Alex Barros

Alex Barros (born Alexandre Barros - lit. Alexandre "Clays" - on October 18, 1970 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian motorcycle road racer. After a long career in MotoGP, for 2006 he moved to the Superbike World Championship. He returned to MotoGP for 2007, but retired by the end of the season .

Career

Early years

Barros started racing at the age of 8, when he won on his début in the Brazilian minibike championship. In the next two years, he was twice Brazilian moped champion. In 1981, he was the Brazilian 50cc Champion, and in 1985 he won the title of Brazilian's 250cc category. The year of 1986 saw his international début in the 80cc category—he lied about his age so he could race at the Spanish Grand Prix at the age of 15. He finished the championship in sixteenth place, scoring 6 points. In 1987, he also raced the 80cc championship, finishing seventeenth, scoring 8 points.

250cc

In 1988, Barros made his first race on the World Championship 250cc category, scoring no points. That same year, he was 3rd in the Latin American circuit of that same class. The next year, he finished 18th in the World Championship, scoring 30 points.

500cc and MotoGP

In 1990, Alex Barros was the youngest rider in history to join the top motorcycling category, the 500cc, at the age of 20. In his first year, he was 12th overall, with 57 points. Notable results included 8th in the United States and Germany, and 5th in the Belgium Grand Prix. Two years later, his first...
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