Frédéric Protat (born 17 July 1966) is a French former professional

motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Oth ...

. He was the 1991 250cc French superbike champion. Born in

Bron Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France. Geography Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side. Climat ...

, Protat began his career in Grand Prix motorcycle racing in the

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

season riding an Aprilia in the 250cc class at the

1989 French motorcycle Grand Prix The 1989 French motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 14–16 July 1989 at the Bugatti Circuit located in Le Mans. 500 cc race report Eddie Lawson on pole. ...

. He later participated with Aprilia again in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

in the 250 cc class. Between 1992 and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

he took part in championships sometimes with

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, and sometimes with Aprilia.

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

saw Protat move up to the 500cc class riding an ROC

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

. In 1996, he was the highest ranking

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

in the 500cc class, finishing the season in 15th place. Protat's final season in the 500cc class was in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

riding a Honda. He scored 12 points in the 250cc Grand Prix class and 41 points in 500cc category. In 1998 and 1999 he participated in the

World Superbike Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

for Ducati. In 1999 he was vice champion of France on a Ducati superbike. In 2000 and 2001 he won the French Superbike Championship on a Ducati Superbike. In 2002 he was vice champion of France on Ducati. In 2006, he won the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

motorcycle endurance race along with Olivier Four and Daniel Ribalta-Bosch riding a

Honda CBR The Honda CBR models are a series of Honda sport bikes first introduced in 1983. With the exception of the single-cylinder CBR125R, CBR150R, CBR250R, and CBR300R, all CBR motorcycles have inline engines. Less sporting/general models make up CB ...

Grand Prix results

References

External links

Frédéric Protat statistics at MotoGP.com
Living people 1966 births People from Bron French motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders Sportspeople from Lyon Metropolis {{France-motorcycle-racing-bio-stub