 Pons at the 2005 Cyprus Rally. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Spanish |
| Full name | Xavier Pons Puigdillers |
| Born | (1980-01-21)21 January 1980 (age 45) Vic, Spain |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 2003–2007,2010–2011,2014 |
| Co-driver | Jordi Mercader Oriol JuliàLucas CruzCarlos del Barrio Xavier Amigò Álex Haro |
| Teams | Citroën,Mitsubishi,Subaru |
| Rallies | 72 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Stage wins | 7 |
| Total points | 52 |
| First rally | 2003Swedish Rally |
| Last rally | 2014 Rally Catalunya |
Xavier "Xevi" Pons Puigdillers[a] (born 21 January 1980) is a Spanishrally driver who competed in theWorld Rally Championship from 2003 to 2014.
Pons started his racing career onmotorcycles and won the Spanishenduro national championship in 1998. That same year, he competed with the Spanish junior team at theInternational Six Days Enduro and won the Junior World Trophy. He was part of the victorious Spanish team again in 2000. He continued riding in the Spanish enduro championship and was the runner-up in 2000 and 2001, also achieving success in the European and theWorld Enduro Championship.
In 2002, Pons switched torallying, capturing the Spanish nationalGroup N gravel title the following year. In the national asphalt championship, he finished second. He also debuted in the World Rally Championship at the2003Swedish Rally. In2004, Pons competed in both theJunior World Rally Championship and theProduction World Rally Championship. In the production car championship, he took two wins and finished fourth overall in the standings. In the junior class, he was ninth overall, with best placement being third at theAcropolis Rally. He also scored his first points in the World Rally Championship by finishing sixth at theRally Australia.[1]
Pons'2005 season included 11 rallies with aWorld Rally Car and four with a production class rally car. Driving aPeugeot 206 WRC and aCitroën Xsara WRC, he finished in the points twice. His best result was fourth, at theRally Catalunya. Seven points resulted in a 16th place in the overall championship.
For the2006 season, Pons signed up for a full WRC season with Kronos Total Citroën, partnering the two-time World Rally ChampionSébastien Loeb. By the ninth event of the season,Rallye Deutschland, he had gathered only 11 points so the team decided to replace him withDani Sordo as the second driver to collect manufacturers' points. Pons still failed to impress the team, and when Loeb was injured and could not compete at theRally of Turkey, Kronos hiredColin McRae to stand in. However, at Turkey, Pons finished fourth. He was then promoted to Kronos' second seat again and he went on to finish fourth in Australia andNew Zealand and fifth in the final race of the season; theWales Rally Great Britain. With 32 points, he placed seventh overall in the championship.
Pons' best result in a world rally remains fourth, which he has achieved five times: In 2005 at theRally Catalunya, and in 2006 at theRally d'Italia Sardegna,Rally of Turkey,Rally Australia andRally New Zealand.[2]
After failing to land a drive in a competitive team for the2007 season, Pons announced that he will be withdrawing from competing in the WRC. However, he vowed to stay in shape, should an opportunity arise for 2008 or for the later 2007 season.[3] The opportunity soon came halfway through the 2007 season as theSubaru World Rally Team signed on Xevi Pons to drive a third car on the remaining events on the 2007 schedule, and contest a full schedule for Subaru in2008 with an option for Subaru to keep his services in 2009.[4] Despite this, Pons never did return to the Subaru for 2008. Instead, he competed on Spanish national rallies.
In2010, Pons returned to the WRC in the newly formedSWRC class, driving aFord Fiesta S2000 for the Nupel Global Racing team.[5]He won his debut S2000 event in Rally Mexico.[6] Pons also won second S2000 event in row by winning in Jordania.[7] In both occasions, he also finished on WRC points. Pons finally won the Super 2000 World Rally Championship in 2010.[8]
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | JWRC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Xavier Pons | Fiat Punto S1600 | MON Ret | GRE 3 | TUR Ret | FIN 7 | GBR 5 | ITA Ret | 9th | 12 | |
| Renault Clio S1600 | ESP Ret | ||||||||||
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | PWRC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Xavier Pons | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII | SWE 15 | MEX 5 | NZL 6 | ARG Ret | GER 1 | FRA 1 | AUS 1† | 4th | 27 | |
| 2005 | Xavier Pons | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | SWE 4 | NZL 1 | CYP 10 | TUR 4 | ARG | GBR | JPN | AUS | 5th | 20 |
† Did not score points at the 2004 Rally Australia.
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | SWRC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Nupel Global Racing | Ford Fiesta S2000 | SWE | MEX 1 | JOR 1 | NZL 2 | POR 2 | FIN | GER 5 | JPN | FRA 4 | GBR 3 | 1st | 123 |
