Juan Bautista Borja (born 3 February 1970) is a former

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

road racer from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Having won the FCIM 125cc European championship in 1992, he first raced on the world stage at the 1993 FIM motorcycle Grand Prix at the Circuito del Jarama,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, but retired on lap 19 in the 250cc class riding a privateer

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 product ...

. For

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 Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he gained a series of one-off privateer rides in the 250cc class, starting with an

Aprilia Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded immediately after World War II in Noale, Italy, by Alberto Beggio. The company started as a manufacturer of bicycles and moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles. ...

at the 1994 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, and finishing the season on a Honda, placing him 30th in the championship. Moving to the 500cc class for

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, he rode out the season placing twelfth on the 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 ...

. He then spent two seasons on the

ELF 500 ROC The ELF 500 ROC was a motorcycle that competed in the and 500 cc Road Racing World Championship. ELF 500 ROC A new European motorcycle made its debut under the Elf Aquitaine, Elf banner in 1996. The engine was a Swissauto 500 cc Two- ...

sponsored by

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

and then

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

, placing 14th in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and 17th 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 t ...

on an under-developed and hence unreliable bike. For

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

he moved to the well backed Movistar Honda Pons riding the

Honda NSR500 Japanese Grand Prix 1993 ">1993 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix">Japanese Grand Prix 1993 The Honda NSR500 is a road racing motorcycle created by HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) and debuted in 1984 for the Grand Prix motorcycle racing's 500&nb ...

, but unreliability meant he finished the season in 32nd. Improved factory support in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

meant that he finished 12th. Without a ride for the 2000 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, after the crash of

Carl Fogarty Carl George Fogarty, (born 1 July 1965), often known as Foggy, is an English former motorcycle racer and one of the most successful World Superbike racers of all time. He also holds the second highest number of race wins at 59. He is the son ...

which ended his racing career, from race six onwards in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

he moved to

World Superbikes 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 ...

, replacing

Ben Bostrom Benjamin Bostrom (born May 7, 1974) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. From 1995 to 2011 he competed in the AMA Superbike Championship, the World Superbike Championship and the MotoGP world championship.. Motorcycle racing car ...

in the works

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. () is the motorcycle-manufacturing division of Italian company Ducati, headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini, whose German parent company is Au ...

- Infostrada, finishing the season in 12th. Replaced by younger compatriate

Rubén Xaus Rubén Xaus (born 18 February 1978 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a retired motorcycle road racer. During his career he competed in both the Superbike World Championship and the MotoGP. He is nicknamed ' Spider-Man', as his lanky frame leads ...

for the 2001 season, Borja moved to Spanish privateer team Panavto Yamaha riding the

Yamaha YZF-R7 The Yamaha YZF-R7 or OW-02 is a race homologation motorcycle made by Yamaha in limited production run of only 500 units. It was designed to compete in the Superbike World Championship and Suzuka 8 Hours endurance races. It has a , DOHC 20-valv ...

, but a lack of funds and unreliability meant that he finished the season 32nd. For 2002 season he returned to riding a Ducati 998RS for Spanish privateer team Spaziotel Racing, finishing 12th. With the same team but now under the DFX Racing banner, he finished 13th in the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. In light of their sponsorship from Sterilgarda for the 2004 season, the DFX team choose Italian rider

Marco Borciani Marco Borciani (born 7 December 1975 in Desenzano del Garda) is a retired Italian motorcycle racer, now motorcycle racing team owner and manager. Career Borciani started racing in the Italian Sport Production Championship, gaining eighth pla ...

. Unable to find a team or sponsorship, Borja was forced to retire at the age of 34.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borja, Juan 1970 births Living people People from Marina Baixa Sportspeople from the Province of Alicante Spanish motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders