Former MotoGP race winner Toni Elias retires: ‘Today was my last dance, my last race’
Former MotoGP race winner and Moto2 champion Toni Elias announced his surprise retirement from racing following a fifth place in Sunday’s Road America Superbike race.
Elias is a 17-time grand prix winner across the 125cc, 250cc, Moto2 and MotoGP classes, most notably beating Valentino Rossi to the line for victory in a dramatic 2006 Estoril encounter (pictured).
It was also Elias' first premier-class rostrum and was to be the final MotoGP win by a satellite rider until Jack Miller at Assen in 2016.
More podiums, but not wins, followed for Elias over the next three seasons in the revised 800cc MotoGP class, before he dropped down to the newly formed Moto2 category with Gresini and became its inaugural world champion in 2010.
That success propelled Elias back to MotoGP, on an LCR Honda, but he struggled to make an impact and spent the next three seasons accepting stand-in MotoGP rides in-between Moto2.
The Spaniard revived his racing career in spectacular style with a move to the US in 2016, winning on his MotoAmerica debut and claiming the title the following season.
Championship runner-up in both 2018 and 2019, again with Suzuki, Elias’ final full campaign was in 2020.
As with his grand prix career, Elias returned to make occasional appearances over the following seasons before signing with Team Hammer/Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki for the 2023 campaign.
But after a fighting fifth place on Sunday, Elias announced live on TV that it had been his “last dance”.
“We had a great battle,” Elias said of the race. “It’s been a big effort, so nice to finish like this.”
When asked about the next round, Elias dropped the retirement news:
“Well, today was my last dance, my last race.
"I want to thank Chris Ulrich, John Ulrich and Team Hammer. Everybody who has supported me, worked and helped me during this period.
“The return has not been like I was expecting. So thank you very much. I had fun in the last one.”
