Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’ reflects on 100 GP wins

Thanks to Julián Simón’s solid performance and valuable race win in tricky conditions at the British Grand Prix his boss Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’ now boasts 100 World Championship wins, during a highly successful career spanning four decades as a rider and team owner.

It was a significant moment for the Spanish manager and happily coincided with the weekend on which it was announced that Aspar will make the step up into the premier class with Ducati in 2010.

Martínez ‘Aspar’ said of the century of victories, “It’s incredible. In 1979 I began my career in a little town near Valencia and at that time all I wanted to do was ride motorcycles. I never imagined reaching this stage, with three teams in the World Championship and with 100 wins to my name. It’s like a dream for me and I want to thank all the riders who have contributed to this total of victories, as well as the sponsors, the mechanics and everyone who has helped me over the last 30 years.”

Congratulating Simón in particular Aspar added, “It was a very intelligent performance by Julián because he was really suffering as the track dried out. There were only 11 laps to go before the race got interrupted and I don’t know how he would have finished if it had stayed dry.”

On the 250cc battle which saw Mapfre Aspar rider Álvaro Bautista lose out to championship rival Hiroshi Aoyama once again, Martínez remarked, “At the beginning of the year no-one was talking about Aoyama and he has become the man to beat. He is having a great season all-round, he made a great start in the race here and built up a big lead, but Álvaro made a good comeback and was able to finish second, very close behind him. I’m very happy with the way Álvaro rode as the conditions were very tricky.”

Commenting in general about his World Championship projects, which will have representation in all three classes next year, thanks to the newly signed MotoGP agreement with Ducati, Martínez underlined the long-term stability of his team structure even when forces outside Grand Prix racing mean times are hard financially for many competitors.

“We have a base behind us of several years of hard work, with our riding school at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, our involvement in the Spanish national championship, in the 125cc Grand Prix class, in 250cc and now in MotoGP with our new project,” said the former World Champion.

“Yes, things are difficult with the economy in general but our overall project has been running for years and years, growing step by step. Next year we want to keep fighting in 125cc, to have a winning team in Moto2 and get into the top ten in MotoGP in our first year.”