Alex Barros
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Date of birth: 18/10/1970 |
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Honours
First race: 1978. Interlagos. Scooter class.
First Grand Prix: 1986. Spain. 80cc class (Autisa)
First podium finish: 1992. Holand. 500cc class (Cagiva)
First win: 1993. Spain. 500cc class (Suzuki)
First pole position: 2000. Italy. 500cc class (Honda)
Total Grand Prix: 225
Total pole positions: 4
Total wins: 6
Total podium finishes: 25
Total fastest lap: 10
Sporting career
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Biography
He is with no doubt one of the most experienced riders of the Motorcycling World Championship. At the age of 33 and with almost 27 years of experience on the track -18 in the World Championship, 225 Grand Prix raced (world record), 25 podium finishes and 6 victories -, Alex Barros is eagerly looking forward to his fifteenth season in the premier class of the World Championship. After a more than average 2003 season with Yamaha, the Brazilian rider has now accepted the challenge to win a new World Championship title for Honda, the brand with which he clinched his last victory – 2002 Valencia Grand Prix – and his biggest success in the premier class of the Motorcycling World Championship.
Alexandre Barros started his career at the age of seven in the Interlagos circuit (Sao Paulo) thanks to the initiative of his father, Coelho, professional cyclist and owner of a butcher’s shop. Seeing that his son really enjoyed riding his minibike, his father accepted the idea of a friend, who thought that Alex would be the perfect rider for the new team he was building-up. After becoming champion of the scooter class, Alex moved to the 50cc class where he repeated the successful result. The next year, it was in 1982, he entered the 125cc class and with only 14 years of age, Barros became Brazilian Champion, simultaneously taking part in other important races such as the “Interlagos 12 Hours” and the “Interlagos 200 Miles”, both in the 125cc class. However, the dream of the young Brazilian rider, as well as his father’s, was the Motorcycling World Championship. With Coelho’s support, Alex Barros embarked onto a more difficult and risky adventure.
1986 was his first season in the Motorcycling World Championship. 15-year-old Alex’s debut took place at the Jarama circuit in the 80cc class, and he finished the season 16th overall, an excellent result for a rookie. The following year, he suffered countless problems with the bike and was not able to improve his result, having to settle for the 17th overall position. 1988 was one of the most difficult years. Due to the lack of sponsors, he was only able to take part in the Brazilian Grand Prix, in the 250cc class. However, his talent did not pass unnoticed for a businessman from Venezuela who hired him the following year to race the 250cc World Championship in his team. It meant a big risk because Alex was only 18 years old, had little experience and no sponsor of his own, but at the end of the season he had proven that it had been the right decision finishing best of the private riders.
In 1990, at the age of 18, Alex moved up to the 500cc premier class on a Cagiva. And he gave another surprise. This time he finished the Belgian Grand Prix in 5th place leaving behind top riders such as Michael Doohan and Kevin Schwantz. During the 1991 season, Barros was team-mate to one of the geniuses of motorcycling, the North American Eddie Lawson. The Brazilian, whose best result was a 4th place at the Italian GP finished 13th overall. In the 1992 season Barros was not able to race some of the Grand Prix due to a broken collarbone. It was the season of his first podium finish, and if it wouldn’t have been for the last laps it could have even meant his first victory: after leading almost throughout the Dutch GP, he was finally set back to the third step of the podium. Two weeks later, at the Hungarian GP, he set the fastest lap. The team changed sponsor and at the last race of the season, the Brazilian rider was told that the factory was no longer interested in his services.
Despite the setback, Barros signed for one of the large teams of the World Championship in 1993: Suzuki. He finished 6th overall after a great final straight: runner-up at the USA GP and finally the so longed for victory at the Jarama circuit. In 1994 everything changed at Suzuki. New bike, new project… and finally loads of deceptions for the team and several accidents for the riders Barros and Schwantz. Consequences: at the end of the season Schwantz put an end to his sports career and Alex lost his seat.
The following year, 1995, the Brazilian built-up his team with Erv Kanemoto and used a Honda NSR500. Despite not having the support of a big sponsor and having to stand many difficulties, he took a reasonable 7th overall place. With the support of Honda Brazil, Barros was hired in 1996 by the big Italian team Pileri. He managed to take several podium finishes, lead the championship and finished 4th overall. In 1997, Barros became part of the recently created Italian team Gresini. Despite having a less competitive bike than the factory ones, he had excellent results: four 6th places and a surprising 3rd place at the British GP. One year later and with a competitive bike, Barros made a great season finishing 5th overall. Two third places – in the Czech Republic and in Argentina – and four fourth places – in Germany, Holland, San Marino and Australia – were his best results.
The change to Sito Pons’ team in 1999 did not bring the expected results. New bike, new engineers and new structure meant too many difficulties for Barros to adapt and he finished 9th overall. After the average 1999, and despite having little means and a bike from the previous year, the Brazilian showed all of his abilities on the track in 2000. He won two races – Holland and Germany – and almost made it in other two – Catalunya and Great Britain. Second in Brazil and two fourth places in South Africa and Australia, three pole positions, seven times on the front row of the grid and one record at the Catalunya circuit. A great season he finished 4th overall, although he could have been crowned champion if he would have won in Catalunya and Great Britain.
A special event marked Alex’ career in 2001: his victory at the Italian Grand Prix, in front of almost 100.000 tifossi, where he won over the Italian idols Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi and Loris Capirossi, all of them World Champions. His good year was completed by two second places -Valencia and Motegi-, a third place in Great Britain and three fourth places. He finished again 4th overall, but this time with a better score. That same year, Barros participated with experienced Tadayuki Okada in the traditional “Suzuka 8 Hours” race, finishing second. In 2002, his fourth season with the Honda Pons team, Barros was the best rider of all those still racing on 500cc two-stroke bikes in the new MotoGP class, aimed at the revolutionary four-stroke bikes. Despite his inferiority the Brazilian stood out in several races such as in Holland, where he overtook Rossi and Biaggi through the outside of the corner finishing second. At the end of July he took part in the “Suzuka 8 Hours” again, where he not only finished third but also set the fastest lap of the race. At the end of the year, with Rossi already crowned World Champion, Alex was rewarded by Honda for being the fastest on a 500cc bike, and from the Pacific Grand Prix, in Japan, he got the RC211V, the same one Rossi was using but a version from the beginning of the season. He won the race on the new bike and broke the record of the circuit. Barros was better than Rossi in two of the four last races of the year. The Brazilian repeated his fourth overall place in the World Championship.
In 2003 he signed for Yamaha as official factory rider, hoping to get a competitive bike and a winning structure, but things turned out to be different. The YZR-M1 was far from offering the right performance, apart from being a very delicate bike to be ridden at the limit. The five riders of the make suffered a total of 50 crashes along the whole season. Barros, who was the only rider managing to get on the podium thanks to his third place in France, suffered 14 of them. At the beginning of the year he fractured his knee and the ligaments at the Japanese GP and in July, after another accident, he fractured his hand and the right shoulder. But he kept on racing until the end of the season, when he decided to get back to Brazil to undergo surgery in his injured shoulder and have enough time to recover for the coming 2004 season.
This season Barros will join Nicky Hayden as official rider of the Repsol Honda team. The Brazilian is one of the greatest riders of the World Championship; his experience and perseverance, combined with one of the best motorbikes of the World Championship, the RC211V, turn him into a firm candidate for the title in the premier class of motorcycling.
