Poggiali began racing Minibikes in 1994, and made his first Grand Prix starts in 1998, also winning the Italian 125cc Championship that year. He went into the 125cc World Championship full-time in 1999, and showed promise over the next two years, scoring a first podium at Assen in 2000. In 2001 he improved to win the title on a Gilera. He remained in the class in 2002, scoring 7 podiums in the first 8 races but failing to defend his title, losing out to Arnaud Vincent.

For 2003 he moved up to 250s, and followed Freddie Spencer and Tetsuya Harada in winning the title at his first attempt, including victories in the season's first two races. He had a disappointing 2004 however, finishing only 9th overall with just three podium results.

For 2005 he returned to 125s, again looking like a shadow of his former self, failing to take a single podium.^[2] In 2006 he raced in the 250cc class for the KTM team, but they did not renew his contract for 2007. Although he received some offers from 125cc, 250cc, and Superbike teams, he decided to refuse the offers and take a sabbatical, hoping to get better offers in 2008. He made his return to racing after announcing that he would ride for Campetella Racing alongside Fabrizio Lai.^[3] He decided to retire midseason after losing enthusiasm.

He is also a footballer, he played some matches over the last years for Pennarossa, a football club of San Marino. For 2013 he returned to motorcycle racing and rode in the Italian Superbike Championship for Scuderia Corse Team Grandi aboard a Ducati 1199 Panigale. He finished the season in 14th overall with a second-place finish in the penultimate race of the year at Mugello being his best finish. For 2014 he signed to ride for the Barni Racing Team aboard a Ducati 1199 Panigale in the CIV Superbike Championship and finished 11th overall.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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	Pos	Pts
1999	125cc	Aprilia	MAL 12	JPN 18	ESP 9	FRA Ret	ITA 13	CAT Ret	NED 13	GBR Ret	GER 11	CZE	IMO 8	VAL Ret	AUS 9	RSA Ret	BRA 7	ARG Ret		17th	46
2000	125cc	Aprilia	RSA	MAL	JPN	ESP 9	FRA 8	ITA Ret	CAT Ret	NED 3	GBR Ret	GER Ret	CZE 12	POR Ret	VAL 14	BRA Ret	PAC 11	AUS 5		16th	53
2001	125cc	Gilera	JPN 5	RSA 2	ESP Ret	FRA 1	ITA 3	CAT 3	NED Ret	GBR 3	GER 3	CZE Ret	POR 1	VAL 1	PAC 2	AUS 2	MAL 2	BRA 5		1st	241
2002	125cc	Gilera	JPN 3	RSA 1	ESP DSQ	FRA 2	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 2	GBR 3	GER 4	CZE 5	POR Ret	BRA 3	PAC 2	MAL 4	AUS 1	VAL 7		2nd	254
2003	250cc	Aprilia	JPN 1	RSA 1	ESP 4	FRA Ret	ITA 1	CAT Ret	NED 4	GBR 2	GER 8	CZE 3	POR 2	BRA 1	PAC 3	MAL 2	AUS 9	VAL 3		1st	249
2004	250cc	Aprilia	RSA 4	ESP Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 3	CAT Ret	NED 7	BRA 1	GER Ret	GBR Ret	CZE 9	POR 7	JPN 17	QAT	MAL	AUS 3	VAL Ret		9th	95
2005	125cc	Gilera	ESP 6	POR 5	CHN 12	FRA 10	ITA 6	CAT 6	NED 8	GBR 25	GER 11	CZE 8	JPN 6	MAL 8	QAT 7	AUS 13	TUR 11	VAL Ret		10th	107
2006	250cc	KTM	ESP 11	QAT 14	TUR 15	CHN 11	FRA 17	ITA 12	CAT 11	NED 10	GBR Ret	GER 13	CZE Ret	MAL 11	AUS 13	JPN 12	POR 12	VAL 8		14th	50
2008	250cc	Gilera	QAT 14	ESP Ret	POR 17	CHN Ret	FRA 6	ITA Ret	CAT 14	GBR 14	NED Ret	GER Ret	CZE DNS	RSM	INP	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	19th	16