He was second in the 250cc European Championship in 1994, before moving on to the 250cc World Championship. He achieved a top ten finish in the points standings every year he competed. In 2000 he had a season-long battle for the championship with Tech3 teammate Shinya Nakano and Daijiro Kato, ultimately winning the 250cc Motorcycle World Champion on a Yamaha YZR250.^[1]

For 2001, he moved up to the 500cc class with the Tech3 team. He spent three years with Tech3, before starting 2004 without a ride. He made one appearance on a Moriwaki bike, but again was without a ride as 2005 started. He stepped in for the injured Alex Hofmann in China and stunned the series regulars by finishing second to Valentino Rossi on the factory Kawasaki. He was then permanently hired by Kawasaki as an occasional extra race rider. He did not race for them in 2006, but was chosen for 2007 alongside countryman Randy de Puniet, replacing Nakano. Sete Gibernau was later revealed to have rejected the ride before Jacque was offered it.

However, the season was a disaster. At Istanbul he triggered a four-bike collision, missing his braking point into a corner on lap 1 and hitting Colin Edwards, with Dani Pedrosa and Chris Vermeulen also getting caught up. In the next round in Shanghai he crashed in practice, gashing his arm severely enough to be unable to race there or at Le Mans. He again crashed in practice at Barcelona, missing this race too.

Following the series of injuries, Jacque announced his retirement from MotoGP in June 2007. He remains as development rider and technical advisor for Kawasaki Racing Team.^[2]

Commitment

Olivier Jacque is today a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.^[3]

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	18	Pos	Pts
1995	250cc	Honda	AUS Ret	MAL 10	JPN Ret	SPA 12	GER 11	ITA 16	NED Ret	FRA 9	GBR 4	CZE 14	BRA 7	ARG 4	EUR 9						10th	66
1996	250cc	Honda	MAL 4	INA 8	JPN 4	SPA 7	ITA 4	FRA Ret	NED Ret	GER 2	GBR 3	AUT Ret	CZE 2	IMO 2	CAT 2	BRA 1	AUS 3				3rd	193
1997	250cc	Honda	MAL 3	JPN DNS	SPA 7	ITA 5	AUT 1	FRA Ret	NED Ret	IMO 2	GER 2	BRA 1	GBR 4	CZE 2	CAT 6	INA 3	AUS 3				4th	201
1998	250cc	Honda	JPN 5	MAL 3	SPA 3	ITA Ret	FRA 4	MAD Ret	NED Ret	GBR	GER	CZE Ret	IMO 5	CAT 4	AUS 3	ARG 3					5th	112
1999	250cc	Yamaha	MAL 4	JPN Ret	SPA DNS	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER 8	CZE 5	IMO 3	VAL Ret	AUS 2	RSA 3	BRA 4	ARG 1			7th	122
2000	250cc	Yamaha	RSA 4	MAL 2	JPN 4	SPA 4	FRA 3	ITA 2	CAT 1	NED 2	GBR 2	GER 1	CZE 3	POR 2	VAL 2	BRA Ret	PAC 4	AUS 1			1st	279
2001	500cc	Yamaha	JPN Ret	RSA 16	SPA DNS	FRA DNQ	ITA	CAT 12	NED 11	GBR 9	GER 6	CZE 12	POR 8	VAL 5	PAC Ret	AUS 6	MAL Ret	BRA Ret			15th	59
2002	MotoGP	Yamaha	JPN Ret	RSA 6	SPA 11	FRA Ret	ITA 9	CAT 9	NED 14	GBR 5	GER Ret	CZE 10	POR Ret	BRA 7	PAC 7	MAL Ret	AUS 8	VAL 9			10th	81
2003	MotoGP	Yamaha	JPN 15	RSA 10	SPA 10	FRA 4	ITA 10	CAT Ret	NED 5	GBR Ret	GER 9	CZE 11	POR 13	BRA Ret	PAC 13	MAL DNS	AUS 6	VAL Ret			12th	71
2004	MotoGP	Moriwaki	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	BRA	GER	GBR	CZE	POR	JPN 11	QAT	MAL	AUS	VAL Ret			24th	5
2005	MotoGP	Kawasaki	ESP	POR	CHN 2	FRA 11	ITA	CAT	NED	USA	GBR	GER Ret	CZE	JPN	MAL Ret	QAT DNS	AUS 16	TUR 13	VAL		17th	28
2007	MotoGP	Kawasaki	QAT 12	SPA 18	TUR Ret	CHN DNS	FRA	ITA 16	CAT DNS	GBR	NED	GER	USA	CZE	RSM	POR	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	23rd	4