Sebastián Porto
Sebastian Porto (actually Sebastián Oscar Porco, born September 12, 1978 in Rafaela, Argentina ) is a former Argentine motorcycle racer.
Porto, nicknamed Sebas was born Sebastián Porco in Argentina. Since his name means in Italian, but as much as pig, he decided, when he came to Europe, amend it in Porto in 1997.
Career
Sebastián Porto began his racing career at the age of eleven years at a regional Minimoto Championship in his home, after he had successfully contested race bike since the pre-school age. In 1991 and 1992 he was ³ in the classes to 50 or to 125 cm Argentine Dirttrack Master. In the following two years, Porto took part in the Argentine Yamaha 250 cc Championship, which he won in 1994. Therefore decided his patron Cozzani Reinaldo, who is also the Grand Prix of Argentina was promoting to send him to Europe in 1995.
Sebastián Porto denied 1995, two races in the Spanish Open Ducados Championship, In 1996 the 168 cm Argentines in the PR2 team in the 250 cc Championship, where he secured superior in eight races held the title with four wins.
250 cc World Championship
Sebastián Porto debuted in 1994 at his home Grand Prix in the MotoGP World Championship, he competed in the 125 cc class, but did not reach the goal. In 1995 he joined the same race for the first time in the 250cc class and drove to 13th place.
As of the 1996 season started Porto permanently in the 250cc World Championship and piloted an Aprilia. His best result of the season was the ninth place in the Grand Prix of Indonesia, in the overall classification, he finished 19th place. 1997 Porto occupied with constant finishes among the top ten in eleventh World Cup ranking, 1998, he reached due to some technical problems on his Aprilia only number 22 in the 250cc World Championship.
For the 1999 season, Sebastián Porto moved to the Semprucci team, where he went to Yamaha at the start and the ninth world ranking import. The following year repeated the Argentine EDO Racing Team, again to Yamaha, this placement and was awarded the Michel Metraux Trophy for the best driver of a private team. In 2001, Porto went relatively quietly in the German team Yamaha short in the 250cc class, finishing in 16th place.
In the 2002 season, Sebastián Porto managed by winning the Grand Prix of Rio de Janeiro in Jacarepagua the breakthrough. With four other podium finishes, he reached the fifth world Position in team Petronas Sprinta Yamaha TVK. For the 2003 season, he moved to Telefonica MoviStar Junior team of Alberto Puig, where he drove a Honda for the first time. Although not quite able to place on the podium, he reached the eighth place overall.
2004 was Porto's by far the most successful year in the 250 cc World Championship. He won an Aprilia Jorge Martínez ' Aspar Team Repsol racing in Italy, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Qatar and Australia, took a total of ten times on the podium and finished with 61 points behind the Spaniard Dani Pedrosa Vice World Champion. The following season, the Argentines managed in the same team just a victory and as a result many falls and technical defects of the sixth world title overall.
For the 2006 season, Porto joined Repsol Honda. After disappointing results early in the season, and major problems with the Honda he announced just before the Grand Prix of Catalunya at the age of only 27 years, his immediate resignation from the 250 cc World Championship, as he had lost the fun of racing.
In his 161 starts in the Motorcycle World Championship, which he drove all of them except one in the 250 cc class, get Sebastian Porto seven wins, 19 podiums, eleven pole positions and eight fastest laps.