“’We’re getting older,’” I said to Anna a few days ago. [Nogué, su mujer]. And he got angry. ‘Don’t be so pessimistic,’ he replied. 25 years now…”, sighs Àlex Crivillé (Seva, March 4, 1970) watching the time go by, even though he keeps the same size of pants.
This Thursday, October 24 crivi It commemorates a quarter of a century since he won the 500cc world title, which made him the first Spanish champion of the premier category of motorcycling. A milestone for Spanish sport, on par with those marked by Federico Martín Bahamontes, Manolo Santana, Seve Ballesteros, Ángel Nieto and Fernando Alonso. Pioneers who surpassed frontiers that seemed impossible.
I remember having marked a glorious era of motorcycling, having been a pioneer in a category that was forbidden territory, in the hands of Australians and Americans.”
–25 years later I remember having marked a glorious era of motorcycling, having been a pioneer in a category that was forbidden territory, in the hands of Australians and Americans, who dominated the art of drifting because they came from the dirt-track. It was difficult to go there to fight with them – Crivillé remembers in his house in Taradell, a beautiful Catalan farmhouse that houses a small museum with its trophies, monkeys, motorcycles – among them, the Honda NSR with the 1 on the fairing – and a multitude of memories of his 17 years in the competition.
Àlex Crivillé in his private museum that he houses in his house in Taradell
There is no shortage of the 1986 Critérium Solo Moto that opened the doors to the elite, the JJ Cobas with which he was one of the youngest champions, king of the 125cc at the age of 19, or the 500cc trophy in the shape of a round tower, the crown jewel, 1999, the year of culmination.
To taste the glory, the Seva noi He had to wait until he reached the eighth grade in the senior class. He had made his debut at the age of 22, in 1992, with an official Honda in the Sito Pons team, with Antonio Cobas and Santi Mulero. But it was not until 1994 when his career took a turn when he joined the official Repsol Honda team as a teammate of Mick Doohan, “a monster, one of the best in history”, who would take five titles in a row (1994-98) with crivi as a neighbor and gifted student.
Crivillé and Doohan, in the Repsol Honda, sharing a box
–It was very difficult to beat him, Mick was very complete, very fast, his motorcycle was always something better, the last piece that arrived was for him. So I was able to learn a lot from him. It was my reference and my goal. Just by being close to him in the times you were among the best. It wasn’t easy: I started at 6-7 tenths in ’94, and in ’96 I was already on par… –recalls Crivillé, who admits the degradation of his relationship with Doohan: from being friends and training together in Australia, from going to the gym on Mick’s Harley Davidson and leaving him the house keys… to the Australian building a wall of boxes in the garage, like Valentino Rossi would do with Jorge Lorenzo on Yamaha.
–In the early years, Mick was very generous. He didn’t see me as a threat. He was a prototype of a very physically strong driver, so I worked hard in preparation with Jaume Palau, my coach, to be stronger. I went from being a friend to getting closer in time and doing practically the same times in the 1996 preseason. I began to compete in races with him, to beat some of them, and from there, to be enemies. Jerez 1996 changed everything…
For crivithat race on the Andalusian circuit, the day of the track invasion that deprived him of victory four corners from the finish line due to a fall, was the trigger for their rivalry, and the turning point of their growth; the point of no return. Doohan put pressure on Honda, which gave in and withdrew Àlex’s claim – who asked to be declared the winner, harmed by the invasion of the track – and that’s when the tension between the two began.
–I was not a pilot who was affected by psychological warfare. It was an enmity that made me grow, strengthened me and made me push myself to the limit –explains Àlex.
That 1996 season, Criville was runner-up, winning two victories against the until then untouchable Doohan, and in 1997 and 1998 he once again stood up to him, but his chances of fighting for the title were frustrated by a serious accident in Assen in which he almost lost his thumb. left (it made him miss five races), and for the death of his father, which left him very affected, despite leading the 1998 World Cup.
The scars have accompanied Crivillé on his left hand since 1997
A barrier torn down
“The 500cc title was a very important historical milestone, it helped break a barrier and help the fans in Spain grow”
So the 1999 championship, his eighth season, at 29 years old, with so much experience and so many outstanding accounts accumulated, was now or never.
