean Sebastián Porto, only South American rider taking part in the 250cc World Championship, used to ride bicycles, ever since he was a little kid. Between the age of four and eight he was racing in childrens categories and at the age of five he had already won the Argentinean Junior Road Cycling Championship. At the age of 8 he had to quit racing because of a serious asthma problem that kept him two years away from sports. In late 1987, the ten-year-old Sebastián decided to take part in a dirt-track race held in his hometown, Rafaela, in the Argentinean province of Santa Fe. It was one of the rounds of the Argentinean Dirt Track Championship, a very popular sport in Argentina. On a rented bike and with hardly any experience, Sebastián Porto finished the last race of the season on third place, in the Minibike class. That was the moment he discovered his passion for motorbikes and the young Sebastián Porto decided to enter the Argentinean Dirt Track Championship. Riding a Delviso 50, Sebastián got the Junior Championship in his first try. The next year, 1998, his family bought a similar bike to race the National Oval Championship, in the 50cc class. Once again, Sebastián clinched the title, a title he got again a year later, in 1990, in the same class. In 1991, Sebastián Porto changed class, moving up to the 100cc, still in dirt track. He rode a national bike, no make, but already with a gearbox. This time Sebastián qualifies among the top fifteen riders of his class, but he got the title in 1992. Despite having the possibility to keep on climbing classes in dirt track, in 1992 Porto got the chance to participate in road racing and decided to take it. In 1993 Sebastián entered the Suzuki Cup on a Suzuki RGV 250 street bike. He took part in two races and showed his potential right from the beginning taking the pole in the first race. However, a crash in the second lap of the race, while he was in the lead, hindered him from fighting for the title. In the next race, Porto finished second fastest of the practices and took the victory of the race. It became evident that Sebastián had a special talent for road races and Reinaldo Cozzani, promoter of the Argentinean Grand Prix gave him the opportunity to try luck on a Yamaha TZ 250 in the 250 GP National Championship. Sebastián accepted the challenge, left the Suzuki Cup and, without hardly any experience, got a victory and a second place the same year, finishing 250cc runner-up with two races less than his race mates. One year later, in 1994, Porto was crowned in that category of the Argentinean Championship with a Yamaha, and Cozzani decided that he was ready to race outside his country. First, Cozzani got a Wild Card entry for the 125 Argentinean Grand Prix with an Aprilia RS. Porto qualified among the top fifteen but had to retire the race after crashing. Its been his only race in the minor GP category. The next step, after taking part in some of the Argentinean Championship races, was moving to Spain with the PR2 team, where he took part in the last two races of the contended Open Ducados Championship in the 250cc class, with an Aprilia RS. Porto established himself in the PR2 team for the 1996 season, combining his presence in the European 250cc Championship, where he won six out of eighth races and clinched the title, with the World Championship, where he stood out as one of the fastest riders of his class, finishing twice among the top ten and getting the nineteenth overall position. In 1997, still with the PR2 team, Porto focussed on the World Championship, finishing eleventh overall, riding an Aprilia RSV 250. The next year he repeated bike, this time supported by Marlboro, but he had several mechanical problems, so one year later he changed over to Yamaha, finally finishing ninth overall of the 250cc World Championship. In 2000, Porto became the best private rider of the class. In 2001 mechanical problems followed him once again, especially after the first half of the season.  In 2002 Sebastián Porto managed to get his first podium, first pole position and first victory in the World Championship on a Yamaha TZM 250, finishing fifth overall. For the 2003 season, thanks to the support of YPF, Honda and Alberto Puig, Sebastián counted on the necessary means to aspire to fight for the class title. But his Honda RSW was always one step behind the Aprilias, a fact that hindered him from fighting for the title. Three fourth places and one pole in the German GP were the best results of a season he had started as an aspirant for the title and finished eighth overall. When he got the opportunity to change to Aprilia, Sebastián Porto had no doubt at all and signed for the Noale factory as official rider for 2004. Sponsored by Repsol, the Argentinean became part of the team managed by Jorge Martínez Aspar. His quick adaptation to the Aprilia during the first tests, where he lapped much faster than the best clocks of the World Championship, confirmed his options to fight for the 250cc World Championship title. The 2004 season had a spectacular start in South Africa, where Sebastián made one of the best races of his sports career. A great start from the second place of the grid and a very fast pace, hard to follow for his rivals, allowed him to open a considerable gap from the very start. But a small mistake in the second lap forced him to get off the track following the line of the fastest corner of the circuit. He rejoined the race in twenty-first position, but the Argentinean rider began to set an impressive pace: he not only clocked the fastest lap of the race, but also caught-up with the leading pack finally finishing third. Everything was pointing to a good season for the experimented Repsol rider. The next race in Jerez was a real challenge for Porto. He took the pole, but the rain during the race hindered him from achieving a good result: it was his first time on the Aprilia on a wet track. The first victory came in Mugello, Aprilias home circuit, where he not only set the pole but also fought neck and neck against his rivals until the very end. That was when Porto freed himself of the pressure of not having scored a single victory and started with the pursuit of the overall leader at that moment, Randy De Puniet. In the motorcycling cathedral of Assen, Porto took again pole and victory, the leadership had got closer. But the Brazilian GP meant a major setback for the aspirations of the Argentinean. The race had a bad start because, although he was starting from the pole, he was forced to remount from seventh. While already being third and making up tenths against the leaders, a mechanical failure forced him to retire four laps before the end of the race. Two consecutive second places in Germany and Great Britain allowed him to regain confidence before the summer break. Porto took up competition again with a victory in Brno, considerably shortening the gap to the leader of the overall standings, Dani Pedrosa. The reliability and competitiveness of the Aprilia improved significantly in the second half of the Championship. The Argentinean rider passed De Puniet in the overall standings, placing himself second after the pole and victory in Qatar; a significant victory because it was a new circuit for all of the riders. But Portos second place in Malaysia und the victory in the Australian GP could not avoid Dani Pedrosa from finally taking the World Championship title of the class. The last race of the season, in Valencia, had a bittersweet taste for the Repsol rider. He couldnt finish the race because a failure of the gearbox made him crash while being second. But both his team and himself finished the year fully satisfied after a great season and the Vice-World Championship. Sebastián Porto was at no time a stone guest and stood up to De Puniet first and later to Pedrosa, until the last round of the Championship. Despite luck turning its back on him more than once, he never gave up and kept on working hard to show that he was the best official Aprilia rider. Nine poles, five victories and as many fastest laps, in addition to becoming runner-up of the World Championship behind Dani Pedrosa and his Honda, vouch for it. It wont be an easy task, because the 2005 season of the quarter-of-a-litre class looks like it is going to be really exciting and highly contended, but Sebastián Porto is a firm candidate for the world championship title in what is going to be his tenth season in the Motorcycle World Championship. His large experience – he is the rider with most races in the 250cc and his extraordinary performance in the 2004 season, turn this 26-year-old rider into one of the best positioned men to become the winner of the 2005 250cc World Championship. The discreet, tireless and hard-working Argentinean rider loves to play soccer when he is not on a bike and particularly admires another Argentinean sportsman, one of the brightest stars of Formula 1, the driver Juan Manuel Fangio.