Toni Elías

Antonio Elías Justícia (born 26 March 1983) is a Spanish former professional motorcycle racer and inaugural champion of the Moto2 World Championship. He is the third member of the Elías family to compete in motorcycle racing. He last rode in the MotoAmerica AMA Superbike Championship, where, in June, he abruptly announced his retirement mid-way through the 2023 race-season.^[1]

Toni Elías
Elías at the 2010 Australian Grand Prix
Nationality	Spanish
Born	(1983-03-26) 26 March 1983 (age 41) Manresa, Spain
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2005–2009, 2011–2012, 2015 Manufacturers Yamaha, Honda, Ducati, Yamaha Forward Championships 0 2015 championship position 27th (2 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 105 1 6 0 3 574 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2010, 2012–2013 Manufacturers Moriwaki, Suter, Kalex Championships 1 (2010) 2013 championship position 18th (22 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 41 7 8 3 2 343 250cc World Championship Active years 2002–2004 Manufacturers Aprilia, Honda Championships 0 2004 championship position 4th (199 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 48 7 20 5 6 603 125cc World Championship Active years 1999–2001 Manufacturers Honda Championships 0 2001 championship position 3rd (217 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 35 2 9 4 1 243 Superbike World Championship Active years 2013–2014 Manufacturers Aprilia Championships 0 2014 championship position 9th (171 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 32 0 0 0 0 241

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Elías and the second or maternal family name is Justícia.

Elías finished 3rd in the 2016 season, with six wins out of 18 and 304 points, seven less than then-champion Cameron Beaubier.^[2] He won the championship in the 2017 season. In 2018 he finished as runner-up behind champion Cameron Beaubier and in 2019 he finished as runner-up, five points behind championship winner, once again Beaubier.

Career

 

Elías testing at Sepang in 2007.

Born in Manresa, Catalonia, Spain ^[3] Elías started racing in the 125cc World Championship in 2000 at the age of 17, finishing 3rd in 2001 and taking his first win in the Dutch TT at the prestigious Assen circuit. He went to 250cc for 2002, finishing 4th that year, 3rd a year later, and 4th in 2004.

In 2005 he entered MotoGP for Fortuna Yamaha. In 2006 and 2007 his Fortuna backing has got him a ride for Gresini Honda alongside 2005 runner-up Marco Melandri. He only took one podium in 2006, albeit his first, and so far only, win in the top category. After a podium in the first half of 2007 he crashed at Assen, breaking his leg, sabotaging his season. He managed to make a return to the podium at Motegi.

After spending the 2008 season with the Alice Ducati team, Elias returned to Gresini Honda for 2009, replacing Shinya Nakano to ride alongside Alex de Angelis.^[4]

For 2010 he moved down to the new Moto2 class, on a Moriwaki bike for Gresini. He was competitive in pre-season testing before a heavy crash threatened to derail his status as title favourite.^[5] He was victorious at Le Mans after a chaotic race also led by Alex Debón and Jules Cluzel.^[6] He claimed the lead in the championship following this win, and would not relinquish it for the remainder of the season, clinching the inaugural Moto2 World Championship at the Malaysian Grand Prix with three rounds to spare.^[7]

He returned to the MotoGP grid in 2011 with Team LCR, riding a Honda RC212V.^[8] 2011 heralded his worst season in the MotoGP class, scoring only 61 points and finishing 15th in the Championship. He left Team LCR, and will return to Moto2 in 2012 with the Aspar Team, a team he rode for in the 250cc class. After Mugello race team and rider ended his relationship.

On 24 July 2012, Pramac Ducati announced that Elias would replace the injured Hector Barbera until he was deemed fit to race. He raced a Satellite version of the GP12. At Laguna Seca he qualified 17th and retired during the race. He was scheduled to ride at Indianapolis but Barbera decided he wanted to return early, however Barbera suffered a high-side in Practice and injured his leg once more. Elias substituted for him until San Marino.

First MotoGP Victory

Elías won his first premier class race on 15 October 2006 with a fantastic final lap of the Portuguese MotoGP at Estoril. Elías had started the lap in third place, but an aggressive braking move into Curva 1, moved him past Valentino Rossi and the then-leader Kenny Roberts, Jr. into the lead. He actually clipped Roberts while braking, and this loss of momentum meant that Rossi passed Roberts for second position. These positions held until the chicane (turns 9 and 10) near the end of the lap. It looked like Elías had left the door wide open for Rossi and the reigning world champion dived to the inside to pass the Spaniard.

