Pablo Nieto
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Date of birth: 4/6/80 |
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Honours
First race: 1995 Spanish Minibike Championship
First Grand Prix: 1998 Catalan Grand Prix (125cc)
First podium finish: 1995
Total GP contended: 71 in 125
Best GP result: 2nd (Dutch 2003)
Fastest lap: (1 in 125)
Poles: 3 (Esp 2002, 125cc / Esp 2003, 125cc / Cat 2003, 125cc)
Podiums: 5 in 125cc. (Ita, Aus,Val 2002, Ita, Hol 2003)
Wins: 1 125 (Portugal 2003)
Sporting career
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Biography
Pablo Nieto, son of the legendary 12+1 times World Champion Ángel Nieto, was born and grew up surrounded by motorbikes. At the age of three he shared a Yamaha 50 with his cousin Fonsi Nieto and both began to learn by crashing. But it was ten years later, in 1993, when Pablo began racing on minibikes. His first race was actually a race organised for journalists of specialised magazines: they asked him to take part and he ended up winning. That was the moment he found out that he enjoyed the feeling of competing and decided to take racing more seriously. That same year he became Champion of the Castilla-La Mancha regional championship and runner-up in the Madrid Championship – the Spanish Championship had not yet been established. In those races, Pablo would meet his cousin Fonsi Nieto as well as other riders such as Dani Pedrosa or Héctor Faubel.
In 1995, at the age of fifteen, Pablo Nieto decided to devote himself wholly to racing and entered that same year the Minibike Championship. He made a deal with his dad and before getting immersed in the world of motorcycling he spent a year in Switzerland without riding, only learning English. When Pablo returned to Spain, in 1996, the season had already started and he was only able to take part in three races of the Cagiva Cup. One year later, in 1997, Pablo Nieto began a new stage of his career with the Team Airtel-Aspar, taking part in the European Championship on an Aprilia. It was in fact too early for such a decisive step, but Pablo managed to finish twelfth. In 1998, only one year later, Pablo took part in the 125cc Spanish Championship with his dads team, the Vía Digital Team, finishing sixth overall, riding an Aprilia bike as well.
In 1999, Pablo Nieto signed up for the Spanish manufacturer Derbi to take part in the World Championship. His first race was the Malaysian Grand Prix. Pablo was riding among the slowest riders, with a bike he had tested only once before the race. The team had not made any preseason testing and Pablo finished 22nd. But as the World Championship was drawing on, both the bike and Pablo improved and he managed to get championship points in Donington finishing twelfth. The same year, at the Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix, Pablo Nieto took the start from the third place on the grid, finished the Championship on the twenty-third overall position, and was awarded as Rookie of the year.
El Chiquitín, as he is called in the paddock, had his best season in 2000, and lost his first World Championship podium that year because his team forced him to let his team-mate Youichi Ui pass, since he needed to get more points in his fight for the Championship title. The Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix had been one of his best races but he finally had to settle for the fourth place.
The 2001 season was a season to forget, since he only managed to score in six races out of sixteen; sometimes due to crashes, sometimes due to mechanical problems. At the end of the season, Jorge Martínez Aspar called him to join his team and in 2002, already racing for him, Pablo Nieto made his best season of the World Championship so far, getting three times on the podium and finishing sixth overall. That year he made the pole in Jerez and started from the front row at five GPs: Japan, South Africa, Jerez, Barcelona and Valencia.
The 2003 season meant Pablo Nietos establishment. After a good season start, he clinched his first and longed-for victory in the 125cc World Championship in Estoril, after winning over his then teammate Héctor Barberá by only thousands of a second. With a good performance throughout the season, the young rider was betrayed more than once, either by the nerves or the bike. In Jerez, the gear lever broke, hindering from clinching the victory, which had been really close at hand, whilst in Catalunya, his eagerness to win took him to act hastily, ending up on the ground. He also tested the hardness of the Brno tarmac after making an error with the accelerator. One victory, two podium finishes, one fastest laps and two poles are the result of a season, where the youngest member of the Nieto family finished seventh overall in the Championship.
Outside the circuits, Pablo Nieto enjoys all risky sports. He likes snowboarding, karting and has been climbing since he was a kid; Pablo explains laughing that hes always been a bit of a Spiderman. He lives in Madrid with his brother Gelete and has recently released his own website: www.pablonieto.com
