156 Facts About Sete Gibernau

Sete Gibernau's racing career spans three different eras of motorcycle racing, beginning with the two-stroke-dominated period prior to the 2002 season, and the four-stroke MotoGP era.

Sete Gibernau returned to racing in 2019 to compete in the electric-powered MotoE World Cup.

Sete Gibernau is the grandson of Francisco Xavier "Paco" Bulto, the founder of the Spanish Bultaco motorcycle company.

Sete Gibernau began his competitive careers in observed trials competitions.

In 1992, Sete Gibernau participated in his first-ever Grand Prix motorcycle race.

Sete Gibernau participated as a wildcard rider for the Wayne Rainey Yamaha team and finished in 27th position.

In 1993, Sete Gibernau participated in another race, this time at the last race of the season at the FIM round in Jarama, this time riding for the Kenny Roberts Yamaha team.

Sete Gibernau finished in 21st place, over a minute behind race winner Max Biaggi.

In 1995, Sete Gibernau participated in a one-off race at the same venue as last year, the European Grand Prix in Catalunya.

Sete Gibernau started his full-time Grand Prix career in 1996, riding a Honda NSR250 for the Axo Honda team.

Sete Gibernau retired at the opening round in Malaysia, and failed to score any points in the following two races in Indonesia and Japan, finishing 17th and 20th.

At round four in Spain, Sete Gibernau scored his first world championship points with an 11th-place finish.

At the British round however, Sete Gibernau finished 11th for the second time this season to score points yet again.

At the final race in Australia, Sete Gibernau retired for the fifth time this season.

Sete Gibernau finished 22nd in the championship with 20 points, 254 points behind the champion Max Biaggi and 248 points behind runner-up Ralf Waldmann.

At the Austrian race, Sete Gibernau retired for the second time this season.

Sete Gibernau finished 13th in the championship with 56 points, 284 points behind the champion Mick Doohan and 141 points behind runner-up Tadayuki Okada.

Sete Gibernau started the season off well by finishing in tenth at the opening round in Japan.

At round six of the season in Madrid, ridden on the Jarama circuit, Sete Gibernau took his first ever podium spot.

Sete Gibernau finished 11th in the championship with 72 points, 188 points behind the champion Mick Doohan and 136 points behind runner-up Max Biaggi.

Sete Gibernau teamed up with fellow Honda rider Alex Barros to finish second in the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race held in Japan.

In 1999, Sete Gibernau remained with the Repsol Honda team and started off on the Honda NSR500V.

At the opening round in Malaysia, Sete Gibernau would start his season off in good form by finishing tenth at the new Sepang circuit.

Sete Gibernau replaced him from this round onwards when Doohan subsequently announced his retirement.

Sete Gibernau continued this good run by finishing just off the podium in fourth at the next round in France and sixth in Italy.

Sete Gibernau continued to impress when he took his first ever fastest lap and scored his second podium of the season in Catalunya and then repeated the feat at the next round in the Netherlands, finishing both races in third position and making this his first ever back-to-back podium finish streak.

Sete Gibernau picked up his-second fastest lap of his career.

Sete Gibernau finished fifth in the championship with 165 points, 102 points behind the champion and Repsol Honda teammate Alex Criville and 55 points behind runner-up Kenny Roberts Jr.

However, Sete Gibernau would retire from the race on Sunday which was won by the Australian Garry McCoy.

Sete Gibernau crashed out of the Japanese GP and did the same in Spain.

At round seven in Catalunya, Sete Gibernau retired for the fourth consecutive time this season.

Sete Gibernau finished seventh in the Netherlands, eighth in Great Britain and Germany and sixth in the Czech Republic.

At the inaugural GP in Portugal, Sete Gibernau retired for the fifth time this season when he crashed out of the race.

In Rio de Janeiro, Sete Gibernau finished seventh and at the inaugural Pacific Grand Prix, he finished 12th.

Sete Gibernau finished 15th in the championship with 72 points, 186 points behind the champion Kenny Roberts Jr.

At the opening round in Japan, Sete Gibernau retired after crashing out of the race.

At the Portuguese round, Sete Gibernau retired for the second time this season.