However, Elías would keep pressuring Rossi, trying to pass him on the run towards turns 11 and 12. Rossi had the line and kept the position, and it seemed as if Rossi would be 13 points clear of title rival Nicky Hayden going to the final round in Valencia. But Elías kept the speed up through the thirteenth and final turn, and tucked in behind Rossi, to draft him alongside the Italian. In a finish that needed a video replay, Elías was given the race by just 0.002 seconds. It was one of the closest finishes in the history of MotoGP, and a great way for Elías to secure his maiden premier class victory. This victory helped secure him a contract extension, which was doubtful prior to the win at Estoril, with Honda and Fausto Gresini for the 2007 Moto GP season. Elías was the last non-factory rider to win a race until Jack Miller won for the Marc VDS Racing Team at the 2016 Dutch TT.

As it turned out, Elías' victory cost Rossi five points, which was the exact number of points that Rossi would finish behind Hayden in the Championship standings.

MotoAmerica

In 2016, Elias entered the MotoAmerica Superbike category racing for Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing team using the number 24, alongside teammate Roger Hayden. Elias took first place in the first three races of the season after being called in for substitute duty.^[9]

Elias won the Superbike championship in 2017 on 10 victories and 18 podium finishes, never finishing lower than second place for any race where he took the checkered flag.

Elias announced his retirement from MotoAmerica Superbike racing at the end of the 2020 season after 32 career wins and 60 career podium finishes for the Suzuki.

Career statistics

 

Elías on a Honda RC212V at the 2009 Dutch TT.

Career summary

Season	Series	Motorcycle	Team	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
1999	125cc	Honda RS125R	R.A.C.C.	2	0	0	0	0	2	33rd
			Polini	1	0	0	0	0
2000	125cc	Honda RS125R	Chupa Chups Matteoni Racing	16	0	0	0	0	24	20th
2001	125cc	Honda RS125R	Telefónica Movistar Junior Team	16	2	9	4	1	217	3rd
2002	250cc	Aprilia RSV 250	Telefónica Movistar-Repsol	16	1	5	0	1	178	4th
2003	250cc	Aprilia RSV 250	Team Repsol Telefónica Movistar	16	5	7	5	4	226	3rd
2004	250cc	Honda RS250RW	Fortuna Honda	16	1	8	0	1	199	4th
2005	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fortuna Yamaha Team	14	0	0	0	0	74	12th
2006	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	Fortuna Honda	15	1	1	0	1	116	9th
2007	MotoGP	Honda RC212V	Honda Gresini	15	0	2	0	2	104	12th
2008	MotoGP	Ducati Desmosedici GP8	Alice Team	18	0	2	0	0	92	12th
2009	MotoGP	Honda RC212V	San Carlo Honda Gresini	17	0	1	0	0	115	7th
2010	Moto2	Moriwaki MD600	Gresini Racing Moto2	17	7	8	3	2	271	1st
2011	MotoGP	Honda RC212V	LCR Honda MotoGP	17	0	0	0	0	61	15th
2012	MotoGP	Ducati Desmosedici GP12	Pramac Racing Team	3	0	0	0	0	10	24th
	Moto2	Suter MMX2	Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2	9	0	0	0	0	50	16th
		Kalex Moto2	Italtrans Racing Team	4	0	0	0	0
2013	Moto2	Kalex Moto2	Blusens Avintia	11	0	0	0	0	22	18th
	Superbike	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	Red Devils Roma	8	0	0	0	0	70	16th
2014	Superbike	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	Red Devils Roma	24	0	0	0	0	171	9th
2015	MotoGP	Honda RC213V-RS	AB Motoracing	1	0	0	0	0	2	27th
		Yamaha Forward	Forward Racing	5	0	0	0	0
2016	MotoAmerica Superbike	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing	N/A					304	3rd
2017	MotoAmerica Superbike	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing	N/A					410	1st
2018	MotoAmerica Superbike	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing	N/A					339	2nd
2019	MotoAmerica Superbike	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing	N/A					362	2nd
2020	MotoAmerica Superbike	Suzuki GSX-R1000	M4 ECSTAR Suzuki	N/A					222	4th
2021	MotoAmerica Superbike	Ducati / Yamaha	Panera Bread Ducati / Fresh N' Lean Attack Performance Yamaha	N/A					76	12th
2023	MotoAmerica Superbike	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki	N/A					49	16th

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

All statistics according to MotoGP.com^[10]

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125cc	1999–2001	1999 Spain	2001 France	2001 Netherlands	35	2	9	4	1	243	0
250cc	2002–2004	2002 Japan	2002 Netherlands	2002 Pacific	48	7	20	5	6	603	0
MotoGP	2005–2009, 2011–2012, 2015	2005 Spain	2006 Portugal	2006 Portugal	105	1	6	0	3	574	0
Moto2	2010, 2012–2013	2010 Qatar	2010 Spain	2010 Spain	41	7	8	3	2	343	1
Total	1999–2013, 2015				229	17	43	12	12	1763	1

