Born in the village of Alfarrasí near Valencia, “Jero” made his competitive debut in 1993 in regional events before progressing to the Spanish Championship. It wasn’t long before he began to demonstrate his talent as a rider, finishing runner up in the 125cc series in 1998 before taking the title in the same category in ’99. His World Championship debut also came in 1998 at the Spanish Grand Prix, whilst in ’99 he managed to finish 16th in the final standings, notching up 47 points. Last season Vidal moved up to 250 with the CC Valencia Airtel Aspar team, although he experienced little success – scoring just two points and finishing second from last overall. He’ll be looking to improve greatly on this in 2001 with his new team PR2, and he will ride as last year on an Aprilia.