The Spaniard and the Brazilian swapped places on multiple occasions on lap 20, until Sete Gibernau made the best use of his slick tyres on a drying track and ducked underneath Barros on lap 29 to retake the lead for the final time.

Sete Gibernau scored his third fastest lap of his career.

Sete Gibernau finished ninth in the championship with 119 points, 206 points behind the champion Valentino Rossi and 100 points behind runner-up Max Biaggi.

Sete Gibernau initially started well, moving up from tenth to fifth on the opening lap after a great start, but a trip into the gravel made him lose a lot of time, as well as various positions which he never managed to recover.

At the next two races in Spain and France, Sete Gibernau finished in the points for the first time by finishing in ninth and 12th position.

Sete Gibernau was in fifth position at the time, ahead of his teammate Roberts.

At the British round, Sete Gibernau went back to scoring points when he finished in sixth place, but retired at the German round when he crashed out.

Sete Gibernau achieved his best result of the season when he took fourth place at the Czech Republic GP.

Sete Gibernau came very close to his first victory of the season in Portugal.

Sete Gibernau had only qualified ninth on Saturday, but knew his underpowered Suzuki GSV-R had a fighting chance in the rain.

At the following round in Rio de Janeiro, Sete Gibernau went on to score points again by finishing in eighth place, before he retired for the seventh time this season at the Pacific GP, this time due to engine issues when the exhaust of his factory Suzuki stopped in a cloud of smoke.

Sete Gibernau finished 16th in the championship with 51 points, 304 points behind the champion Valentino Rossi and 164 points behind runner-up Max Biaggi.

Sete Gibernau was so upset that he almost had to be carried from the gravel trap in the process.

Rossi and Sete Gibernau traded second place on a few occasions with five laps to go, with Sete Gibernau surprising leader Barros on lap nine by overtaking him before the braking area to move up into the lead, with Rossi doing likewise on the final turn to move up into second place.

Rossi immediately responded with an outbraking maneuver but ran wide, allowing Sete Gibernau to retake the position.

At the following round in Italy, Sete Gibernau finished a lowly seventh place but bounced back in Catalunya to take third place, despite losing out on second after a late-charging Rossi overtook him on the penultimate lap.

At the Dutch round, Sete Gibernau took his first dominant win and third overall win of the season when he launched from his second row start to overtake both Rossi and Biaggi to take the lead through the old, fast turn one kink.

Biaggi led the race at the start of lap four, but Sete Gibernau made his move on the run-up to turn one, briefly making contact before Biaggi let Sete Gibernau through into the lead.

Sete Gibernau managed to overtake the Kawasaki of Garry McCoy but Biaggi had troubles with McCoy nearly high-siding off his bike whilst trying to make way for the "Roman Emperor".

Biaggi would make up some of the lost time, but by lap eleven Sete Gibernau started to pull a real gap, being two seconds faster than anyone else on the track.

Sete Gibernau took his first-ever fastest lap in the MotoGP class.

On Saturday, Sete Gibernau only managed to qualify in fifth place, but come race day he moved up one spot on the opening lap.

Not long after, Sete Gibernau passed the Ducati's of Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi and went on the hunt to catch race leader Rossi, closing the 2.5-second gap with each passing lap.

Sete Gibernau was leading for most of the lap, until Rossi tried to outbrake Sete Gibernau on the downhill left-hander and took a defensive line into the final turn, but the bike unsettled a bit whilst doing so.

In contrast, Sete Gibernau took a wider line on the outside of the corner, using all of the apex and cutting back to the inside of Rossi, with the pair racing uphill to the finish line, the two crossing the finish line neck and neck but with Sete Gibernau winning the race by just +0.060 seconds due to a slightly better exit from the final corner.

Sete Gibernau called this "one of the best races of my life".

Sete Gibernau finished second in the Czech Republic, losing out on victory by just +0.042 seconds after another fierce last-lap battle - similar to the one in Germany - with Valentino Rossi, fourth in Portugal, narrowly losing out on third place, second again in Rio de Janeiro, fourth again in the Pacific, second in Malaysia, fourth in Australia and finally second once more at the final race of the season in Valencia, battling with Rossi throughout the race once more.

