1. Gregorio Lavilla was born on 29 September 1973 and is a Spanish former professional motorcycle road racer.
16 Facts About Gregorio Lavilla
1. 2.
Gregorio Lavilla has raced in MotoGP, the Superbike World Championship, and the British Superbike Championship, taking the British crown in 2005.
3.
Gregorio Lavilla raced in four rounds of the 2009 WSB series with the Guandalini Racing Ducati team.
4.
Gregorio Lavilla was runner-up in Germany's Superbike championship in 1997, on board a Ducati.
5.
Gregorio Lavilla made a one-off appearance at the German Grand Prix in the 500 cc class riding for the Honda Movistar Team of former rider Sito Pons.
6.
Gregorio Lavilla then spent 3 years with Kawasaki's factory superbike team, finishing 8th overall despite experiencing many crashes in 1999 and finishing 10th overall in 2000 despite missing four rounds through injury, before a stronger 2001, in which he was the second-highest non-wildcard in Race 1 at Sugo.
7.
Suzuki did not enter a WSBK team in 2004, and Gregorio Lavilla remained with them as a factory test rider, substituting for Yukio Kagayama in the BSB series once, and doing 4 MotoGP races for the team.
8.
Gregorio Lavilla was released at the end of the season, leaving the way clear for his fairytale 2005.
9.
Gregorio Lavilla's victory in the 2005 British Superbike Championship was a major surprise, especially because he had never raced in the championship full-time before, and only got his ride a few days before the season started, initially to replace the injured James Haydon in the Airwaves Ducati team.
10.
Gregorio Lavilla started so strongly that the team chose to retain him.
11.
Gregorio Lavilla soon established himself ahead of teammate Leon Haslam, and the main rival to the Honda bikes, before a run of 6 wins and 5 second places in the final 11 races saw him take the crown.
12.
Gregorio Lavilla started 2006 in even stronger form, with 6 wins in the first 8 races.
13.
Gregorio Lavilla started 2007 spectacularly, winning the first four races, and winning race 7.
14.
In May 2009 Gregorio Lavilla returned to WSBK with the Guandalini Racing team, initially in a one-race deal to replace the injured Brendan Roberts.
15.
Gregorio Lavilla's sporting heroes are Mick Doohan, Wayne Rainey and Lance Armstrong.
16.
Gregorio Lavilla is unmarried and lives in L'Hospitalet de l'Infant.