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Pts
1999	125cc	Honda	MAL	JPN	SPA 21	FRA	ITA	CAT Ret	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	IMO	VAL 14	AUS	RSA	RIO	ARG			33rd	2
2000	125cc	Honda	RSA 23	MAL 17	JPN 17	SPA 16	FRA 17	ITA 15	CAT 8	NED Ret	GBR 14	GER Ret	CZE 14	POR 17	VAL 15	RIO 14	PAC 12	AUS 12			20th	24
2001	125cc	Honda	JPN 16	RSA 18	SPA 13	FRA 3	ITA 4	CAT 2	NED 1	GBR 2	GER 2	CZE 1	POR 3	VAL 2	PAC Ret	AUS 3	MAL 6	RIO 4			3rd	217
2002	250cc	Aprilia	JPN 11	RSA 16	SPA 10	FRA 6	ITA 4	CAT 10	NED 2	GBR 3	GER 6	CZE 3	POR 13	RIO 5	PAC 1	MAL 2	AUS 5	VAL 10			4th	178
2003	250cc	Aprilia	JPN Ret	RSA 8	SPA 1	FRA 1	ITA 6	CAT 4	NED 13	GBR 4	GER 7	CZE 2	POR 1	RIO 18	PAC 1	MAL 1	AUS 11	VAL 2			3rd	226
2004	250cc	Honda	RSA 8	SPA 12	FRA 3	ITA 6	CAT 3	NED 3	RIO 3	GER 22	GBR Ret	CZE 5	POR 1	JPN 2	QAT 6	MAL 3	AUS 5	VAL 2			4th	199
2005	MotoGP	Yamaha	SPA 12	POR 14	CHN 14	FRA 9	ITA	CAT	NED	USA 13	GBR 9	GER 12	CZE 14	JPN 9	MAL 11	QAT 8	AUS 9	TUR 6	VAL 10		12th	74
2006	MotoGP	Honda	SPA 4	QAT 8	TUR 5	CHN 11	FRA 9	ITA 7	CAT Ret	NED WD	GBR	GER 11	USA 15	CZE 11	MAL Ret	AUS 9	JPN 6	POR 1	VAL 6		9th	116
2007	MotoGP	Honda	QAT 14	SPA 4	TUR 2	CHN Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 6	CAT Ret	GBR 12	NED WD	GER	USA	CZE 11	RSM 7	POR 8	JPN 3	AUS 15	MAL 6	VAL 10	12th	104
2008	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT 14	SPA 15	POR 12	CHN 8	FRA 11	ITA 12	CAT DSQ	GBR 11	NED 12	GER 12	USA 7	CZE 2	RSM 3	INP 12	JPN 16	AUS 11	MAL 15	VAL 18	12th	92
2009	MotoGP	Honda	QAT 9	JPN 15	SPA 9	FRA 10	ITA 14	CAT 18	NED 12	USA 6	GER 6	GBR Ret	CZE 3	INP 9	RSM 6	POR 6	AUS 10	MAL 7	VAL 6		7th	115
2010	Moto2	Moriwaki	QAT 4	SPA 1	FRA 1	ITA 5	GBR 10	NED 2	CAT 5	GER 1	CZE 1	INP 1	RSM 1	ARA 4	JPN 1	MAL 4	AUS 7	POR Ret	VAL 30		1st	271
2011	MotoGP	Honda	QAT Ret	SPA 9	POR 11	FRA 11	CAT 13	GBR 8	NED 10	ITA 15	GER 16	USA 13	CZE 11	INP 13	RSM 15	ARA Ret	JPN Ret	AUS 8	MAL C	VAL 10	15th	61
2012	Moto2	Suter	QAT 13	SPA 9	POR 7	FRA 11	CAT Ret	GBR 12	NED 9	GER Ret	ITA Ret				RSM	ARA					16th	50
		Kalex															JPN Ret	MAL 12	AUS 12	VAL 9
	MotoGP	Ducati										USA Ret	INP 11	CZE 11							24th	10
2013	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 15	AME 9	SPA 9	FRA Ret	ITA 11	CAT Ret	NED Ret	GER 20	INP 17	CZE 15	GBR 15	RSM	ARA	MAL	AUS	JPN	VAL		18th	22
2015	MotoGP	Honda	QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	INP 22	CZE	GBR	RSM						27th	2
		Yamaha Forward														ARA 21	JPN 20	AUS 22	MAL 14	VAL 20

