Ángel Nieto Roldán (25 January 1947 – 3 August 2017) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He was one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers in the history of the sport, winning 13

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and 90 Grand Prix victories in a racing career that spanned twenty-three years from 1964 to 1986, mainly engaged in 50cc, 80cc and 125cc respectively.''50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix'' (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. His total of 90 Grand Prix victories ranks him third only to the 122 by

Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini (; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1963 to 1977, most prominently as a member of ...

, and the 115 for Valentino Rossi.Ángel Nieto career statistics at MotoGP.com
/ref> In 2011, Nieto was named an

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Legend for his motorcycling achievements.

Motorcycle racing career

Nieto specialized in racing small displacement bikes such as in the 50 cc, 80 cc and 125 cc classes but many fellow racers, including former world champion

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between and , most prominently as a member of the Su ...

consider him among the greatest motorcycle racers of all time. Though he was never successful at the world level racing in the larger displacements, he won Spanish National Championships in the 50 cc, 125 cc, 250 cc, 500 cc and 750 cc classes. He retired in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

at the age of 39 with a total of 90 Grand Prix victories and 13 World Championships. Due to his triskaidekaphobia, he preferred to refer to his championship tally as "12+1". Later he operated a Grand Prix motorcycle racing team with two riders – his son, Ángel Nieto Jr. and

Emilio Alzamora Emilio Alzamora Escardibul (born 22 May 1973 in Lleida, Spain) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing, road racer. He was the 1999 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 1999 Fédération Internationale de Moto ...

, who won the 125 cc title. He commentated on Grand Prix races for Spanish television. There is an Ángel Nieto museum in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

that displays some of his trophies and racing memorabilia. The

named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000. Nieto attended the 2008 French Grand Prix at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit on 18 May 2008, dressed to ride with a special shirt congratulating Valentino Rossi for equalling Nieto's 90 wins. Nieto mounted Rossi's bike, and Rossi as a passenger held a flag aloft with "90 + 90", as they took a victory lap.

Personal life and death

Ángel Nieto had been living in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

for many years. His two sons, Ángel Jr. and Pablo, both followed their father into motorcycle racing, as well as his nephew Fonsi Nieto. On 26 July 2017, Nieto was hit by a car while driving his

quad bike An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat ...

in Ibiza. He was taken to a hospital with a

head trauma A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inj ...

where he was put into a medically-induced coma and underwent surgery; his condition had been called "serious but not critical". On 3 August, his condition significantly worsened after being woken from his

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

. He died the same day, aged 70.

Nieto on the big screen

A documentary called ''Ángel Nieto: 12+1'', directed by Álvaro Fernández Armero, was released in 2005. The film covers his entire career and a wide array of competitors, cyclists inspired by him and reporters who covered his career contribute their opinions and impressions regarding his fight to achieve and sustain his goal of world champion. The 1973 year, when Nieto raced with the 125 Morbidelli, is also recalled in the documentary ''Morbidelli – a story of men and fast motorcycles'', released in 2014 and directed by Jeffrey Zani and Matthew Gonzales.

Honours

* 1982: Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Civil Merit. * 1993: Knight Grand Cross in the Royal Order of Sports Merit. In 2018, the

Circuito de Jerez Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto (formerly known as Circuito de Jerez and Circuito de Velocidad Jerez), is a racing circuit located close to the city of Jerez de la Frontera, south of Seville and deep within the sherry-producing region in the ...

, which has hosted the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix since 1989, was officially renamed to Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto.

Complete Grand Prix motorcycle racing results

Points system from 1964 to 1968: Points system from 1969 onwards: ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Source:

References

External links

Ángel Nieto museum photographs

Ángel Nieto documentary film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieto, Angel 1947 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Zamora, Spain Spanish motorcycle racers 50cc World Championship riders 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 80cc World Championship riders Road incident deaths in Spain Order of Civil Merit members Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit 125cc World Riders' Champions