Juan Manuel López Mella (12 April 1965 – 10 May 1995) was a Spanish professional

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

racer at

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

and

Superbike A sports motorcycle, sports bike, or sport bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...

levels. After coming second in the national championships in 1985, he entered international competitions for the first time in 1987. He was the first person from Galicia to enter the competition. He came third in the 1991 Spanish Superbike race at

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

, the first person from Spain to gain a podium position in the competition, and was named Spanish Superbike champion in both 1991 and 1992, becoming the highest placed private rider overall in 1993. In 1995, he started riding in the Thunderbike tournament but was killed in a road accident early in the season.

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

, his city of birth, has named a park that teaches road safety in his honour and hosts a museum in his memory.

Motorcycling career

Born on 12 April 1965 in Lugo, Galicia, Spain, Juan Manuel López Mella started his racing career with motocross but by the age of 18 had moved to racing on

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

. After debuting nationally in the Criterium Solo Moto in 1985, and coming second overall in the junior category of the 250 cc class that year, he then progressed to racing in the World Motorcycle Championships in 1987. He became the first Galacian to compete in a world championship. After a season riding a Yamaha TZ250, during which he scored no points, he moved to a

Honda RS250R The Honda RS250R was a race motorcycle manufactured by Honda to race in the 250cc class of the Grand Prix motorcycle World Championship. It was conceived as a ''production racer'' for customer teams and privateer riders, while factory-supported te ...

in 1988; once again he finished outside the championship rankings. At that stage, he decided to move to larger bikes. In 1989, López Mella raced for the first time in the 500 cc category of the World Motorcycle Championship, with a

Honda NS500 The Honda NS500 is a 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix racing motorcycle of the early 1980s, powered by a Two-stroke cycle, two-stroke V3 engine. Created as a replacement for the innovative but unsuccessful Four-stroke cycle, four-str ...

. He was the first Galacian to compete in the championship, placing at number 40 at the end of the season. Between 1990 and 1992, he competed in the

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

, finishing with 33 starts and 99 points over the three seasons. During the 1991 season, he achieved his sole podium placing when he came third in the Spanish round at

with a time of 40:05.859. López Mella was the first Spaniard to achieve a podium place in the championship. He was also the first to cross the finish line on a

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

bike at the Superprestigio Super Moto at the

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...

later the that year. He subsequently competed twice in the 1992 Superbike World Championship, coming thirteenth both times. He was named Spanish Superbike champion in both 1991 and 1992. In 1992, he re-entered in the

500 cc class with a

Yamaha YZR500 The Yamaha YZR500 was a 500cc Grand Prix racing motorcycle made by Yamaha from 1973 to 2002. It achieved significant acclaim, especially during the 1980s and 1990s. Racing history The YZR500 was ridden by championship winners Giacomo Agostin ...

. However, in that year his funding ran out; it was only fund-raising by his now substantial fan base that enabled him to continue to compete. Riding for his own Lopez Mella Racing Team, he entered both the 1993 and 1994 seasons. In 1993, he came twelfth overall, the highest placed amongst the privately sponsored riders. In 1994, he replaced

Kevin Schwantz Kevin James Schwantz (born June 19, 1964) is an American former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1988 to 1995, most prominently as a member of the Suzuki factory rac ...

in the

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...

team for the

European motorcycle Grand Prix The European motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was introduced as part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship from 1991 to 1995. From 1996 onward the event was replaced by the Catalan Grand Prix. In 2020, the even ...

at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He came thirteenth riding a

Suzuki RGV500 The Suzuki RGV-Γ 500 was a racing motorcycle manufactured by Suzuki MotoGP, Suzuki from 1986 to 2001 for competition in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing series. The motorcycle was powered by a 499.3 cc two stroke engine. Suzuki factory racing te ...

Death and legacy

In 1995, López Mella started the season racing in the Thunderbike Trophy, completing the first race at

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Sp ...

in fourth place. He expected to complete the year with a good overall score, possibly with a podium position. However, on the evening of 10 May, while riding near

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

on his way to train at the

Circuit de Calafat The Circuit Calafat was built in 1974 outside the town of the same name in the L'Ametlla de Mar in Catalonia. Private finance paid by the company Calafat, S.A., which cost a total of 30 million pesetas (USD $210,716.05). Fans made their own cont ...

, his motorbike hit a puddle of water, left the road and crashed. An ambulance was called to take him to the hospital but he died before arriving. His riding companion and girlfriend, Cristina Blanco Trinidad, was also injured but survived. In his honour, Lugo named a park in his name, which opened on 26 May 1995. The park teaches road safety to children. The city also hosts a museum that was created in his memory.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Mella, Juan 1965 births 500cc World Championship riders Sportspeople from Lugo Spanish motorcycle racers 250cc World Championship riders 1995 deaths Superbike World Championship riders