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Bike	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13		14		Pos	Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2013	Aprilia	AUS	AUS	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	POR	POR	ITA	ITA	RUS	RUS	GBR	GBR	GER	GER	TUR 6	TUR 5	USA 8	USA 7	FRA Ret	FRA 8	SPA 5	SPA 4	16th	70
2014	Aprilia	AUS Ret	AUS 9	SPA 7	SPA 9	NED 5	NED Ret	ITA 9	ITA 7	GBR 9	GBR 8	MAL 5	MAL 4	SMR 6	SMR 6	POR Ret	POR 10	USA 5	USA 5	SPA 8	SPA 10	FRA Ret	FRA Ret	QAT 6	QAT 6					9th	171

Suzuka 8 Hours Results

Year	Team	Co-Riders	Bike	Pos
2015	TOHO Racing with MORIWAKI	Tatsuya Yamaguchi   Ratthapark Wilairot	Honda CBR1000RR	14th

MotoAmerica^[11]

Races by year

Year	Class	Team	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8			9			10		Pos	Pts
			R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2
2016	SuperBike	Suzuki	COA 1	COA 1	ATL 1	ATL Ret	NJR 18	NJR 12	VIR 3	VIR 3	RAM 4	RAM 2	BAR 2	BAR 1	UMC 4	UMC 1	LGS 2	LGS 3		NJR 1	NJR 1				3rd	304
2017	SuperBike	Suzuki	COA 1	COA 1	ATL 2	ATL 1	VIR Ret	VIR 2	RAM 2	RAM 1	UMC 1	UMC 1	LGS 1	LGS 1	SON 2	SON 2	PIT 2	PIT 2		NJR 2	NJR 1		BAR 1	BAR Ret	1st	390
2018	SuperBike	Suzuki	ATL 1	ATL 1	COA 4	COA 1	VIR 1	VIR 1	RAM Ret	RAM 4	LGS 13	LGS 2	UMC 1	UMC Ret	SON 3	SON 2	PIT 4	PIT 1		NJR Ret	NJR 3		BAR 1	BAR 1	2nd	339
2019	SuperBike	Suzuki	ATL 2	ATL 1	COA 1	COA 2	VIR 2	VIR 3	RAM 1	RAM Ret	UMC 1	UMC 1	LGS 1	LGS 2	SON 2	SON Ret	PIT 3	PIT 1		NJR 4	NJR 4		BAR 3	BAR 4	2nd	362
2020	SuperBike	Suzuki	RAM 19	RAM Ret	RAM 4	RAM 7	ATL 4	ATL 5	PIT 5	PIT 5	TRD 5	TRD 6	NJR 3	NJR 5	BAR 4	BAR 4	IND 4	IND 5	IND DNS	LGS 2	LGS 3	LGS 2			4th	222
2021	SuperBike	Ducati	RAT	RAT	VIR	VIR	RAM	RAM	RID	RID	LGS 8	LGS 7	BRA	BRA	PIT	PIT	NJR	NJR	NJR	BAR	BAR	BAR			12th	76
		Yamaha	RAT	RAT	VIR	VIR	RAM	RAM	RID	RID	LGS	LGS	BRA	BRA	PIT 2	PIT 4	NJR 3	NJR Ret	NJR 6	BAR	BAR	BAR
2023	SuperBike	Suzuki	ATL 7	ATL 8	BAR 12	BAR 9	RAM 6	RAM 5	TRD	TRD	LGS	LGS	LGS	BRA	BRA	PIT	PIT	PIT	TEX	TEX	NJR	NJR			16th	49

References

1. Former MotoGP race winner Toni Elias retires: ‘Today was my last dance, my last race’ www.crash.net, 5 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023
2. "MotoAmerica SuperBike results (PDF)" (PDF). MotoAmerica. 2017-08-20.
3. "The Bike, my life" (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 December 2009.
4. "Elias returns as Gresini announce 2009 structure". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
5. "Double surgery for Elías following Jerez fall". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
6. "Elias wins crash-packed Le Mans". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 23 May 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
7. "Toni Elias wins the first Moto2 title". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
8. "Elías to return to premier class with LCR in 2011". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 31 October 2010. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
9. "Suzuki Says, "Thank You Toni Elias"". MotoAmerica. October 24, 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
10. "Rider Statistics – Toni Elías". MotoGP.com. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
11. "Results and Standings". MotoAmerica. Retrieved 2021-04-24.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toni Elías.

• Official website  
• Toni Elías at eWRC-results.com 
• Toni Elías at MotoGP.com 
• Toni Elías at WorldSBK.com 
• Toni Elías at AS.com (in Spanish)