Background and career
Alfonso González Nieto (born 2 December 1978 in Madrid, Spain), better known as Fonsi Nieto, is a Spanish former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and the nephew of successful Grand Prix motorcycle road racer Ángel Nieto. After success in the 250cc class, he moved to World Superbike and made one MotoGP start. For 2010, he returned to the Grand Prix scene in the newly formed Moto2 category. Nieto announced his retirement from competition in early 2011 after failing to recover from injuries suffered when racing at Indianapolis in 2010. After the dramatic injury, Nieto began his career as a DJ and music producer, playing regularly at venues in Spain. Nieto is currently the Rider Performance Director for Pramac Racing.
Nieto won the Spanish 125cc championship in 1998, and the Spanish 250cc champion in 1999 and 2000, also winning the less prestigious European 125cc title in 1997. In 1999 and 2000, he raced in the 250cc World Championship alongside his domestic commitments, finishing 14th overall on a Yamaha TZ250 with a best result of sixth at Estoril in 2000.
Nieto was fourth in the world championship in 2001, with four successive fifth places early in the season and a pair of late-season podium finishes. He won four races in 2002, finishing second to Marco Melandri. He was then fifth in 2003 with a win at Donington Park, and seventh in 2004.
In 2005, Nieto entered the Superbike World Championship with the Caracchi Ducati team, finishing 17th overall in the championship. A fourth in Round 4 of the season was the highlight; he only reached the top-ten once more. For 2006 and 2007 he rode for PSG-Kawasaki. His first podium finish came in Race 2 at Assen in 2006, following teammate Chris Walker's victory in the first race. He was also third at Magny-Cours in 2007. He took pole position at Lausitzring in 2007 after finding a dry spell in a wet qualifying session. In 2007, Nieto also replaced the injured Olivier Jacque in the French Grand Prix making his debut in the MotoGP class, finishing the race in 11th place. For 2008, Nieto joined Alstare Suzuki, making an immediate impact by winning his first world superbike race in the second race of the opening round in Qatar. He finished the season seventh overall, but lost his 2009 ride as the team scaled back to two riders and retained the less successful Japanese Yukio Kagayama. However, Nieto returned to the team mid-season after Max Neukirchner was injured.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
