Thomas Lüthi (born 6 September 1986) is a Swiss sporting director at Prüstel GP, and former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He spent 19 years in Grand Prix world championships, becoming one of only nine riders to reach 300 race starts, spending much of his career with the Interwetten Paddock team, with who he became the 2005 season's 125cc world champion.

Career Early career Lüthi was born in Oberdiessbach, Kanton Bern, Switzerland, but grew up in Emmental. Lüthi started racing pocket bikes at the age of nine. He won pocket bike championships in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, he finished second overall in the European 125cc Championship, and third in the German 125cc series.

125cc World Championship Lüthi made his first 125cc World Championship appearance at the 2002 German Grand Prix, which he finished in 26th place.

In the 2003 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, Lüthi was invited by Daniel Epp to ride for his team, known as the "Elit Grand Prix Team"; Epp became his manager. Lüthi scored his first podium in Barcelona and ended in second place. In 2004, he retired from four races in a row, missed four races because of injury, and scored 14 points.

Andy Ibbott of California Superbike School started training Thomas during the 2005 season. Lüthi scored his first 125cc class Grand Prix win in 2005 at Le Mans, followed by three more victories that season, including one at his team's home race at Brno, Czech Republic. On 6 November 2005 Lüthi secured his first world championship in the 125cc class, the sixth-youngest person to do so; this took place at Valencia. While using a Honda RS125R kit, Lüthi won the world championship title in the 125cc class, being five points ahead of Mika Kallio. Lüthi was voted Swiss sportsman of the year in 2005 and also won the annual "Swiss Award" in the category of sport.

After winning the 2005 125cc World Championship, Lüthi was partnered by Sandro Cortese of Germany and the team name was changed to "Elit — Caffè Latte". He scored his only win and only podium of the season at the 2006 French Grand Prix. He lost his championship title to Álvaro Bautista.

250cc World Championship After the 2006 season, Lüthi moved on to 250cc. The team changed their name to "Emmi — Caffè Latte", and defected to Aprilia, racing on the Aprilia RSA 250.

For 2008, Lüthi continued with the Aprilia RSA 250. Daniel Epp also ran an Aprillia LE for Lukáš Pešek, under the Auto Kelly - CP branding. Lüthi did not have any podiums until the 2008 Italian GP, where he finished at the podium in third place. At Assen, he finished in second place behind Álvaro Bautista. At Brno, Lüthi crashed out of the race due to an apparent brake failure.

In 2009, Lüthi finished seventh overall in 250cc, although without a podium.

Moto2 World Championship

For 2010, Lüthi remained with the team in the Moto2 class that replaced the 250cc category. At Silverstone, Lüthi finished in second place. Lüthi finished in third place at Assen, which was a position he acquired on the last lap after being in first place earlier in the race. Lüthi had a collarbone injury during those two races.

MotoGP World Championship On 24 August 2017, it was announced that Lüthi would move up to MotoGP for the 2018 season, partnering Moto2 title rival Franco Morbidelli at EG 0,0 Marc VDS. Lüthi did not score a single point throughout his first MotoGP campaign, with his best result being 16th place at Losail, Le Mans, Brno, Phillip Island, and Sepang.

Return to Moto2

On 12 August 2018, it was announced that Lüthi would step back to Moto2 for the 2019 season, joining Dynavolt Intact GP. He replaced Xavi Vierge, who moved to Marc VDS.

