# Manuel Poggiali

Manuel Poggiali (Italian pronunciation:; born 14 February 1983) is a Sammarinese Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. He was the 2001 125cc World Champion, and the 2003 250cc World Champion. He scored 12 race wins, 11 pole positions, and 35 podium finishes.

## Career

Poggiali began racing Minibikes in 1994, and made his first Grand Prix starts in 1998, also winning the Italian 125cc Championship that year. He went into the 125cc World Championship full-time in 1999, and showed promise over the next two years, scoring a first podium at Assen in 2000. In 2001 he improved to win the title on a Gilera. He remained in the class in 2002, scoring 7 podiums in the first 8 races but failing to defend his title, losing out to Arnaud Vincent.
For 2003 he moved up to 250s, and followed Freddie Spencer and Tetsuya Harada in winning the title at his first attempt, including victories in the season's first two races. He had a disappointing 2004 however, finishing only 9th overall with just three podium results.
For 2005 he returned to 125s, again looking like a shadow of his former self, failing to take a single podium. In 2006 he raced in the 250cc class for the KTM team, but they did not renew his contract for 2007. Although he received some offers from 125cc, 250cc, and Superbike teams, he decided to refuse the offers and take a sabbatical, hoping to get better offers in 2008. He made his return to racing after announcing that he would ride for Campetella Racing alongside Fabrizio Lai. He decided to retire midseason after losing enthusiasm.
He is also a footballer, he played some matches over the last years for Pennarossa, a football club of San Marino.
For 2013 he returned to motorcycle racing and rode in the Italian Superbike Championship for Scuderia Corse Team Grandi aboard a Ducati 1199 Panigale. He finished the season in 14th overall with a second-place finish in the penultimate race of the year at Mugello being his best finish. For 2014 he signed to ride for the Barni Racing Team aboard a Ducati 1199 Panigale in the CIV Superbike Championship and finished 11th overall.

## Career statistics

Source:

### Grand Prix motorcycle racing
#### Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Pts |
| 1999 | 125cc | Aprilia | MAL 12 | JPN 18 | ESP 9 | FRA Ret | ITA 13 | CAT Ret | NED 13 | GBR Ret | GER 11 | CZE | IMO 8 | VAL Ret | AUS 9 | RSA Ret | BRA 7 | ARG Ret | | 17th | 46 |
| 2000 | 125cc | Aprilia | RSA | MAL | JPN | ESP 9 | FRA 8 | ITA Ret | CAT Ret | NED 3 | GBR Ret | GER Ret | CZE 12 | POR Ret | VAL 14 | BRA Ret | PAC 11 | AUS 5 | | 16th | 53 |
| 2001 | 125cc | Gilera | JPN 5 | RSA 2 | ESP Ret | FRA 1 | ITA 3 | CAT 3 | NED Ret | GBR 3 | GER 3 | CZE Ret | POR 1 | VAL 1 | PAC 2 | AUS 2 | MAL 2 | BRA 5 | | 1st | 241 |
| 2002 | 125cc | Gilera | JPN 3 | RSA 1 | ESP DSQ | FRA 2 | ITA 1 | CAT 1 | NED 2 | GBR 3 | GER 4 | CZE 5 | POR Ret | BRA 3 | PAC 2 | MAL 4 | AUS 1 | VAL 7 | | 2nd | 254 |
| 2003 | 250cc | Aprilia | JPN 1 | RSA 1 | ESP 4 | FRA Ret | ITA 1 | CAT Ret | NED 4 | GBR 2 | GER 8 | CZE 3 | POR 2 | BRA 1 | PAC 3 | MAL 2 | AUS 9 | VAL 3 | | 1st | 249 |
| 2004 | 250cc | Aprilia | RSA 4 | ESP Ret | FRA Ret | ITA 3 | CAT Ret | NED 7 | BRA 1 | GER Ret | GBR Ret | CZE 9 | POR 7 | JPN 17 | QAT | MAL | AUS 3 | VAL Ret | | 9th | 95 |
| 2005 | 125cc | Gilera | ESP 6 | POR 5 | CHN 12 | FRA 10 | ITA 6 | CAT 6 | NED 8 | GBR 25 | GER 11 | CZE 8 | JPN 6 | MAL 8 | QAT 7 | AUS 13 | TUR 11 | VAL Ret | | 10th | 107 |
| 2006 | 250cc | KTM | ESP 11 | QAT 14 | TUR 15 | CHN 11 | FRA 17 | ITA 12 | CAT 11 | NED 10 | GBR Ret | GER 13 | CZE Ret | MAL 11 | AUS 13 | JPN 12 | POR 12 | VAL 8 | | 14th | 50 |
| 2008 | 250cc | Gilera | QAT 14 | ESP Ret | POR 17 | CHN Ret | FRA 6 | ITA Ret | CAT 14 | GBR 14 | NED Ret | GER Ret | CZE DNS | RSM | INP | JPN | AUS | MAL | VAL | 19th | 16 |