Sete Gibernau finished second in the championship with 277 points, 80 points behind the champion Valentino Rossi.

Sete Gibernau won four races, took five second-place finishes and one third-place finish.

At round two of the season in Spain, Sete Gibernau took his first win of the year in a wet-weather race.

Sete Gibernau crossed the line +5.452 seconds ahead of Biaggi to score an emotional home victory.

Sete Gibernau scored his first fastest lap of the season.

One round later, at the French round, Sete Gibernau scored his first ever back-to-back victory after conquering his first pole position of the year on Saturday by just 0.150 seconds over Carlos Checa, despite not being at his best due to a fever.

Sete Gibernau then pulled a 0.800 second gap to Checa, who was coming under pressure from Max Biaggi as he closed in with ten laps to go.

Sete Gibernau never came under threat from Checa and crossed the line +1.671 clear to score his second win of the season.

In Catalunya, Sete Gibernau took his third consecutive pole on Saturday, 0.363 seconds ahead of Rossi.

On Sunday, Sete Gibernau started off well and led for much of the race, but couldn't prevent a hard-charging Rossi - whose Yamaha had less tyre and grip problems than Sete Gibernau's Honda - from taking first place with two laps to go to win the race with a narrow 0.159 second margin.

Sete Gibernau then led right to the last lap, but Rossi was shadowing him ever since and - after being prevented by a clever change of racing line from Sete Gibernau along the back straight - Rossi made his move by going up the inside at the Strubben hairpin.

Sete Gibernau tried to stick it around the outside and the two would ride alongside each other to the next turn, where they made contact.

At the following two rounds, Sete Gibernau registered two consecutive retirements.

On Sunday, despite making a poor start, Sete Gibernau was in the leading group of riders and had just passed Rossi when his Honda's front end slid out from underneath him on lap two and crashed out from sixth place.

Sete Gibernau again crashed out in Germany when he lost the front of his Honda RC211V on lap nine, this time Rossi stayed aboard but, could only manage fourth, moving 13 points ahead of Sete Gibernau in the championship.

Sete Gibernau bounced back however by re-overtaking Gibernau at the Melbourne hairpin turn 10 and then Capirossi for the lead at the Foggy chicane on lap two.

Edwards meanwhile, was moving up the field, overtaking the Ducati's of Troy Bayliss and Capirossi on lap three, then closing in on teammate Sete Gibernau and passing him for second place on lap five.

Sete Gibernau was +0.400 seconds behind Edwards but couldn't do anything about the ever-increasing gap he pulled as the race went on.

Sete Gibernau crossed the line +4.426 seconds behind race winner Rossi.

Sete Gibernau stayed ahead when Barros, Biaggi and Rossi fought with each other over positions, until Barros slid out of contention on lap fifteen, promoting Biaggi and Hayden to third and fourth place respectively.

In Portugal, Sete Gibernau narrowly lost out on a third-place podium, finishing fourth whilst Rossi won, and finished in sixth place at the Japanese GP with Rossi finishing second.

At the Qatar race, their previously good-natured rivalry spilled over, as Rossi accused Sete Gibernau of pressuring officials to disqualify his qualifying result for allegedly later tampering with the track patch from which he started, to get better grip off an unusually dusty surface.

At the start, Sete Gibernau overtook polesitter Carlos Checa into turn one on the opening lap, who then increased the gap to +3.290 seconds by lap eight.

Sete Gibernau crossed the line +1.315 seconds ahead of Colin Edwards to win the inaugural race.

Sete Gibernau was now only 14 points behind Rossi in the championship standings with just three races to go.

At the penultimate round in Australia, Sete Gibernau finished in second place once more.

On Saturday, Sete Gibernau took his fifth pole of the season, beating Rossi by just +0.100 seconds.

On Sunday, Sete Gibernau started well and enjoyed the lead of the race up to lap eighteen, when Rossi overtook him at turn one for the lead.

Sete Gibernau then shadowed Rossi for four laps, before overtaking him with five laps to go.

