Moto2 Special 2012: Toni Elías

Today we want to talk about one of the most endearing riders on the MotoGP World Championship grid, and even more so for us Spaniards, it is MotoGP Toni Elias Justicia, a rider born in Manresa on March 26, 1983. Toni is a rider who combines talent and humility, something very difficult to bring together in a world full of egos, although looking at the ones we have at home, it seems to be a pattern that repeats itself quite often.

We all know what Elias went through last year. He joined a team, LCR Honda, where he seemed not to fit in from the start of the season, despite the hopes placed in him by Óscar Haro, the team’s sporting director, as well as by the team itself and, of course, by Toni Elias.

A riding style that did not convince the technicians, technicians who did not follow the instructions Toni gave, in short, a vicious circle that only led to sporting disaster on several occasions and, on others, to the Catalan rider’s painful crashes. The best solution was the one that was taken: leaving the team. It was clear they were not made for each other.

From a rider’s perspective, it must be very hard to see how, no matter how much you try to explain your needs and preferences when setting up a bike, how you would like it to be so you can give your 100%, this is partly ignored. The rules of the game are clear in the world of motorcycle racing: the technicians must help the rider achieve a common goal, victory, and for that, everything must be in order so the rider can perform at their best, because after all, it is the rider who is on the bike.

The reason for choosing Moto2 over WSBK or a CRT in MotoGP, given that there were offers and possibilities of every kind, was the decision to go to a category where he could feel like a rider again and recover his spirit and a personal sense of satisfaction. Seen from that angle, it really does seem like a very sensible decision.

Toni is the first champion that Moto2 has had. It is true that in the first year the bikes were less developed than they are now, and that there were many riders without the necessary experience. This year all of that has changed, and next year will surely be even more so. We will very likely see a lengthening of the grid in races, with fewer riders fighting together throughout the race, but the battles will surely be legendary again, because the madhouse expected this year is going to be heart-stopping.

The choice of Team Aspar was the result of a series of circumstances. It began with talk of the Gresini team, the team with which he won the Moto2 championship, there was talk of its CRT, Aspar’s CRT was also tested, and finally a swap of cards with Aleix led him to ride the Suter of the Moto2 team. Toni has commented that it has been an honor to return with Aspar, a team that knows him and that he knows, people with whom he feels at home, a great atmosphere; there is no doubt that going back up is the right move.