Ruben XAUS

	Place of birth: Barcelona
	Date of birth: 18/Feb/1978

Ruben Xaus began riding dirtbikes at the age of five, encouraged by his father. He began road racing nine years later in the national 125cc series and also went on to claim the domestic Supermoto title. In 1995 he finished third in the Spanish Supersport series and made his Grand Prix debut with four appearances in the 250cc class. Xaus switched to Superbikes in 1998 and finished sixth in the German Championship before a brief two year stint in the World Supersport series, where he he made his name two victories. The flamboyant Spaniard continued his four-stroke education in the World Superbike series, where he was signed up by Ducati as factory team-mate to Neil Hodgson. After challenging Hodgson for the title in 2003, Xaus followed the British rider to MotoGP with Luis d'Antin's satellite Ducati team, winning the Rookie of the Year award and taking his first podium in Qatar, performances which allowed him to secure a ride with the Fortuna Yamaha team for 2005.