Sete Gibernau held on to the lead until the last lap, when Rossi made a move by closing up on the brakes into the fast turn one, before squeezing inside Sete Gibernau at turn two.

Sete Gibernau stuck to Rossi's rear wheel and drove alongside when they both approached the Honda hairpin, hitting the brakes hard but it was Rossi who ultimately lost out when his rear wheel skipped across the asphalt, forcing him to run a little wide in the process.

Sete Gibernau finished second in the championship with 257 points, 47 points behind the champion Valentino Rossi.

Sete Gibernau was unimpressed with Rossi's move but neither he nor his Gresini team lodged a formal protest.

At round two in Portugal, Sete Gibernau marked his first retirement of the season.

Sete Gibernau immediately upped the pace and pulled a +1.700 second gap to second place Max Biaggi.

However, on lap sixteen, the rain went from just a few spots to a serious shower at turn one, catching out Sete Gibernau who lost the front of his bike before he even reached the apex.

Sete Gibernau tried to continue but failed because his bike went out during the fall, leaving the already injured Sete Gibernau to walk away with his head shaking in disbelief.

Barros won the race, with Sete Gibernau now dropping to fifth in the championship standings as a result.

At the inaugural Chinese grand prix, Sete Gibernau took his first pole of the year on Saturday, beating teammate Marco Melandri by +0.163 seconds.

On Sunday however, Sete Gibernau knew he was in trouble before the rain-affected race had even begun when he felt his rear tyre vibrating on the warm-up lap.

At the start, Sete Gibernau got overtaken by the Factory Suzuki of John Hopkins and teammate Melandri when the vibration kicked in and he was pushed wide.

Sete Gibernau fought hard to keep him behind, but the tyre problems prevented him from doing so properly and that allowed Jacque to pass Sete Gibernau on lap fourteen.

Halfway around the last lap, Melandri took third place from Sete Gibernau, demoting him to fourth at the very end of the race.

Sete Gibernau overtook Alex Barros on lap five, Shinya Nakano on lap six, Melandri on lap eight, then overtaking Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden for third on lap sixteen.

Rossi now realised that Sete Gibernau was moving in fast, he needed to overtake teammate Colin Edwards and use him as a blocker, but with Sete Gibernau being very fast in the wet, he quickly moved in and was right behind Rossi's rear wheel eventually.

However, with Edwards still delivering a nearly faultless ride, Sete Gibernau now was faced with the problem of passing Edwards.

At round five in Italy, Sete Gibernau registered his second DNF of the season.

However, when Rossi fought his way back into the lead in just one lap, Sete Gibernau lacked the pace and was overtaken by Rossi on lap one.

The top two began to break away from Sete Gibernau, before being overtaken by Biaggi and Capirossi on lap two.

Sete Gibernau then lowsided out of contention at a downhill right-hander, retiring from the race in the process.

On lap five, Rossi and Sete Gibernau forced themselves ahead of Melandri when braking for turn one, then pulling a slight gap to him.

On lap six, Sete Gibernau overtook Rossi for the lead on the same spot, holding a +0.400 second gap over Rossi by the halfway point.

Two lacklustre results would follow at the Dutch and United States rounds, when Sete Gibernau finished fifth twice.

Sete Gibernau then set a relentless pace to pull seconds out of the pursuing pack.

Sete Gibernau was furious and almost saved the rear-end slide before it pitched him off his bike and into the gravel, thus marking his third DNF of the year.

Sete Gibernau would register his final podium position in the MotoGP class at the German GP.

On Sunday, Sete Gibernau converted his pole into a turn one lead when the riders behind him fought for positions.

Sete Gibernau settled into second for the next two laps before repassing Rossi briefly into the final turn - Rossi slipstreaming back into the lead into turn one.

Sete Gibernau again fought back and outbraked Rossi into the fast chicane that followed, ultimately taking the lead.

Sete Gibernau then tried closing in, until his RCV bobbled and a fuel-supply problem forced Sete Gibernau to retire with just two 'S' bends to go.

In Malaysia, Sete Gibernau was eliminated at the end of lap one when he collided with Shinya Nakano whilst trying to overtake him for third into the final hairpin.

