Alex Criville announces retirement.

The 1999 World 500cc Champion Alex Criville announced his retirement from the MotoGP World Championship at an emotional press conference in Jerez this afternoon. Thirty - two year old Criville, who is the only Spanish rider to win the World 500cc title, told the conference that he had made his decision in order to fully recover from the illness that ruined his season last year and to concentrate on his private life.

Criville won 15 500cc grands prix for the Repsol Honda team, including three Spanish Grand Prix victories at Jerez before switching to the Antena 3 Yamaha d'Antin team this year, although he did not compete in a grand prix race for them.

"This is a very emotional day for me and I have decided to retire after thinking for a long time," explained Criville. " I'd like to thank everybody for pushing me to the top and that is many many people. Being here at Jerez makes it a very special day when I see the fans who shout my name and tell me I'm the best. It's very difficult for me to realise that this is the end of my career but that's life. I have many things to do and now I want to relax and next year I would like to be in the MotoGP world but I don't know in what kind of work."

Last year the World Champion suffered a series of fainting fits and his preparation for this season's MotoGP World Championship were dogged by similar problems.

He continued, "I have been relaxing over the past few weeks and I've undergone several tests and the doctors think they have a reason for the
problems I've been having. However, I'm a winner and I don't want to continue racing bikes at this level."

Criville won his last grand prix at Le Mans in France almost two years ago. He also won the 125cc World Championship in 1989, winning five grands prix that year including the Spanish race in Jerez.

Criville received a standing ovation from the packed conference after making his emotional announcement.