2023-07-05 10:10:53
Almost 20 years ago, Sete Gibernau (50) was one of the greatest rivals of nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi in the premier class. In 2003 and 2004, the two fought for the world title. Gibernau collected four race wins each and finished the season as runner-up behind Rossi both times. In 2005, the Spaniard was one of the favorites for the World Championship, but after Rossi’s controversial bump against Gibernau at the 2005 Jerez GP, he never won a race again.
250-ccm-WM
Sete Gibernau made his GP debut in 1992 in the 250cc World Championship. But it was only four years later that the then 24-year-old entered the world championship as a regular driver. Back then he rode a Honda NSR250 for the Axo Honda team and finished the year as WM-22. away.
500-ccm-WM
With three races to go, the Spaniard was signed by Wayne Rainey’s Yamaha team, with whom he moved up to the 500cc class in 1997 and finished a respectable 13th overall in his debut season. The following year, Gibernau celebrated his first GP podium in third place at the Madrid GP, replacing the injured Takuma Aoki (Honda Team).
Gibernau began the 1999 season on a Honda NSR500V. From the Jerez GP he was given the chance to replace the injured Mick Doohan on the four-cylinder Honda NSR500, which saw the Spaniard take four podiums and a World Championship 5th place. For the 2001 season he switched to Suzuki, where he celebrated his first Grand Prix victory in a wet race in Valencia.
MotoGP
The introduction of the MotoGP class in 2002 brought great difficulties for Gibernau, as the new Suzuki GSV-R was technically inferior to the other manufacturers. He finished the season only 16th, suffering seven retirements in 16 races. Gibernau’s only ray of hope came at the Portuguese GP, where he led ahead of Valentino Rossi. However, three laps before the end, a crash ended his race prematurely.
For the 2003 season, Gibernau switched to Gresini Honda, where he piloted the RC211V 990cc five-cylinder machine, becoming the biggest challenger to World Champion Valentino Rossi. Barcelona native Gibernau won four races, finished on the podium six more times and was crowned runner-up with 277 points behind Rossi. Rossi then described the season as “the year of Gibernau, which was hard fought to the end.”
In 2004, a continuation of the fight between Gibernau and Rossi followed. Because while the Spaniard had a strong start to the season with six podium finishes, including two wins, “The Doctor” still had some difficulties to overcome after moving to Yamaha. The Brazilian GP was seen as a turning point in the World Championship fight. Because Gibernau fell both in Rio and in Germany, his Italian opponent gained a 13-point lead. Despite two more wins for Gibernau, Rossi eventually won his sixth world title by 47 points.
At the 2004 Qatar GP, the hitherto good-natured rivalry between the two simmered when Rossi accused Gibernau of urging officials to disqualify his qualifying result for allegedly rigging his starting place. However, it was Gibernau’s team that noticed the change in track and asked race officials to investigate. Security camera footage showed Rossi’s team doing burnouts in his starting zone in order to get more rubber on his grid for better grip. The race control then placed Rossi at the end of the starting grid.
The race in Jerez in 2005 offered further drama, in which Rossi pushed Gibernau out of the race for victory on the last lap with a bump in the last corner. The Spaniard had to drive through the gravel trap and finally secured second place. The Spanish fans then booed the race winner and the maneuver went down as one of the most controversial topics in MotoGP history. Gibernau finished the year seventh but never managed to win another GP race.
For the 2006 season, Gibernau switched to the Ducati factory team, where he put in some impressive displays of talent on the Ducati Desmosedici. However, a crash at the Barcelona GP changed the rest of his career abruptly. In the first corner, Loris Capirossi, Gibernau’s team-mate at the time, came on the Spaniard’s front brake, whereupon his front wheel locked and he flew over the handlebars.
On the way to the hospital, Gibernau’s ambulance suffered a traffic accident in which it crashed into a bus just 50 meters from the hospital. It was later confirmed that Gibernau suffered a concussion and fractured a bone in his hand. In addition, the collarbone that was broken in Assen was broken again, so the metal plate had to be removed and replaced. Despite not feeling well, Gibernau returned just three races later but was unable to repeat his old form.
At the end of the 2006 season, Gibernau decided to retire after being replaced by Casey Stoner at the Ducati Marlboro Team.
Comeback
In 2009, the nine-time GP winner returned on Ducati, but his comeback ended after just six races as his Grupo Francisco Hernando team withdrew from World Championship events for financial reasons. Ten years later, Gibernau decided to take part in the MotoE World Cup, which he finished eleventh overall with 38 points.
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