Retirement On 19 August 2021, Lüthi announced his retirement from racing after the season. He will take on the role of Sports Director of the Prüstel GP Moto3 team, as well as their Junior Team, starting 2022.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season SeasonClassMotorcycleTypeTeamRaceWinPodiumPoleFLapPtsPlcdWCh 125cc Honda Honda RS125R Elit Grand Prix 7 0 0 0 0 7 27th – 125cc Honda Honda RS125R Elit Grand Prix 15 0 1 0 0 68 15th – 125cc Honda Honda RS125R Elit Grand Prix 13 0 0 0 0 14 25th – 125cc Honda Honda RS125R Elit Grand Prix 16 4 8 5 1 242 1st 1 125cc Honda Honda RS125R Elit – Caffe Latte 16 1 1 0 0 113 8th – 250cc Aprilia Aprilia RSA 250 Emmi – Caffe Latte 17 0 0 0 0 133 8th – 250cc Aprilia Aprilia RSA 250 Emmi – Caffe Latte 14 0 2 0 0 108 11th – 250cc Aprilia Aprilia RSA 250 Emmi – Caffe Latte 16 0 0 0 0 120 7th – Moto2 Moriwaki Moriwaki MD600 Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 17 0 5 0 2 156 4th – Moto2 Suter Suter MMX2 Interwetten Paddock Moto2 17 1 4 1 0 151 5th – Moto2 Suter Suter MMX2 Interwetten-Paddock 17 1 6 1 3 191 4th – Moto2 Suter Suter MMX2 Interwetten Paddock Moto2 15 0 6 0 1 155 6th – 2014 Moto2 Suter Suter MMX2 Interwetten Paddock Moto2 18 2 4 0 2 194 4th – 2015 Moto2 Kalex Kalex Moto2 Derendinger Racing Interwetten 18 1 4 1 3 179 5th – 2016 Moto2 Kalex Kalex Moto2 Garage Plus Interwetten 17 4 6 3 2 234 2nd – 2017 Moto2 Kalex Kalex Moto2 Garage Plus Interwetten 16 2 10 1 1 243 2nd – 2018 MotoGP Honda Honda RC213V EG 0,0 Marc VDS 18 0 0 0 0 0 29th – 2019 Moto2 Kalex Kalex Moto2 Dynavolt Intact GP 18 1 8 0 4 250 3rd – 2020 Moto2 Kalex Kalex Moto2 Liqui Moly Intact GP 15 0 0 0 0 72 11th – Moto2 Kalex Kalex Moto2 Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team 17 0 0 0 0 27 22nd – Total 317 17 65 12 19 2657 1

By class ClassSeasons1st GP1st Pod1st WinRaceWinPodiumsPoleFLapPtsWChmp 125cc 2002–2006 2002 Germany 2003 Catalunya 2005 France 67 5 10 5 1 444 1 250cc 2007–2009 2007 Qatar 2008 Italy 47 0 2 0 0 361 0 Moto2 2010–2017, 2019–2021 2010 Qatar 2010 Spain 2011 Malaysia 185 12 53 7 18 1852 0 MotoGP 2018 2018 Qatar 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 2002–2021 317 17 65 12 19 2657 1

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Pos Pts 125cc Honda JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR RIO PAC MAL AUS VAL 27th 7 125cc Honda JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR RIO PAC MAL AUS VAL 15th 68 125cc Honda RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED RIO GER GBR CZE POR JPN QAT MAL AUS VAL 25th 14 125cc Honda SPA POR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE JPN MAL QAT AUS TUR VAL 1st 242 125cc Honda SPA QAT TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE MAL AUS JPN POR VAL 8th 113 250cc Aprilia QAT SPA TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER CZE RSM POR JPN AUS MAL VAL 8th 133 250cc Aprilia QAT SPA POR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER CZE RSM INP JPN AUS MAL VAL 11th 108 250cc Aprilia QAT JPN SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER GBR CZE INP RSM POR AUS MAL VAL 7th 120 Moto2 Moriwaki QAT SPA FRA ITA GBR NED CAT GER CZE INP RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS POR VAL 4th 156 Moto2 Suter QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED ITA GER CZE INP RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 5th 151 Moto2 Suter QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED GER ITA INP CZE RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS VAL 4th 191 Moto2 Suter QAT AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA MAL AUS JPN VAL 6th 155 Moto2 Suter QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 4th 194 Moto2 Kalex QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 5th 179 Moto2 Kalex QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 2nd 234 Moto2 Kalex QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA JPN AUSMALVAL 2nd 243 MotoGP Honda QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 29th 0 Moto2 Kalex QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 3rd 250 Moto2 Kalex QAT SPA ANC CZE AUT STY RSM EMI CAT FRA ARA TER EUR VAL POR 11th 72 Moto2 Kalex QAT DOH POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED STY AUT GBR ARA RSM AME EMI ALR VAL 22nd 27

Records As of 10 April 2025, Thomas Lüthi holds the following records:

Moto2 Most points scored: 1852 Most podiums scored: 53 Most fastest laps: 18

References

External links

Tom Lüthi ist der «Star des Jahres» von www.startalk.ch Radio Basilisk-Interview nach dem 1. Sieg in Le Mans (wma, schweizerdeutsch)