Sete Gibernau achieved every Spanish racer's dream--to win the Gran Premio de España at Jerez. The Spanish riders are huge national heroes in Spain and now Gibernau is the biggest of them all.
Max Biaggi was second after a race-long battle with Gibernau, Alex Barros finished third, defending world champion
Valentino Rossi finished fourth.
Telefonica Movistar Honda's Sete Gibernau celebrates his victory alongside Biaggi and Barros.
"It was a hard job in the rain today," said Gibernau. "We finally found a good set-up for the rain but there is still chatter. I was trying very hard, I think Max was also trying hard and we had a good race. I want to thank my team for the work they did."
The entire race was covered in heavy, cold rain and Gibernau took the lead right from the start and led almost every lap, totally dominating the race. Only Biaggi could get near the Spaniard and on lap four of 28, closed right up on Gibernau, shadowing his every move, often pulling up alongside Gibernau as they went into the corners.
Biaggi started pressuring Gibernau really hard at the halfway point, staying within a tenth of a second of his fellow Honda rider and finally took the lead on lap 17, passing Gibernau in the Dry Sack curve. Entering into the stadium section on the same lap, both riders got into a small wobble in a puddle, their back ends dancing on the water. But such is the traction even in the rain that they both could pull small wheelies on the exit of Dry Sack, where the track drops away.
Gibernau was back up front on the next lap and then pulled away bit by bit to take his sixth and most important grand prix win of his career. After a few more slides on at the rear of his machine near the end as he searched for grip in the miserable conditions and it was all over, delighting the wet, cold and thoroughly miserable fans. With Gibernau's win, surely they will say it was worth it.
Biaggi was second, followed by Barros, defending champion Valentino Rossi--who was never really in the hunt--Nicky Hayden and Gibernau's countryman Carlos Checa.
Biaggi finished second for the second race in a row. "It was an unbelievable race, just a huge amount of rain," said the four-time 250cc champion from Rome. "I could not see Sete but when I could see him finally, I went into the lead for a little bit, but Sete was just too good today. For sure today was a good race, I need to put together 14 more races like this."
Barros, in third place, equaled his best finish from last year, in France and also in the rain.
"It seems like a long time since I since I have been on the podium," said Barros. "The race was very hard but it was the same for everyone. I knew I could not ride at the pace of Sete and Max so I just kept my own pace and I'm quite happy with the results."
Rossi said it was a tough job just staying on board his Yamaha. "I am happy and relieved because it was a miracle not to fall off." At one point. Rossi got into a big slide, the tire caught traction and he was tossed up into the air, both legs well above his shoulders. He managed to save it, though but went on to say he did not have much grip from his rear tire.
"It seems strange not to be on the podium," said Rossi, "the last time that happened was at Brno in 2002, when I had a tire problem. One thing for sure, this is going to be a great championship and like I have always said, Sete and Max will be my main competition."
Today's win plus a third place two weeks ago in South Africa places Gibernau at the top of the point standings, followed by Biaggi (second in South Africa) and then defending champion Rossi.
250 MotoGP Report
Roberto stormed away from the second row of the grid on his Fortuna Honda to win the 250cc race, smooth and fast in the cold and wet to take his third grand prix win of his career. Randy De Puniet of France was second, 8.74-seconds behind Rolfo.
Rolfo had no competition up front, De Puniet had a lonely ride to second but the Spanish fans were delighted by Fonsi Nieto's race-long battle with Anthony West, both riding Aprilias.
On the 26th and last lap, on the back part of the circuit, West looked behind him to see where Nieto was and looked a bit startled to see the Catalan rider so close to him.
Nieto took over third place in the stadium section on the last lap and finished 0.22-seconds ahead of West.
Defending 250cc champion Manuel Poggiali crashed out of the race on the very first lap.
Marco Simoncelli won the 125cc class, ahead of Steve Jenkner and Hector Barbara. It was Simoncelli's first-ever GP win. His previous best finish was fourth at Valencia, Spain last year.
Casey Stoner led almost the entire 125cc race but crashed by himself with just over two laps to go. The race was run in heavy rain and the wet and nearly flooding conditions caught several riders out, with nearly 10 solo crashes due solely to the weather conditions, including the luckless Stoner.
Nearly inconsolable after the race, Stoner remounted his KTM to finish fifth. Winner Simoncelli started from the pole position.
MotoGP Results:
1. Sete Gibernau, Spain, Honda, 52:01.203s - 85.59 mph avg.
2. Max Biaggi, Italy, Honda, 52:06.745
3. Alex Barros, Brazil, Honda, 52:53.863
4. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Yamaha, 52:59.849
5. Nicky Hayden, United States, Honda, 53:00.576
6. Carlo Checa, Spain, Yamaha, 53:08.477
7. Colin Edwards, United States, Honda, 53:20.832
8. Kenny Roberts, United States, Suzuki, 53:46.350
9. Shinya Nakano, Japan, Kawasaki, 52:07.304
10. Michel Fabrizio, Italy, Harris WCM, 52:16.335
11. Norick Abe, Japan, Yamaha, 52:19.549
12. Loris Capirossi, Italy, Ducati, 52:22.550
13. Alex Hoffman, Germany, Kawasaki, 52:26.929
14. Nobuatsu Aoki, Japan, Proton, 52:39.533
15. John Hopkins, United States, Suzuki, 52:59.546
MotoGP point standings, after two of 16 races:
1. Gibernau, 41
2. Biaggi, 40
3. Rossi, 38
4. Barros, 29
5. Hayden, 22
6. Edwards, 18
7. Checa, 16
8. Capirossi, 14
9. Abe, 12
10. Nakano, 11
11. Kenny Roberts, 8
12. Tamada, 8
13. Fabrizio, 6
14. Melandri, 5
15. Hopkins, 4
250cc Race Results: 26 laps:
1. Roberto Rolfo, Italy, Honda, 52:20.145s, 82.16 mph
2. Randy De Puniet, France, Aprilia, 52:28.885
3. Fonsi Nieto, Spain, Aprilia, 52:52.768
4. Anthony West, Australia, Aprilia, 52:52.989
5. Alex Debon, Spain, Honda, 53:19.029