At the following three rounds - the Qatar, Australian and Turkish grands prix - Sete Gibernau only scored two fifth and one fourth place, despite claiming pole at the Turkish race.

At the final round in Valencia, Sete Gibernau took his fifth and final pole of the season when Rossi only managed to qualify in fifteenth place after a high-speed incident on Saturday.

On Sunday, Sete Gibernau had a poor getaway and was relegated to fourth as the lights went out, before retaking third from Carlos Checa at the following left-hand hairpin.

Sete Gibernau finished seventh in the championship with 150 points, 217 points behind the champion Valentino Rossi.

In 2006, Sete Gibernau joined the Factory Ducati team to replace Carlos Checa, showing impressive speed with the Ducati Desmosedici race bike in pre-season testing.

However, Sete Gibernau retired on lap two when he raised his hand at the exit of a turn to signal mechanical problems - later identified as electronics issues - on Sunday, marking it his first DNF of the season.

At Qatar, Sete Gibernau finished fourth after overtaking rookie Casey Stoner with three laps to go.

At the Italian GP, Sete Gibernau took his final MotoGP pole by beating his teammate Capirossi by just +0.089 seconds on Saturday.

On Sunday, Sete Gibernau fought hard with Valentino Rossi for the lead on multiple occasions, until he fell back during the race to sixth before eventually crossing the line in fifth place after his left-boot protector fell off during the race and rode with a bleeding left foot.

Gibernau missed the Czech Republic round after it was discovered that the titanium plate inserted into Sete Gibernau's broken collarbone had 'weakened' and thus needed surgery to be fixed.

Sete Gibernau's fitness improved and he returned for the Malaysian round, managing a commendable fifth-place finish.

At the following round in Australia, Sete Gibernau led the race for some time after rain forced riders to swap bikes, but a wrong tyre change saw him drop to fourth after Rossi snatched third place from him on the final corner of the last lap.

In Japan, Sete Gibernau finished fourth once more, despite being involved in a late-race collision with the Kawasaki of Shinya Nakano when he tried to overtake him at the downhill right-hand turn, at the end of the back straight.

Sete Gibernau finished thirteenth in the championship with 95 points, 157 points behind the champion Nicky Hayden and 152 points behind runner-up Valentino Rossi.

Sete Gibernau returned to action on 17 June 2008, testing the Desmosedici GP9 at the Mugello Circuit, in a three-day test session alongside official test rider Vittoriano Guareschi.

Sete Gibernau again tested the Desmosedici GP8 and GP9 on a three-day test beginning on 1 July 2008 at the Mugello circuit.

Sete Gibernau chose 59, in reference to the year in which his grandfather's Bultaco company produced their first bike.

Sete Gibernau began testing for the new team at Valencia.

Sete Gibernau acknowledged the bikes had changed much in the two years he had been absent from the sport.

Sete Gibernau noted that the Ducati was now very competitive with much potential.

At the opening round of the season in Qatar, Sete Gibernau finished in thirteenth place, scoring three points.

Sete Gibernau then crashed out at the following race in Japan and finished in eleventh in Spain, his best result of the season.

Sete Gibernau missed the French and Italian grands prix due to a broken collarbone he sustained during a practice session at the Bugatti Circuit.

Sete Gibernau finished nineteenth in the championship with 12 points, 294 points behind the champion Valentino Rossi and 249 points behind runner-up Jorge Lorenzo.

Sete Gibernau was known for his wet-weather abilities and was occasionally referred to as "Rainmaster".

Sete Gibernau's career started slowly until he found his motivation and his intermittent flair became consistent.

At the inaugural MotoE race in Germany, Sete Gibernau finished in ninth place.

At the second round in Austria, Sete Gibernau finished sixth after starting down in twelfth.

Presently residing in Switzerland, Sete Gibernau is well-educated, fluently speaking Spanish, Catalan, Italian and English, and some French and German.

Sete Gibernau was always supportive of Gibernau and could often be seen in the pit-garage during races, cheering him on.

Sete Gibernau formerly rode with a number 15 good-luck charm, but rode with a charm given to him by Canadas when they became a couple.