–I arrived at the 99 World Cup at my best. He was much more mature, with a higher level of driving, with a well-done preseason base, and with clear options to fight for the title – recalls Crivillé, who looked ready to assault the title. After the first two races he was fourth, only 4 points behind Mick.
The third event on the calendar was Jerez, Crivillé’s garden, where he had won the previous two years. That Friday, May 7, will go down in history as Doohan’s darkest day: he crashed at 190 km/h against the protections of Turn 3, the same one where 21 years later Marc Márquez would destroy his arm and half a career. The Australian left it all, destroyed, with fractures of the tibia, fibula, knee, wrist and clavicle. A Dantesque medical report that pushed him to retreat. The sky was opening up for Crivillé.
–When they told me that Doohan might retire, I tried not to lose concentration. I saw that I had the opportunity to be champion, I didn’t have the greatest rival who had made it so difficult for me. I had to give everything so that the World Cup wouldn’t slip away from me. I became the team’s first driver and top favorite. I put the pressure on myself, not Repsol or Honda. I couldn’t fail, it was my year, I had one of the best bikes, I was in the best team and my biggest rival was out of combat – explains Crivillé, who won five races in a row and catapulted himself to the title.
The doubt for history
“What would have happened if Doohan had been there? It’s easy to say ‘I would have won the World Championship’, but I’m not one of those… I would have liked to win the title with Doohan, but the other drivers who were there should not be denigrated.”
Although he will always have one doubt: what would have happened if Doohan had not broken down in Jerez?
-Don’t know. You will never know. That ’99 I was very good, I had reached maturity, I was competitive, with a motorcycle just like his and I was aware of beating him. What would have happened? It’s easy to say “I would have won the World Cup”, but I’m not one of those. I like to touch my feet on the ground. I would have liked to win the World Championship with Doohan on the track, but we should not detract from the other drivers there, Biaggi, Roberts, Okada, Checa… they were very fast.
I crivillé about his Honda NSR with the 1 on the fairing, in 2000
As the ripe fruit falls, the achievement of the title came on October 24 in Rio de Janeiro, in the penultimate race. Crivi had enough with a 6th in Jacarepaguá to secure the title and make history before 7 million television viewers in Spain who saw him cross the finish line as champion.
–At the time I was through the roof, there was a lot of talk about my title, I was one of the best-known Spanish athletes of the moment, along with Raúl from Real Madrid and Carlos Sainz. It was a boom . Over the years I realized that it was very important, a historical milestone that helped break a barrier, help the fans grow, and help us have more facilities. It was not easy, because the next Spanish title took 11 years [Jorge Lorenzo, en el 2010].
Crivillé, photographed on his Honda NSR at his home in Taradell
And what happened to Crivillé after being crowned in 1999?
His career on motorcycles only lasted two more years, marked by health problems.
–I had to retire due to physical problems. They started at the end of the ’99 championship. I had dizziness, which the doctors attributed to the pressure… And it was epilepsy! In 2000 and 2001 the episodes were repeated. I needed to know what I had because I was risking my life. When I had a crisis, the next day I was like a hangover. It was as if I were suffering from a shock that left me flat. I was afraid. And I thought: What if it happens to me on the motorcycle?
In February 2002 he went “to the best neurologist in the world, in Canada,” says Crivi, “and he advised me to leave the competition temporarily.” He listened to him. At 32 years old he retired. Forever.
–It was a forced withdrawal, not because I didn’t have a motorcycle. I made a reset : I had been 500m world champion, the fans loved me, I had treatment and could cure me… I kept the good things.
After rejecting offers to create a driving school and a team with Alberto Puig and Dani Amatriain, Crivillé tried his luck racing gravel rallies by car, advised Toni Elias for one season (2005) and became a technical commentator on television (in the broadcasts on TVE and Dazn, for 15 years, and now on La Sexta, in the Spanish races).
Currently, Crivillé, 54 years old, dedicates himself to competing in horse raids (cross-country races), taking care of his 12 horses, and caring body and soul for his wife, Anna, and his children Àlex (21), Maria (19) and Jan (11). “And to enjoy this 25th anniversary, which has filled me a lot again.”
#Àlex #Crivillé #years #frontier #overcome
